PRO14 Preview: Saturday, Sunday
Four games take place in the PRO14 on Saturday and Sunday, with Munster’s visit to Zebre the standout contest as the Irishmen look to keep the pressure on Glasgow in Conference A.
Saturday
Cheetahs head coach Franco Smith has announced his team for the clash with some changes from the last match against Munster at the start of the month.
Malcolm Jaer returns to the full-back spot, with Rhyno Smith on the right wing. William Small-Smith will be providing cover on the bench.
Justin Basson will be starting at lock, with Walt Steenkamp alongside him in the second-row.
Daniel Maartens is the starting number eight while Marnus van der Merwe replaces Reinach Venter on the bench as the back-up hooker.
Springbok scrum-half Rudi Paige will make his PRO14 debut when he sets foot onto the field.
Meanwhile, Benetton boss Kieran Crowley has named a much-changed starting line-up after they suffered a narrow loss to Ulster in their last match.
Angelo Esposito starts at full-back and he is joined on the wings by Marco Zanon and Monty Ioane. Tommaso Iannone and Ignacio Brex will be the centres.
In the half-backs, Dewaldt Duvenage starts at scrum-half and Ian McKinley will wear the number 10 jersey.
In the forwards, Nicola Quaglio and Giuseppe Di Stefano are the starting props and they pack down alongside Tomas Baravalle, who starts at hooker while Irné Herbst and Federico Ruzza will be the two locks.
Finally, the back-row sees captain Marco Barbini starting at number eight while Giovanni Pettinelli and Michele Lamaro are the two flankers.
The teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (c), 8 Daniel Maartens, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Sinthu Manjezi, 20 Abongile Nonkontwana, 21 Rudi Paige, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 William Small-Smith
Benetton: 15 Angelo Esposito, 14 Marco Zanon, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini (c), 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Giuseppe Di Stefano, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Alberto Sgarbi
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 14:30 local (12:30 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse (South Africa), Jaco Kotze (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Sunday
Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids has made five changes to his starting team that will take on Connacht in their Round 9 PRO14 clash.
The team sees one tweak to the backline, with four new faces in the forward pack to the side that narrowly lost to defending champions, Leinster, three weeks ago in their last outing.
The experienced vice-captain, Berton Klaasen, returns to the starting XV as he once again pairs up with Harlon Klaasen for the centre combination, replacing Tertius Kruger who will be on the bench.
A new-look front-row will see hooker Alandre van Rooyen being flanked by a new set of props in Lupumlo Mguca at loosehead and Nicolaas Oosthuizen at tighthead. The prop duo replace the injured Schalk Ferreira (fractured cheek) and Justin Forwood, who underwent surgery on his ankle this week.
A new loose trio will also see Cyril-John Velleman earn another starting berth at openside flanker, while Jurie van Vuuren will make his first appearance of the season on the blindside. Ruaan Lerm retains his spot at number eight.
Meanwhile, Connacht’s record try-scorer Matt Healy has recovered from injury to take his place on the wing against the Kings in Port Elizabeth.
Connacht have been based in Cape Town for the past week ahead of the game and are on a tour that will include a visit to Bloemfontein to take on the Cheetahs next weekend.
Healy returns to a back three that includes Cian Kelleher on the opposite wing and Tiernan O’Halloran at full-back. With Bundee Aki unavailable through his involvement in the November internationals, Kyle Godwin and Tom Farrell form the midfield while the half-back pairing sees fly-half Jack Carty and Caolin Blade renew their partnership.
Loosehead Denis Buckley, tighthead Conor Carey and hooker with Shane Delahunt make up the front-row trio. In the second-row Ultan Dillane and James Cannon are named in the starting XV while Gavin Thornbury has returned from injury and is named among the replacements.
The back-row includes Sean O’Brien and Colby Fainga’a at blindside and openside respectively while captain Jarrad Butler starts again at eight.
The teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Cyril-John Velleman, 5 JC Astle (c), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Lupumlo Mguca
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 Martinus Burger, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tertius Kruger
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Jarrad Butler (c), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 James Mitchell, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Darragh Leader
Venue: Madibaz Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 15:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Paul Mente (South Africa), Ruhan Meiring (South Africa)
TMO: Sean Veldsman (South Africa)
Zebre v Munster
Conor Murray, Chris Farrell and Conor Oliver make their return to Munster’s matchday squad and are all named on the bench, while Ronan O’Mahony makes his first appearance of the 2018/19 season.
Tyler Bleyendaal continues his captaincy from inside centre and Academy player Gavin Coombes makes his first start in the PRO14.
There are several changes to the starting XV who claimed a 30-26 win over the Cheetahs in South Africa earlier this month.
Mike Haley continues at full-back as O’Mahony returns on the right wing with Alex Wootton maintaining his position on the opposite flank.
Rory Scannell starts in the 13 shirt with Bleyendaal completing the centre partnership. Neil Cronin and JJ Hanrahan combine in the half-backs.
The pack sees Jeremy Loughman, Kevin O’Byrne and Stephen Archer in the front row with Fineen Wycherley and Darren O’Shea partnering in the second-row. Coombes is joined by Chris Cloete and Arno Botha in the back-row.
Meanwhile, Zebre have included new signing Jamie Elliott on the wing while another new arrival, scrum-half Josh Renton, makes their bench.
Zebre lost their most recent PRO14 game 37-0 at Cardiff Blues on November 4 so will be looking to bounce back on home turf this week.
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Gabriele Di Giulio, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Riccardo Raffaele, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Maxime Mbandà, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 David Sisi (c), 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 George Biagi, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Josh Renton, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Ronan O’Mahony, 13 Rory Scannell, 12 Tyler Bleyendaal (c), 11 Alex Wootton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Gavin Coombes, 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Sean O’Connor, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Chris Farrell
Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 16:30 local (15:30 GMT)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Fin Brown (Scotland), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Dave Pearson (Scotland)
Centre Tyler Morgan returns from international duty with Wales to be named in the Dragons’ starting line-up for this encounter.
Morgan, who last week scored a try for his country against Tonga, comes into the midfield as Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman makes five changes to the team that faced Connacht last time out.
Jared Rosser is named on the right wing after recovering from injury while Hallam Amos, who also returns from his time in the Wales camp, moves to the other flank.
Three changes in the pack include a welcome return for back-row dynamo Ollie Griffiths, who starts at number eight for the league encounter.
Lock Rynard Landman is handed a recall in the second-row while the final change sees Ryan Bevington at loosehead prop, where he packs down alongside skipper Richard Hibbard.
Wales international Leon Brown returns on the bench while fit-again duo Arwel Robson and Brandon Nansen join scrum-half Rhodri Davies and back-row James Benjamin among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Scotland internationalists Ben Toolis and Darcy Graham return to Edinburgh’s starting XV as head coach Richard Cockerill makes three changes to his team.
The capped duo are named in the starting line-up alongside Italian international prop Pietro Ceccarelli, who makes his first start for the club after featuring from the bench against Zebre and Scarlets in recent weeks.
In the back-three, Dougie Fife retains his place at full-back and starts alongside wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Graham, with the latter returning to domestic action after making his Scotland debut against Wales earlier this month.
An unchanged centre pairing sees Chris Dean and James Johnstone once again line-up in midfield, whilst Henry Pyrgos – who is named captain – and Simon Hickey continue at half-back.
In the front-row, hooker Ross Ford packs down alongside props Pierre Schoeman – a try-scorer in the recent win over Scarlets – and Ceccarelli, with up-and-coming locks James Hodgson and Callum Hunter-Hill named in the second-row.
The inclusion of Scotland internationalist, Toolis – who is named at the unfamiliar position of blindside flanker – is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-row as Ally Miller and Luke Hamilton keep their place in the starting XV.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Lewis Evans, 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (c), 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Rhodri Davies, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Adam Warren
Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Ally Miller, 6 Ben Toolis, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 James Hodgson, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Callum Atkinson, 20 Lewis Wynne, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)