United Rugby Championship: Justin Tipuric back from injury to captain Ospreys against Scarlets

The 2022/23 United Rugby Championship season kicks off this weekend with a few intriguing derbies, including Ulster against Connacht and Scarlets v Ospreys.

Check on the team news and see our predictions for the weekend, here.

Friday

Benetton v Glasgow Warriors

Prediction: Glasgow Warriors by 7

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Joaquin Riera, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Ivan Nemer
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Mattia Bellini

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Cole Forbes, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Sintu Manjezi, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatt
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 Ali Price, 23 Duncan Weir

Venue: Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 BST, 16:30 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Brian McNeice (Ireland)

Saturday

Zebre Parma v Leinster

Prediction: Leinster by 20

Zebre Parma: 15 Richard Kriel, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Taina Fox-Matamua, 7 MJ Pelser, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi (c), 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Juan Pitinari, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Guido Volpi, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Franco Smith Jr, 23 Jacopo Trulla

Leinster: 15 Max O’Reilly, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Will Connors

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 BST, 12:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Blain (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Federico Boraso (FIR), Dario Merli (FIR)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)

Cardiff v Munster

Prediction: Cardiff by 5

Cardiff: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Botham, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Josh Turnbull (c), 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Uilisi Halaholo

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Jack O’Sullivan, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Rory Scannell

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 15:05 BST (14:05 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (WRU), Mike English (WRU)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

Lions v Bulls

Prediction: Bulls by 9

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruhan Straeuli, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sithembiso Sithole
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis

Bulls: 15 Wandisile Simelane, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 David Kriel, 11 Sbu Nkosi, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Ruan Vermaak, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Stedman Gans

Venue: Emirates Airline Park
Kick-off: 16:05 local (15:05 BST, 14:05 GMT)
Referee: AJ Jacobs (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU), Griffin Colby (SARU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuisen (SARU)

Scarlets v Ospreys

Prediction: Ospreys by 2

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Jonathan Davies (c), 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Tom Price, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Corey Baldwin

Ospreys: 15 Michael Collins, 14 George North, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Jac Morgan, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Will Griffiths, 21 Reuben Morgan Williams, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Max Nagy

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Simon Rees (WRU), Wayne Davies (WRU)
TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)

Edinburgh v Dragons

Prediction: Edinburgh by 12

Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 WP Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Nick Haining, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 James Lang

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ben Fry, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 Will Rowlands (c), 4 Ben Carter, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Aki Seiuli
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Will Reed, 23 Jordan Williams

Venue: DAM Health Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: David Sutherland (SRU), Michael Todd (SRU)
TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)

Ulster v Connacht

Prediction: Ulster by 10

Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann,7 Marcus Rea, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Aaron Sexton

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Tom Daly, 11 John Porch, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Gavin Thornburyn (c), 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Oran McNulty

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Chris Busby (IRFU), Andrew Cole (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

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