PRO14 Preview: Friday

Four games take place on Friday night in the PRO14 with Edinburgh’s encounter against Leinster the pick of the matches.

Connacht v Ospreys

Experienced lock Andrew Browne comes back into Kieran Keane’s Connacht line-up for the PRO14 clash with in Ospreys in the Sportsground.

Also back from injury and in the starting XV are lock James Cannon and fly-half Craig Ronaldson.

With Bundee Aki away on international duty, Tom Farrell and Eoin Griffin form the centre pairing. Likewise, with Kieran Marmion’s absence, Caolin Blade starts at scrum-half.

Having recently announced that he will retire at the end of this season, John Muldoon will captain the side from his number eight position. He will be joined in the back-row by Eoghan Masterson at blindside and openside Naulia Dawai.

The back three is made up of Tiernan O’Halloran at full-back, with Cian Kelleher and Matt Healy on the two wings.

During the next block of four games, Connacht take on three of their conference rivals, including a trip to South Africa to take on the Cheetahs.

Head coach Keane is well aware of the importance of the upcoming fixtures and the need to get off to a good start against the Ospreys.

“We are up for this game, we know the importance of it,” he said. “This is a really important block of games for us and will have a big bearing on our PRO14 season.

“We have a quarter-final in the Challenge Cup to look forward to later in the season but there is a lot of rugby to play before that, so our focus is firmly on the league at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Sam Davies starts for the Ospreys after failing to make Wales’ Six Nations squad. He is joined at half-back by Tom Habberfield.

In the outside channels, Dafydd Howells, Hanno Dirksen and Dan Evans form a potent back three, while Ashley Beck and Kieron Fonotia will provide plenty of thrust in the midfield.

Up front, Olly Cracknell, Will Jones and captain Rob McCusker line up in a powerful back-row, with James King going into the second-row alongside Lloyd Ashley.

In the front-row, Rhodri Jones and Scott Otten start alongside Dmitri Arhip, who will line up at tighthead.

“We know what we need to do over the next four weeks if we want to achieve our goal of qualification for the Champions Cup next season,” interim head coach Allen Clarke said.

“We have to continue the improvement in performances that we saw in December and we have to win games, it’s as simple as that.

“The qualification spot is definitely still up for grabs, it’s very tight between Cardiff, Connacht and ourselves, but it’s true that we are running out of games saw it’s important that we get the results we need.

“Connacht is always a tough place to go and they will be looking to knock us over on Friday night, making the most of home advantage, so it’s important that this group makes a statement of intent.”

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Craig Ronaldson, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Naulia Dawai, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 James Cannon, 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 James Connolly, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Pita Ahki

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Dafydd Howells, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 Rob McCusker (c), 7 Will Jones, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 James King, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Guy Mercer, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Luke Price, 23 Joe Thomas

Date: Friday, February 9
Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)

Ulster v Southern Kings

Ulster lock Alan O’Connor, a graduate of the province’s academy, will captain the senior side for the first time, in what is head coach Jono Gibbes’ opening game in charge.

Fly-half Johnny McPhillips, who has made four appearances as a replacement, will make his first senior start.

Also in the back-line, Luke Marshall and Craig Gilroy return from injury lay-offs to earn starting berths at outside centre and right wing respectively.

McPhillips will have experience either side of him in the form of scrum-half John Cooney and inside centre Stuart McCloskey, while Rob Lyttle and Charles Piutau will join Gilroy in a potent back three combination.

Gibbes has opted for Andy Warwick, John Andrew and Wiehahn Herbst in the front-row, with Kieran Treadwell partnering O’Connor at lock. The loose forwards are Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy and Nick Timoney.

Hooker Rob Herring has been released from the Ireland national camp and will provide cover on the bench, while Ireland U20 duo Matthew Dalton and Jonny Stewart are also included among the replacements.

Kyle McCall, Rodney Ah You and Chris Henry are the other forwards included in the matchday squad, with Darren Cave and Louis Ludik providing further backline options.

Meanwhile, speedsters Masixole Banda and Anthonie Volmink will join former Junior Springbok flyer, Yaw Penxe, in an exciting back three combination for the Southern Kings.

The Port Elizabeth-based outfit’s interim-coach, Barend Pieterse, called upon the duo after they recovered from niggles and moved Penxe from left wing to right wing for the clash.

