PRO14 Preview: Friday
Three matches take place in Round Three of the PRO14 on Friday as Edinburgh, Ulster and Dragons host Treviso, Scarlets and Connacht respectively.
Edinburgh v Treviso
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has made six changes to the starting XV that beat the Dragons last weekend.
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne is the only alteration in an otherwise unchanged back-line. The 24-year-old scrum-half is replaced by Nathan Fowles, who has featured off the bench in the first two games of the season so far.
At hooker, Ross Ford replaces the injured Stuart McInally and will make his 178th appearance in the black and red. He will pack-down alongside Michele Rizzo and Simon Berghan – who rotates in for Scottish international WP Nel.
Anton Bresler is the only change to the second row as he replaces Grant Gilchrist. The back row sees two changes as John Hardie and Cornell du Preez come in for Hamish Watson and last weekend’s man-of-the-match, Jamie Ritchie.
On his selection, Cockerill said: “We know that Benetton are going to be a tough side to break down. We need to make sure that we are accurate and physical, and that we treat them with the respect they are due.
“It’s an important game for us – the guys that have come into the side are really good players and it’s great that we are able to use the depth of our squad. We hope the guys who have come in can create competition for places.
“It’s another important game for us that we’re desperate to win. We had great support from those that came to watch us against Dragons last weekend and hopefully it will be the same again tomorrow night at Myrseside.”
Meanwhile, Treviso head coach Kieran Crowley has made six changes to his run-on side. In the back-line, there is just one tweak with Edoardo Gori taking over from Tito Tebaldi at scrum-half.
In the forwards, Dean Budd returns to captain the side and he takes over from Whetu Douglas at number eight while Abraham Steyn replaces Sebastian Negri on the openside flank.
There's a brand new front row with Tiziano Pasquali and Alberto De Marchi the starting props and Engjel Makelara lines up at hooker. They replace Simone Ferrari, Federico Zani and Luca Bigi respectively.
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Robbie Fruean, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 John Hardie, 6 Magnus Bradbury (c), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Simon Berghan, 1 Michele Rizzo
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 WP Nel, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Junior Rasolea
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Tommaso Allan, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Dean Budd (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Engjel Makelara, 1 Alberto De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Federico Zani, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Luca Sperandio, 23 Marco Zanon
Date: Friday, September 15
Venue: Myreside
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Dunx McClement (Scotland)
Ulster v Scarlets
Veteran flanker Chris Henry returns to the starting XV and will captain the Ulster side for this fixture, which will be played five years to the day since former Ulster player Nevin Spence passed away, along with his father Noel and brother Graham.
There are three more new faces to the team, with Luke Marshall, Kyle McCall and Alan O'Connor also selected.
The latter pair will join Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst and Kieran Treadwell in the tight five, while Sean Reidy and Jean Deysel will accompany their skipper in the back row.
John Cooney, Man of the Match in last Saturday's win versus Treviso, will line up at scrum-half with Christian Lealiifano again named as his halfback partner. Marshall comes in to wear the number 13 jersey, outside Stuart McCloskey in an Irish international midfield.
There are no changes to the back three as Andrew Trimble, who crossed for two tries against the Italians last weekend, is retained alongside Jacob Stockdale and Louis Ludik.
Ballymena RFC clubmen John Andrew, Andy Warwick and Matty Rea, who earned his first start last week, are named among the replacements with fellow forwards Rodney Ah You and Robbie Diack.
Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson and Tommy Bowe, with 386 appearances between them, will provide experienced backline options for Kiss and his coaching team.
Meanwhile, Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has named his side to take on Ulster in the third round of the Guinness PRO14 and has included all three of the region's Lions in the matchday 23.
Meanwhile, British and Irish lions hooker Ken Owens returns to lead the Scarlets as he prepares for his first appearance in a regional jersey since the emphatic victory over regional rivals Ospreys at the Parc in May.
Owens slots in to the front row alongside international props Rob Evans and Samson Lee whilst Welsh international Jake Ball returns to the line-up after last week's break to partner Irish lock Tadhg Beirne.
The back row, of Aaron Shingler, Will Boyde and John Barclay, who were so effective against Zebre last weekend remain unchanged.
The only change of personnel in the back-line is the return of Lion Leigh Halfpenny with one positional change that sees Jonny Mcnicholl move across to the wing.
Centre Jonathan Davies, who was named Lion of the Series in New Zealand after playing every minute of every test, will look to make a return to Scarlets action from the replacements bench.
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Chris Henry (c), 5 Alan O'Connor, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Kyle McCall
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Matthew Rea, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Peter Nelson, 23 Tommy Bowe
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny Mcnicholl, 13 Hadleigh Parkes, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 John Barclay, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Rhys Jones, 23 Jonathan Davies
Date: Friday, September 15
Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Vincenzo Schipani (Italy), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)
Dragons v Connacht
The Dragons have had a double boost for this match as Welsh international back-row Ollie Griffiths returns along with South African scrum-half Sarel Pretorius.
The young flanker will make his first appearance of the season for the Welsh region following a summer tour with Wales, after making his debut for his county against Tonga.
Dragons forwards coach Ceri Jones is looking forward to Griffiths' return.
"Ollie was outstanding last year for us so to have him back in the mix is great. We just want him to put consistent performances in for us, then it's down to the Welsh selectors to have a look at him," he said.
"If you look at Ollie as an athlete I think there are not many better than him in Wales.
"It would be a huge challenge for him taking that step up to international rugby but I feel he is ready for it. I like Ollie a lot as a player and a person.”
Including Pretorius and Griffiths, Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman has made three personnel changes and two positional changes to the team that lost out to Edinburgh at Myreside last weekend.
With no changes made to the back three, it's Jack Dixon who joins Tyler Morgan in the centre partnership. The half-backs also have one change as fly-half Gavin Henson is joined by scrum-half Pretorius.
Both the front row and second row are unchanged however the back row sees Harrison Keddie swap places with James Benjamin, as he moves to flanker and Benjamin moves to number eight. They are joined in the back row by Griffiths.
The replacements bench sees five changes made, with the inclusion of Gerard Ellis and Robson Blake who are set to make their first Guinness PRO14 appearances.
Connacht head coach Kieran Keane has made seven changes to his starting side that secured a bonus-point win against the Southern Kings last week.
Rory Scholes, Caolin Blade, Denis Coulson, Conor Carey, Quinn Roux and Jake Heenan all come into the side for their first starts of the season as Eoghan Masterson comes back in for his second start.
Scholes is set to make his competitive debut for the province on the wing in place of Matt Healy.
Blade is included in the side at scrum-half in place of Irish international Kieran Marmion, who is named among the replacements.
The other five changes are in the pack with two alterations in the front row. Coulson makes his first start for Connacht at loosehead prop after coming off the bench to make his debut in the win over the Kings with Carey starting at tighthead prop.
Ireland internationals Roux and Heenan also come into the side for their first starts of the season with Roux in the second row and Heenan in the back row.
Masterson, a try-scorer off the bench last week, replaces the injured Sean O'Brien.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 James Benjamin, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Robson Blake, 21 Owain Leonard, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Jared Rosser
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Darragh Leader, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 James Cannon, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Steve Crosbie, 23 Eoin Griffin
Date: Friday, September 15
Venue: Rodney Parade
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Rhys Thomas (Wales)
TMO: Clayton Thomas (Wales)