PRO14 Preview: Friday

Three games take place in the PRO14 on Friday with the Cheetahs, Glasgow and Ulster hosting Munster, Connacht and Ospreys respectively.

Cheetahs v Munster

Former Springbok fly-half Johan Goosen will make his PRO14 debut in this fixture after being named in the Cheetahs' starting line-up. 

Goosen takes over from Niel Marais, who will be wearing the number 12 jersey against the Irish province. Marais replaces Clinton Swart at inside centre. Swart will provide cover on the bench.

These two teams have met once before with Munster winning 51-18 in Limerick in Round 2.

"We’ve grown tremendously as a team since the last time we played against Munster and we are prepared for what lies ahead," said Cheetahs captain Francois Venter.

Meanwhile, there are nine changes to the Munster side that defeated the Southern Kings 39-22 in George last Saturday.

Simon Zebo, Andrew Conway, Sammy Arnold, Darren Sweetnam, Brian Scott, Billy Holland, Peter O’Mahony, Jack O’Donoghue and Robin Copeland all come into the starting XV.

Zebo starts at full-back with Conway and Sweetnam on either wing as Arnold joins Dan Goggin, who scored his first Munster try last week, in the centres.

JJ Hanrahan moves from full-back to fly-half for the clash with James Hart at scrum-half.

Versatile prop Brian Scott makes his second start of the season, his first at loosehead, as Niall Scannell and John Ryan maintain their places in the front-row with Ryan set to make his 120th appearance for the province.

Holland returns to partner Gerbrandt Grobler in the engine room and it’s all change in the back-row as captain O’Mahony, O’Donoghue and Copeland are all back in the starting XV.

Rhys Marshall, Dave Kilcoyne and Stephen Archer provide the front-row cover with Dave O’Callaghan and Conor Oliver completing the forward replacements.

Conor Murray, Ian Keatley and Rory Scannell are the backline replacements.

The teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Francois Venter (c), 12 Niel Marais, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 AJ Coertzen

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 James Hart, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Brian Scott
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave O’Callaghan, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Rory Scannell

Date: Friday, April 13
Venue: Toyota Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 local (17:35 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Ben Crouse (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Glasgow Warriors v Connacht

Scotland internationals Fraser Brown and Alex Dunbar both return to the Glasgow Warriors starting XV for the visit of Connacht to Scotstoun.

Dunbar partners Sam Johnson in midfield, outside a brand-new half-back combination of Henry Pyrgos and Peter Horne.

The back-three remains unchanged, DTH van der Merwe and Tommy Seymour starting either side of Stuart Hogg.

Alex Allan and Zander Fagerson start either side of Fraser Brown in the front-row while Scott Cummings comes into the boiler room, joining Jonny Gray.

Callum Gibbins captains the side named on the openside flank with Rob Harley occupying the number six jersey and Matt Fagerson is at number eight.

Meanwhile, Oli Kebble sustained an ankle injury in the game against Scarlets which will rule him out for the remainder of the season.

Ryan Wilson sustained a chest injury in the same game and is expected to be unavailable for the next few weeks.

For the second game in a row flanker Jarrad Butler captains the Connacht side. Butler is joined in the back-row by blindside Eoghan Masterson and Eoin McKeon at number eight.

Experienced hooker Tom McCartney comes back into the starting team and is included in a front-row which includes Denis Buckley and Finlay Bealham.

Irish internationals Ultan Dillane and Quinn Roux will continue their partnership in the second-row.

Bundee Aki comes back into the Connacht midfield alongside Peter Robb who has shown no ill effects from his return from injury against Ospreys last week.

Darragh Leader is at full-back with Niyi Adeolokun and Matt Healy continuing on the wings.

The teams:

Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Alex Allan
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Ali Price, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Niko Matawalu

Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 John Muldoon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Stacey Ili

Date: Friday, April 13
Venue: Scotstoun
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Jonny Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ulster v Ospreys

Ulster head coach Jono Gibbes has confirmed his team to host Ospreys at Kingspan Stadium in Round 20 of the PRO14 this Friday.

The starting XV features four personnel changes from the team that recorded an impressive win away to Edinburgh last weekend.

Props Callum Black and Ross Kane are given a starting spot either side of captain Rory Best in the front-row.

Kieran Treadwell is drafted in to partner Iain Henderson, who touched down late on for the bonus-point try last week, in the engine room.

In the back-row, Sean Reidy comes into the side at number eight, with Jean Deysel switching to openside flanker and Matthew Rea continuing at blindside.

The backline, which contributed 27 of the 32 points against Edinburgh, remains in situ.

John Cooney and Johnny McPhillips continue their half-back partnership, while the midfield pairing of Stuart McCloskey and Darren Cave, who contributed so effectively in both attack and defence at Murrayfield, is retained.

Despite being withdrawn due to a back injury last time out, Louis Ludik has recovered to take his place on the right wing, with Jacob Stockdale on the left and fullback Charles Piutau completing the back three.

Tighthead prop Tom O'Toole, who impressed on his debut outing last week, is in line for his second cap from the bench, while Tommy Bowe will also be hoping to be called upon against the club with whom he enjoyed a four-year spell. Rob Herring, Andy Warwick, Alan O'Connor and Nick Timoney are the other forward replacements, while David Shanahan and Luke Marshall provide the additional backline cover.

Meanwhile, Ospreys Interim Head Coach, Allen Clarke, names Alun Wyn Jones on the blindside flank for the away game.

“We’ve had some really positive results and performances at the Liberty Stadium in recent weeks that have put us in a position where we are firmly in control of our own destiny. The challenge for us now is to keep that going with three difficult away games coming up to end the regular season but we know the reward that is there for us potentially," said Clarke.

“Collectively we have the utmost respect for Ulster. They picked up an impressive win last weekend and they have their own reasons for needing the victory. It’s an important game for both teams.

“We know what we have to do, every game is crucial now, but we have to enjoy the challenge. The outlook in the squad is positive, there’s a collective belief in what we are trying to do, and an understanding of what in in store for us in Belfast on Friday night. It’s going to be tough, there’ll be a big passionate crowd there as there always is, and we fully respect the challenge ahead.”

The teams:

Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonny McPhillips, 9 John Cooney, 8 Sean Reidy, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tommy O'Toole, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Tommy Bowe

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Sam Davies, 23 James Hook

Date: Friday, April 13
Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andy Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Joy Neville (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)