PRO14 Preview: Saturday, Sunday

Editor

Seven matches are scheduled to take place in the PRO14 on Saturday and Sunday with Leinster versus Ulster at the RDS Arena the pick of them.

Saturday

Benetton v Glasgow Warriors

After doing the double over Zebre, Benetton will host Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.

Italy international Jayden Hayward starts at full-back alongside Angelo Esposito and Monty Ioane, who are the two wings. Tommaso Benvenuti and Luca Morisi will line up in the centres.

The half-backs are Dewaldt Duvenage at scrum-half and Tommaso Allan at fly-half. The front-row will consist of Nicola Quaglio, Hame Faiva and Simone Ferrari.

Irné Herbst and captain Dean Budd pack down in the second-row and the back-row sees Sebastian Negri, Giovanni Pettinelli and Abraham Steyn completing the XV chosen by head coach Kieran Crowley.

Meanwhile, Sam Johnson returns to the Glasgow Warriors starting XV for this encounter.

The centre came off the bench against Edinburgh at Scotstoun last Saturday having recovered from a knee injury and starts at inside centre in Italy.

He is joined in midfield by Stafford McDowall outside of a half-back pairing of George Horne and Adam Hastings.

Ruaridh Jackson is another one of 10 changes to the starting line-up at full-back and is joined in the back three by Niko Matawalu and Robbie Nairn.

Jamie Bhatti and Siua Halanukonuka come into the front-row, starting either side of Grant Stewart. Behind them Tim Swinson and Scott Cummings pack down in the engine room.

Ryan Wilson captains the side. He is joined by Chris Fusaro and Adam Ashe in the back-row.

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Abraham Steyn, 7 Giovanni Pettinelli, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Marco Zanon

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruairdh Jackson, 14 Robbie Nairn, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Ryan Wilson (c), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Siua Halanukonuka, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements:
16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Lee Jones

Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Gabriel Chirnoaga (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)

Ospreys v Cardiff Blues

Ospreys will be desperate to bounce back from last week’s loss at Dragons when they host Cardiff Blues on Saturday.

They make just one change to their backline as Cory Allen comes in for Owen Watkin while up front Rhodri Jones gets the nod at loosehead.

The only other change to the XV sees Sam Cross come in at number eight in place of James King.

Meanwhile, Dmitri Arhip returns to Cardiff Blues’ starting line-up as they target a hat-trick of PRO14 Welsh derby victories over the festive period.

The prop, who recovered from a calf injury to play his part as a replacement in last week’s bonus-point win over Scarlets, returns to the Liberty Stadium for the first time since his summer move to Wales’ Capital Region.

John Mulvihill has made a total of five changes for the crucial Conference A encounter, as Arhip is joined in the front-row by the returning Rhys Gill.

The final change amongst the pack sees Olly Robinson replacing George Earle, who is named on the bench, as Josh Turnbull is reinstated at lock alongside fellow Wales international, Seb Davies.

Another former Osprey, Matthew Morgan, is also reintroduced to the starting XV, taking the place of Dan Fish at full-back, while Tomos Williams is given the nod at number nine.

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Sam Cross, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 James King, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Luke Price, 23 Owen Watkin

Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Garyn Smith, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey (c), 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 George Earle, 20 Rory Thornton, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Owen Lane

Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Elgan Williams (Wales), Dewi Phillips (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)

Scarlets v Dragons

Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac has rung the changes to his run-on side as they look to return to the victory trail against their Welsh rivals.

The big news is the selection of Wales and British and Irish Lions hooker Ken Owens, who will lead the Scarlets from number eight.

Owens packs down at the base of the scrum as the Scarlets are without James Davies, Aaron Shingler, Will Boyde, Blade Thomson, Josh Macleod and Uzair Cassiem, who are all injured.

The Scarlets have also recalled Dan Jones, who start at fly-half which means Hadleigh Parkes shifts to inside centre.

Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies drops out of the matchday squad with Kieran Hardy elevated to the run-on side in his place after starting on the bench in last weekend’s loss to Cardiff Blues.

Owens’ shift to number eight means Ryan Elias will start at hooker.

Meanwhile, Wales international centre Tyler Morgan returns to the Drsgons’ starting line-up for this PRO14 derby at Parc y Scarlets.