Pieterse, standing in for coach Deon Davids who could not make the trip duo to health reasons, also swopped outside centre Harlon Klaasen for Burton Klaasen in the other change at the back, while keeping faith in the same pack that stood up well against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein two weeks ago.

Harlon Klaasen has been moved to the bench, where the likes of Jurie van Vuuren and Godlen Masimla will also see some action after being included in place of Lindokuhle Welemu and Rudi van Rooyen.

The teams:

Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 John  Cooney, 8 Nicl Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andy Warwick
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Louis Ludik

Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Anthonie Volmink, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby De Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Dayan Van der Westhuizen, 19 Jurie Van Vuuren, 20 Eital Bredenkamp, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Barend Janse van Rensburg, 23 Harlon Klaasen

Date: Friday, February 9
Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Kieran Barry (Ireland), Shane Kierans (Ireland)

Dragons v Glasgow Warriors

The Dragons side is boosted by the return of Hallam Amos, who was released from Six Nations duty this week, as well as having Tyler Morgan make his first start for the Men of Gwent after making his return from injury last weekend off the bench.

Leon Brown is set to return following three months on the sidelines due to concussion.

Amos, who has been capped 15 times by Wales gets the nod at fullback and is joined in the back three by wings Adam Warren and Jared Rosser. Tyler Morgan and Jack Dixon return to the centre partnership, whilst Zane Kirchner retains his position at fly-half and is joined in the half-backs by Wales U20s starlet Dan Babos.

Sam Hobbs and Lloyd Fairbrother get the nod and form a new look front row alongside hooker Liam Belcher who returns to the starting XV after dropping out of the warm-up last weekend with a shoulder issue. Locks Joe Davies and Rynard Landman remain in the second-row and the back row also remains unchanged, with number eight Harri Keddie named to skipper the side in Cory Hill’s absence.

The replacements bench sees Leon Brown and Gavin Henson named amongst the substitutes as well as Ellis Shipp, Gerard Ellis, Henri Williams, Lennon Greggains, Sarel Pretorius and Jarryd Sage.

Commenting on having the internationals back, Dragons defence coach Hendre Marnitz said: “It’s always good to have your international players back. We all know that Tyler is a special player with loads of X-factor.

“It’s good to have him back and the club to have a very competitive environment. Suddenly there are a lot of players competing for a couple of positions, which lifts training and the environment.

“Jarryd Sage and Connor Edwards did well against Worcester, Jack Dixon and Adam Warren were very good against Bordeaux-Begles and Sam Beard has had a couple of good games.”

He continued: “We have to keep building and get better week on week. Worcester was a very nice game to watch and any neutral in the stands would have enjoyed the spectacle.

“Our composure was good in a game that could have gone either way, we were very good with a couple of tactical kicks that went in behind then defensively we didn’t do anything stupid at the end.

“It’s always good to get a win that you had to work hard for.”

Meanwhile, winger Ratu Tagive will play his first game of the season against the Dragons this Friday having successfully recovered from an achillies injury suffered in pre-season.

The 26-year-old has been playing for Currie Chieftains in the BT Premiership on his road back to full fitness and scored a try against the Dragons in Glasgow’s victory over the Newport side at Scotstoun last season.

Tagive is joined in the back-three by Ruaridh Jackson and Lee Jones, both of whom have been released to play by the national side.

Nick Grigg is another starting for the Warriors who has spent the past few weeks in the Scotland camp. He is joined in midfield by Brandon Thomson, starting at 12 for the first time.

George Horne and Adam Hastings start together in the half-back positions, Hastings having trained with Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad over the last few weeks.

Man of the Match in Glasgow’s last game against Exeter Chiefs, Matt Fagerson starts in the back-row alongside Adam Ashe and Chris Fusaro.

Rob Harley returns from national duty to captain the side from the engine room where he his partnered by Greg Peterson.

Up front Alex Allan, James Malcolm and Siua Halanukonuka combine.

On the bench, Paddy Kelly is involved for the first time this season having recovered from an ankle injury sustained playing club rugby.

Henry Pyrgos and D’Arcy Rae also return from Scotland camp to be involved in the matchday 23.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: “We gave the boys ten days off after Exeter and they came back in enthused and looking sharp.

“Ratu has worked hard on his rehab and has played a bit of club footy the past few weeks. He’s a hell of an athlete and we’re excited to see how he goes.

