URC: Johnny Sexton back for Leinster’s derby against Munster, Frans Malherbe to become most capped Stormer

David Skippers
Johnny Sexton Leinster 2021 - Alamy.jpg

The 2022/23 United Rugby Championship season continues this weekend including the highly anticipated Irish derby between Leinster and Munster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

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

Friday

Benetton v Bulls

Prediction: Benetton by 5

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Giacomo Da Re, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Manuel Zuliani, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Ivan Nemer
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Toa Halafihi, 21 Manfredi Albanese, 22 Tommaso Menoncello, 23 Marcus Watson

Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 David Kriel, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Wandisile Simelane, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Marco van Staden, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Stravino Jacobs

Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 BST 16:30 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Filippo Russo (Italy), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Connacht v Scarlets

Prediction: Connacht by 7

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Byron Ralston, 12 David Hawkshaw, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (c), 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Cathal Forde, 23 Alex Wootton

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Steff Evans, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Josh Macleod, 5 Tom Price, 4 Jac Price, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Corey Baldwin

Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferriera (South Africa), Padraic Reidy (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Saturday

Zebre Parma v Edinburgh

Prediction: Edinburgh by 15

The teams:

Zebre: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Taina Fox-Matamua, 7 MJ Pelser, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi (c), 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Juan Pitinari
Replacements:
16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Gabriele Venditti, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 23 Richard Kriel

Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie (c), 6 Nick Haining, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements:
16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21Henry Pyrgos, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Damien Hoyland

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 BST 12:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Alberto Favaro (Italy)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

 

Leinster v Munster

Prediction: Leinster by 10

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose (c), 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jamie Osbourne, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rob Russell

Munster: 15 Jack Crowley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 James French, 19 Jack O’Sullivan, 20 Ruadhan Quinn, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Patrick Campbell

Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Cardiff v Stormers

Prediction: Stormers by 8

The teams:

Cardiff: 15 Ben Thomas, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Uilisi Halaholo, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 James Ratti, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh Turnbull (c), 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 James Botham, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Mason Grady

Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Alapati Leuia, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Sacha Mngomezulu

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Carwyn Williams (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

Sunday

Dragons v Ospreys

Prediction: Ospreys by 5

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Harrison Keddie, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Will Rowlands (c), 4 Ben Carter, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Max Clark

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

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mike English (Wales) AR 2: Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)

READ MORE: United Rugby Championship: Stuart Lancaster admits he will miss Irish derbies when he leaves Leinster