Morgan comes into the starting line-up and is part of six changes made by Dragons interim head coach Ceri Jones for the league encounter. Centre Jack Dixon makes a return to partner Morgan in midfield while Adam Warren moves to the wing with Jared Rosser ruled out through injury.

Scrum-half Tavis Knoyle and full-back Jordan Williams are also named and will face their former region.

Changes up front see hooker Richard Hibbard and prop Dan Suter called up, with Aaron Jarvis playing at loosehead. Ryan Bevington misses the game with concussion.

Wales U20 international prop Chris Coleman and lock Joe Davies are named among the replacements. Lloyd Fairbrother misses the match as he serves the second game of a three-match suspension.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Ioan Nicholas, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Paul Asquith, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Ken Owens (c), 7 Dan Davis, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Josh Helps, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:
16 Marc Jones, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tom Price, 20 Tom Phillips, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Steff Hughes, 23 Tom Prydie

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Adam Warren, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Aaron Wainwright, 6 Cory Hill (c), 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Dan Suter, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Aaron Jarvis
Replacements:
16 Elliot Dee, 17 Gerard Ellis, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Joe Davies, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Zane Kirchner

Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)

Leinster v Ulster

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named a strong starting line-up for their PRO14 clash at the RDS Arena against Ulster.

The game sees the top two teams in Conference B of the PRO14 going head-to-head for the first time this season.

Rob Kearney is back from injury and will lead Leinster out in front of a capacity crowd.

From the team that started in Munster last week, Adam Byrne comes in on the right wing as does Barry Daly on the left. Daly has recovered from a knee injury and it’s his first game since August when he lasted only 11 minutes in the first game of the season away to the Cardiff Blues.

Noel Reid is joined by Conor O’Brien in the centre with Jamison Gibson-Park and Ciarán Frawley the half-back pairing for the first game of 2019.

In the pack there is a welcome return for British & Irish Lion Jack McGrath who has recovered from a hip injury to take his place in the front-row alongside Seán Cronin and Andrew Porter.

Ross Molony and Mick Kearney start in the second-row with Josh Murphy, Scott Penny and Max Deegan the back-row.

Meanwhile, the Ulster coaching team have named a much-changed matchday squad for this clash after last weekend’s defeat to Connacht.

The starting XV includes four Academy players in the form of Matthew Dalton, Angus Kernohan, James Hume and Michael Lowry, while Rob Lyttle has returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines to start on the right wing.

Lyttle, who scored two tries in his last outing for Ulster, against Southern Kings back in February 2018, is joined in the back three by Kernohan and Lowry.

Hume and Darren Cave are paired together in midfield, with Dave Shanahan and Johnny McPhillips set to combine in the half back-positions.

Up front, Greg Jones will make his first start of the season after being included in the back-row alongside Sean Reidy and Nick Timoney.

Alan O’Connor has recovered from an injury sustained against Cardiff Blues in early December and will partner Dalton, who will make his first appearance of the season, in the second-row.

Wiehahn Herbst is another to have returned from injury, having not featured since September, and he will pack down in the front-row with hooker Adam McBurney and loosehead prop Kyle McCall.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney (c), 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Conor O’Brien, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan 7 Scott Penny, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:
16 James Tracy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Jimmy O’Brien

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Rob Lyttle, 13 Darren Cave, 12 James Hume, 11 Angus Kernohan, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Dave Shanahan, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Alan O’Connor (c), 4 Matthew Dalton, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Kyle McCall
Replacements:
16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Caleb Montgomery, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Bruce Houston, 23 Peter Nelson

Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Edinburgh v Southern Kings

Club centurion Fraser McKenzie will captain Edinburgh on his return from injury in their PRO14 match against Southern Kings at Murrayfield.

The second-row is named in the starting line-up on the same day he signed a new two-year contract extension which will see him remain in the capital until at least 2021.

With several internationalists rested following an intense run of fixtures in both the Champions Cup and PRO14, head coach Richard Cockerill has made 11 changes to the side that recorded a hard-earned victory over Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun.

In the back three, Dougie Fife returns to action at full-back and is partnered on the wings by Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe – the latter looking to continue the rich vein of form that has seen the South African score three tries in his last four appearances.

