United Rugby Championship: 200 up for Justin Tipuric as some Rugby World Cup stars feature

Adam Kyriacou
Ospreys veteran Justin Tipuric looks on during a game.

Ospreys veteran Justin Tipuric looks on during a game.

The 2023/24 United Rugby Championship season kicks off this weekend and we have all the team news as Munster begin their title defence at home to the Sharks.

Saturday

Zebre Parma v Ulster

Zebre Parma: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Ben Cambriani, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Giovanni Licata (c), 7 Giacomo Ferrari, 6 Guido Volpi, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Muhamed Hasa, 18 Riccardo Genovese, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Scott Gregory

Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 James Hume, 12 Angus Curtis, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Matty Rea, 3 Greg McGrath, 2 Tom Stewart (c), 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 James French, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Stewart Moore

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 BST, 12:00 GMT)
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Manuel Bottino (FIR), Lorenzo Imbriaco (FIR)
TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)

Connacht v Ospreys

Connacht: 15 Andrew Smith, 14 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Byron Ralston, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (c), 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Oisín Dowling, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Liam McNamara

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 James Ratti, 5 Will Griffiths, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Ethan Lewis, 1 Garyn Phillips
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Rhys Henry, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Dom Morris

Venue: The Sportsground, Galway
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Dan Carson (IRFU), Tomas O’Sullivan (IRFU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)

Lions v Stormers

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie
Replacements:16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Henco van Wyk, 23 Andries Coetzee

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Kwenzo Blose
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader

Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 16:05 local (15:05 BST, 14:05 GMT)
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)

Dragons v Edinburgh

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Corey Baldwin, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Steff Hughes (c), 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 George Nott, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Will Reed, 23 Jack Dixon

Edinburgh: 15 Cammy Scott, 14 Ross McCann, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (c), 8 Tom Dodd, 7 Cameron Neild, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Glen Young, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Jordan Edmunds

Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
Kick-off: 15:05 BST (14:05 GMT)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Gareth Newman (WRU), Simon Rees (WRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

Cardiff v Benetton

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Seb Davies, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Lucas de la Rua, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Harri Millard

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Filippo Drago, 11 Edoardo Padovani, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Henry Time-Stowers, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Mirco Spagnolo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Edoardo Iachizzi, 20 Toa Halafihi, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Marco Zanon

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Mike English (WRU), Gwyn Morris (WRU)
TMO: Mark Patton (WRU)

Munster v Sharks

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Shay McCarthy

Sharks: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Murray Koster, 12 Francois Venter (c), 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 George Cronje, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Emile van Heerden, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Vincent Tshituka, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Aphelele Fassi

Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Erskine (IRFU), Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)

Sunday

Bulls v Scarlets

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (cc), 5 Ruan Nortje (cc), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Stedman Gans

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 11 Ryan Conbeer; 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Ben Williams, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Shaun Evans, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Isaac Young, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 Jac Price, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Ioan Nicholas

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 BST, 13:00 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs (SARU), Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

Glasgow Warriors v Leinster

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Angus Fraser, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 George Horne, 23 Duncan Weir

Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 James Culhane, 7 Scott Penny (c), 6 Max Deegan, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 John McKee, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Rory McGuire, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Cormac Foley, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Will Connors

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 16:00 BST (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Ru Campbell (SRU), Jonny Perriam (SRU)
TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)

READ MORE: Star players, ins and outs and more: Team-by-team guide for United Rugby Championship season

Benetton Treviso Justin Tipuric