URC teams: Ireland great set to equal Leinster appearance record against Edinburgh while Glasgow Warriors at full strength
Leinster and Ireland prop Cian Healy.
The 2024/25 United Rugby Championship season kicks off this weekend including the highly anticipated clash between Ulster and the defending champions Glasgow Warriors at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday.
In Friday’s action, veteran Ireland front-row Cian Healy will equal Devin Toner’s record of 280 Leinster appearances if he takes to the field off the replacements bench against Edinburgh at Hive Stadium.
Healy made his Leinster debut as a 19-year-old back in May 2007 when he replaced Reggie Corrigan in against the now-defunct Border Reivers at Donnybrook.
Meanwhile, defending URC champions Glasgow Warriors have named a powerful matchday squad for their clash with Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium with Scotland front-row Zander Fagerson set to play his 150th game if he comes off the bench.
Friday
Cardiff v Zebre Parma
The teams
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Mason Grady, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Iwan Stephens, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Ben Donnell, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Danny Southworth
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Johan Mulder, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Harri Millard
Zebre: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Ben Cambriani, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Giovanni Montemauri, 9 Ratko Jelic, 8 Giovanni Licata (c) 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Davide Ruggeri, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Luca Rizzoli
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Juan Pitinari, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Giacomo Ferrari, 21 Patricio Baronio, 22 Francesco Ruffolo, 23 Giacomo Da Re
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Mike English (WRU), Rhys Jones (WRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
Edinburgh v Leinster
The teams
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mosese Tuipulotu, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ben Muncaster, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Emiliano Boffelli
Leinster: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan (c), 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 James Culhane, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rob Russell
Venue: Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam (SRU), Michael Todd (SRU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Saturday
Dragons v Ospreys
The teams
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter (c), 3 Leon Brown, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 George Nott, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Harry Wilson, 23 Ewan Rosser
Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Steffan Thomas, 18 Math Iowerth-Scott, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Max Nagy
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Assistant referees: Mike English (WRU), Ben Connor (WRU)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)
Munster v Connacht
The teams
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Ruadhán Quinn, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron (C), 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Alex Kendellen, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Seán O’Brien
Connacht: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Cian Prendergast, (C) 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Sean Jansen
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU), Dan Carson (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Benetton v Scarlets
The teams
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (C), 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Nahuel Tetaz, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Spanish Mirco
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Riccardo Genovese, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Paolo Odogwu
Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Macs Page, 12 Ioan Lloyd, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies (c),8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Jac Price, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Johnny Williiams, 23 Jac Davies
Venue: Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 BST, 17:35 GMT)
Referee: Ian Kenny (SRU)
Assistant referees: Fillipo Russo (FIR), Franco Rosella (FIR)U)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (SRU)
Ulster v Glasgow Warriors
The teams
Ulster: 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 David McCann, 6 James McNabney, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson (C), 3 Corrie Barrett, 2 John Andrew, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 James McCormick, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Cormac Izuchukwu, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Werner Kok
Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn (C), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Euan Ferrie, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Adam Hastings
Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU), Padraig Reidy (IRFU)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (WRU)