Meanwhile, the Kings forwards will have a front-row that will start together for the first time as former Junior Springbok loosehead prop Alulutho Tshakweni gets his first starting berth alongside tighthead Pieter Scholtz and hooker Alandre van Rooyen.

In the backline, Masixole Banda returns to full-back after playing at fly-half against Benetton in the side’s previous match, with Martin du Toit returning to 10. The centre pairing will see Harlon Klaasen once again partnering with Tertius Kruger. Winger Michael Makase also finds himself back in the starting XV for the Edinburgh clash.

Experienced former Springbok scrum-half Sarel Pretorius will make his debut for the Kings from the bench on Saturday after nursing a foot injury he sustained before the start of the 2018/19 season.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 George Taylor, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 Fraser McKenzie (c), 3 Simon Berghan, 2 David Cherry, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Johnstone

Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Cyril-John Velleman, 5 John-Charles Astle (c), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Alandre Van Rooyen, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni
Replacements: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Berton Klaasen, 23 Ntabeni Dukisa

Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Johnny Erskine (Ireland) Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Connacht v Munster

Prop Denis Buckley is set to make his 150th appearance when he runs out for Connacht in this fixture.

Buckley is named in a front-row that includes hooker Dave Heffernan who takes over the captaincy from Jarrad Butler who picked up a knock in the win over Ulster. In the second-row the partnership of Quinn Roux and Gavin Thornbury continues with Ultan Dillane named among the replacements.

In the back-row Paul Boyle is named at blindside with Colby Fainga’a at openside and Eoghan Masterson coming into the starting side at number eight.

Jack Carty and Caolin Blade continue their half-back partnership, with Blade named in the matchday squad for the 16th game in a row.

In the midfield Tom Daly, who joined Connacht on loan in December, is set to make his Connacht debut alongside Tom Farrell.

In the back three, Connacht’s record try scorer Matt Healy returns from injury to take his place on the wing with Cian Kelleher on the opposite wing and Darragh Leader at full-back.

Meanwhile, Munster head coach Johann van Graan has made seven changes to the side that defeated Leinster at Thomond Park last weekend.

Peter O’Mahony captains the team as Chris Farrell returns from injury with Tommy O’Donnell, Alex Wootton, Alby Mathewson, Jeremy Loughman and Arno Botha also coming into the starting XV.

Billy Holland is named among the replacements and is set to make a landmark 200th Munster appearance. In doing so, Holland will become just the 10th Munster player to play 200 games for the province.

Andrew Conway moves to full-back for the clash with Keith Earls on the right flank and Wootton on the opposite wing.

Dan Goggin is joined by Farrell in the centres with Mathewson and Joey Carbery in the half-backs.

Loughman packs down in the front-row with Niall Scannell and John Ryan as Jean Kleyn and last week’s Man of the Match Tadhg Beirne keep their places in the second-row.

O’Mahony, O’Donnell and Botha complete the side.

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Eoghan Masterson, 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Paul Boyle, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 2 Dave Heffernan (c), 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements:
16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Cillian Gallagher, 21 Angus Lloyd, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Colm DeBuitlear

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements:
16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Sammy Arnold

Venue: The Sportsgound
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ben Blain (Scotland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Sunday

Zebre v Cheetahs

Zebre will be looking to bounce back from successive PRO14 losses to Italian rivals Benetton when they take on the Cheetahs on Sunday.

They make seven changes to their line-up as they look for a victory that would see them jump above the South African side in Conference A.

Meanwhile, the Cheetahs will be refreshed after their festive break and pick Malcolm Jaer, William Small-Smith and Nico Lee in their backline.

“The players have shown a lot of enthusiasm and commitment at training and we’re ready for the challenge ahead,” said coach Franco Smith.

The teams:

Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Nicolas De Battista, 11 James Elliott, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 7 Giovanni Licata, 6 Maxime Mbandà, 5 Samuele Ortis, 4 David Sisi (c), 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 George Biagi, 20 Iacopo Bianchi, 21 Joshua Renton, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Tommaso Boni

Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (c), 8 Daniel Maartens, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Walt Steenkamp, 21 Abongile Nonkontwana, 22 Rudy Paige, 23 Louis Fouche

Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Aled Evans (Wales) Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)