Springboks aplenty in Bulls side for Connacht clash, Scotland stars in action for champions and Edinburgh

The 2024/25 United Rugby Championship (URC) season continues this weekend with a full round of action, which sees two matches being played on Friday and six on Saturday.

In Galway, the Bulls have been boosted by the return of Springboks stars like Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, Ruan Vermaak and Cameron Hanekom for their encounter against Connacht.

Meanwhile, the Scottish and Welsh sides have also been bolstered by their returning internationals with Scotland stars like Adam Hastings, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe in action for reigning champions Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh respectively.

Check on all the URC team news for the weekend, here.

Friday

Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Stafford McDowall (c), 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Mann, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Macenzzie Duncan, 20 Gregor Hiddleston, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Duncan Weir

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Macs Page, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7, Dan Davis, 6 Josh Macleod (c), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Max Douglas, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Eddie James

Venue: Scotstoun
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Fillipo Russo (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (SRU), Ru Campbell (SRU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (SRU)

Ulster v Leinster

Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Ben Carson, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Michael Lowry, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 James McNabney, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Scott Wilson, 2 James McCormick, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Corrie Barrett, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 John Cooney, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Ben Moxham

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan (c), 7 Will Connors, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Diarmuid Mangan, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 John McKee, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Rory McGuire, 19 RG Snyman, 20 James Culhane, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Scott Penny

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU), Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

Saturday

Sharks v Stormers

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Vincent Tsituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Emmanuel Tshituka, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Jordan Hendrikse

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (c), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Manie Libbok

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park
Kick-off: 17:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Christopher Allison (SARU), Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Cardiff v Dragons

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas (c), 11 Harri Millard, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ben Donnell, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Alex Mann, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Gabriel Hamer-Webb

Siya Kolisi ‘experiment’ continues as Springboks-laden Sharks named for Stormers clash

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (c), 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 George Nott, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Harry Wilson, 23 Huw Anderson

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Mike English (WRU)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)

Connacht v Bulls

Connacht: 15 Shane Jennings, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Joe Joyce (c), 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Shamus Hurley-Langton

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian De Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Mornay Smit, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 23 Stedman Gans

Venue: Dexcom Stadium, Galway
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Erskine (IRFU), Paul Haycock (IRFU)
TMO: David Sutherland (SRU)

Munster v Lions

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shay McCarthy, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron (c), 1 Dian Bleuler
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Ruadhán Quinn, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Shane Daly

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 WJ Steenkamp, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoema
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 JC Pretorius, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Tapiwa Mafura, 23 Erich Cronje

Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Keane Davison (IRFU), Padraic Reidy (IRFU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)

Zebre Parma v Ospreys

Zebre: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli (c), 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giacomo Ferrari, 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Rusiate Nasove, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Andrea Zambonin, 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Luca Rizzoli
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Muhamed Hasa, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Giovanni Montemauri, 23 Luca Morisi

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Dan Kasende, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Morgan Morris (c), 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Harri Deaves, 5 Will Greatbanks, 4 James Fender, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Garyn Phillips
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Steffan Thomas, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Lewis Jones, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Iestyn Hopkins, 23 Max Nagy

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 20:35 local (19:35 GMT)
Referee: Ian Kenny (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Alex Frasson (FIR), Alberto Favaro (FIR)
TMO: Colin Brett (IRFU)

Edinburgh v Benetton

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Ross McCann

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Riccardo Favretto, 7 Toa Halafihi, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (c), 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Enzo Avaca, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Jadin Kingi, 20 Simon Koroiyadi, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Louis Lynagh

Venue: Hive Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Perriam (SRU), Rob McDowell (SRU)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (WRU)

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