PRO14 Preview: Saturday
There’s five games scheduled in the PRO14 on Saturday as Scarlets play host to reigning champions Leinster in the pick of the matches.
Number eight Ross Moriarty will make his Dragons debut as the Men of Gwent battle Southern Kings at Rodney Parade on Saturday.
Wales international Moriarty missed the opening game of the season through suspension, but is called up as head coach Bernard Jackman makes five changes to his starting line-up for the visit of the South Africans.
A new-look front-row sees prop Brok Harris and hooker Elliot Dee named, as they pack down with Leon Brown.
Lock Matthew Screech is named in the second-row alongside captain Cory Hill.
The final change is at fly-half where Josh Lewis will make his first PRO14 start for Dragons, replacing the injured Gavin Henson. Fly-half Arwel Robson is named among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Kings head coach Deon Davids has made four changes to the team for their second round fixture.
The changes include a first starting berth for the experienced Springbok Bjorn Basson, who will run on in the 11 jersey.
Other changes will see one of the Southern Kings’ longest-serving players, Andisa Ntsila, making a return to the starting XV after he came off the bench last weekend against Zebre following an unfortunate injury that kept him out of action in the latter part of last season.
In a rotational change, Stephan de Wit replaces Brandon Brown at flank.
A positional switch in the backline will see Yaw Penxe, who started on the left wing last week, moving to full-back to replace Michael Botha.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Huw Taylor, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Adam Warren
Kings: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klassen, 12 Berton Klassen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Masixole Banda, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Stephan De Wit, 5 Bobby De Wee, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Lupumlo Mguca, 19 John-Charles Astle, 20 Ruaan Lerm, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Martin Du Toit, 23 Ulrich Beyers
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Back-row Sean O’Brien and lock Gavin Thornbury have both returned from injury and are named in Andy Friend’s Connacht side to face Zebre at the Sportsground.
Centre Eoin Griffin and lock Quinn Roux, who came off the bench last week, are the other two changes to the side that lost by the narrowest of margins to Glasgow in Round One.
O’Brien comes into a back-row that includes captain Jarrad Butler at openside and Academy player Paul Boyle, who moves to numer eight for his second start of the season. New signing Colby Fainga’a increases Connacht’s back-row options as he is named among the replacements for the visit of the Italians.
Caolin Blade and Jack Carty continue their half-back partnership with returning Irish international Kieran Marmion also named on the bench.
In form winger Cian Kelleher is named in a back three that includes Matt Healy on the opposite wing and Tiernan O’Halloran at full-back.
Meanwhile the Zebre coaching staff have made four changes, two in the backs and two in the forwards.
In the backs Edoardo Padovani will start at full-back instead of Matteo Minozzi, who was injured during this season opener against the Southern Kings. The Italian international has undergone surgery on his right knee this week in Rome and will face a long recovery after his ACL ligament lesion.
The other new face in the Zebre backline is the Italian-Argentine centre Nicolas de Battista. The former Cornish Pirates captain will make his official debut in the PRO14 starting in the number 12 jersey.
In the pack, the Tongan flanker Matu Tevi will gain his PRO14 debut while young tighthead prop Giosué Zilocchi gets his first start in the tournament.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Conán O’Donnell, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 James Cannon, 20 Colby Fainga’a, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Niyi Adeolokun
Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Nicolas De Battista, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Matu Tevi, 5 George Biagi (c), 4 David Sisi, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Tommaso Boni
Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Fin Brown (Scotland), John Carvill (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Ospreys will be looking to make it two wins out of two in the PRO14 this season when they face the Cheetahs at Liberty Stadium.
They make two changes to their backline as Tom Williams comes in on the wing for Hanno Dirksen while Sam Davies replaces the injured Luke Price at fly-half.
In the pack it’s the same eight that beat Edinburgh with Ospreys head coach Allen Clarke keen to back up last week’s win.
“It was great to kick off the Guinness PRO14 season with a win against Edinburgh last weekend. A tough encounter with no quarter given by either team, the result was great for the whole squad, reflecting the efforts of all the players and management who’ve worked tirelessly throughout the summer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cheetahs head coach Franco Smith has announced his team for Saturday’s match.
Oupa Mohoje has been sidelined after suffering an ACL tear in his right knee sustained in last week’s game against Munster. He is expected to be out of action for nine months.
Gerhard Olivier has joined the team in Swansea and will be providing cover on the bench for Aidon Davis.
Shaun Venter will be leading the side onto the field for this match, with the Cheetahs travelling back to South Africa on Sunday for their Round 3 match against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday, 15 September in Bloemfontein.
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Tom Williams, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 James Hook, 23 Joe Thomas
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ernst Stapelberg/Marnus van der Merwe, 23 Ryno Eksteen
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Gareth John (Wales)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Scarlets welcome champions Leinster to Parc y Scarlets in their first home game of the season, looking to bounce back from last week’s loss.
Despite injury fears earlier this week head coach Wayne Pivac has named a strong starting line-up side to take on the Irishmen on Saturday.
Five internationals – Leigh Halfpenny, Johnny McNicholl, Hadleigh Parkes, Samson Lee and Jake Ball – have been cleared fit for a return to action and will line up in the XV.
Meanwhile, a number of Leinster players come back into the squad from the team that accounted for Cardiff Blues by a point last Friday.
Jordan Larmour comes into the team at full-back with Fergus McFadden and James Lowe completing the back three.
The centre pairing will see Robbie Henshaw and Rory O’Loughlin in the 12 and 13 jersey respectively. It will be Henshaw’s 25th appearance for Leinster.
In the half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park gets his first start of the season having come off the bench last week, while Ross Byrne is again named at number 10 after his Man of the Match performance last week.
It’s a front-row of Irish internationals with Cian Healy, Seán Cronin and Tadhg Furlong packing down with Devin Toner and Ian Nagle in the second-row behind.
In the back-row Josh Murphy again starts in the number six jersey with Rhys Ruddock again captaining the side from openside flanker. Finally Jack Conan starts at number eight to complete the pack on the occasion of his 75th cap.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Josh Macleod, 7 James Davies, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Ed Kennedy, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Paul Asquith, 23 Ioan Nicholas
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Rhys Ruddock, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Joe Tomane
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television match official: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Benetton Rugby vs Cardiff Blues
Jayden Hayward will be at full-back while Ratuva Tavuyara and Monty Ioane will be on the wings for Benetton when they face Cardiff Blues on Saturday.
Tommaso Benvenuti and Luca Morisia form the midfield while Tito Tebaldi is scrum-half and Tommaso Allan is at fly-half.
The front-row will consist of Nicola Quaglio, Hame Faiva and Tiziano Pasquali.
Locks will be Marco Fuser and captain Dean Budd. Finally, the back-row sees Abraham Steyn, Sebastian Negri and Robert Barbieri completing the XV.
Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues have made one change for Saturday’s encounter and have been boosted by an international trio returning among the replacements.
George Earle replaces Seb Davies, who picked up a knee injury in the agonising 33-32 last gasp defeat to Leinster last weekend.
The pack is otherwise unchanged and head coach John Mulvihill has given the same backline a nod of approval for the Stadio Monigo clash.
But there are three further changes among the replacements with Wales internationals Dillon Lewis, Josh Navidi and Gareth Anscombe all included.
The teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Marco Zanon
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Owen Lane, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Josh Navidi, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Garyn Smith
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 20:35 local (19:35 BST, 18:35 GMT)
Referee: Seán Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Television match official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)