“The Dragons are a strong side, especially at home and we’re going to have to play well across the board to get a result.”

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Adam Warren, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Zane Kirchner, 9 Dan Babos, 8 Harri Keddie (c), 7 James Benjamin, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Gerard Ellis, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Henri Williams, 20 Lennon Greggains, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Gavin Henson, 23 Jarryd Sage

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Brandon Thomson, 11 Ratu Tagive, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Rob Harley (c), 3 Siua Halanukonuka, 2 James Malcolm, 1 Alex Allan
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Paddy Kelly, 23 Niko Matawalu

Date: Friday, February 9
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), Dewi Phillips (Wales)

Edinburgh v Leinster

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has named his team ahead of their crucial PRO14 encounter with Leinster at Myreside.

The team selection sees the return of several key internationalists as Edinburgh look to secure their eighth consecutive home victory in all competitions.

Dougie Fife gets the nod at full-back after crossing the whitewash in Edinburgh’s final Challenge Cup pool stage fixture against Stade Francais a fortnight ago. The Scotland Sevens star is joined in the back-three by wings Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe.

After being named man of the match against Southern Kings in his last outing at Myreside, Scotland international Mark Bennett is named in the centre alongside Chris Dean – who makes a timely return to action following a four week lay-off due to injury.

Nathan Fowles – who last month marked his 50th appearance for the club against Stade Francais – and Jaco van der Walt form the half-back partnership.

In the front-row, Jordan Lay gets the nod at loosehead and packs down alongside Cameron Fenton and Murray McCallum, who returns to Edinburgh duty after making his Scotland debut against Wales in the Six Nations last weekend.

The dynamic paring of Lewis Carmichael and club captain Fraser McKenzie form the second-row, while academy graduate Luke Crosbie returns to the starting XV to link up with Jamie Ritchie and Bill Mata in the back-row.

Cockerill said: “This block of four games is going to be crucial for us. We’ve got to knock some big teams over.

“It will be a test for us mentally, as we’re missing a few senior guys with the national team, but we’ve played pretty well across the squad this year.

“Leinster present a huge challenge, because as they’ve shown throughout the season, they’re one of the best teams in the Guinness PRO14. But, we’ve worked hard again this week and are going into the game with a positive mindset around how we’re going to play.”

For Leinster, Michael Bent will win his 100th cap when the province face Edinburgh on Friday.

Bent made his debut in a 37-7 home win over Zebre at the RDS Arena on 1st December 2012 and has gone on to represent Leinster 22 times in Europe and 77 times in the PRO12/14.

Speaking of Bent’s 100-cap milestone this week, scrum coach John Fogarty said: “One of the qualities that Michael has – he’s a quiet character – but he goes to work. He has worked on his game, he’s worked on his scrum, and he’s improved hugely. He’s very important for us.

“We’ve seen him over the years play both sides of the scrum, so he’s shown himself to be versatile. He’s improved his game, and he’s adapted to different coaches that have come in.”

Bent will start at tighthead prop on Friday, with Peter Dooley the starting loosehead.

Richardt Strauss completes the front-row and will captain Leinster on Friday.

Will Connors will make his senior Leinster debut in the PRO14 contest, starting at openside flanker. He is joined by Josh Murphy, who made his senior debut back in November, and Max Deegan, to complete a youthful back-row trio.

The second-row pairing of Ross Molony and Scott Fardy completes the Leinster pack.

Rory O’Loughlin, at outside centre, and Noel Reid, at inside centre, form Leinster’s midfield partnership for the game.

Ross Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park will make up Leinster’s half-back pairing on Friday evening.

Dave Kearney will start at full-back for Leinster for the first time since February 2015, with Barry Daly on the left wing.

Fergus McFadden and Luke McGrath have both been released from Ireland camp for the Edinburgh match. McFadden will start on the right wing and McGrath has been named among the replacements.

Adam Byrne, named among the replacements, could make his return from injury. Byrne last featured for Leinster in the PRO14 defeat away to Glasgow Warriors on 3rd November.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Lewis Carmichael, 4 Fraser McKenzie (c), 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Cameron Fenton, 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Magnus Bradbury, 20 John Hardie, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Junior Rasolea, 23 Glenn Bryce

Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Richardt Strauss (c), 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Óisín Heffernan, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Peadar Timmins, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Adam Byrne

Date: Friday, February 9
Venue: Myreside
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)