PRO14 Preview: Saturday, Sunday
Four PRO14 games take place on Saturday and Sunday, with the 1872 Cup clash between Edinburgh and Glasgow at Murrayfield the standout match.
Saturday
Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has made changes to the side that faced Ulster in last weekend’s Champions Cup clash as he looks to refocus the group and build momentum in the PRO14 with one eye on the push to play-offs.
Scarlets are currently sat in joint second position in Conference B needing to keep the pressure on leaders Leinster as well as open up a gap on those chasing their tails.
Rhys Patchell moves to full-back for Saturday’s derby clash with Hadleigh Parkes slotting in at fly-half. Johnny McNicholl, who will make his 50th appearance, moves to the left wing with Tom Prydie on the right. Kieron Fonotia returns to the midfield, alongside Jonathan Davies, after sitting out last weekend with a leg injury.
Up front loosehead prop Rob Evans returns to action after suffering an ankle injury in the European campaign against Ulster at Parc y Scarlets whilst the remainder of the front and second-row remain unchanged.
Ed Kennedy is cleared to play after following concussion protocol, James Davies returns from a toe injury and Will Boyde moves across to number eight with Uzair Cassiem the latest back-row injury (shoulder).
Meanwhile, Ospreys have named a side that includes several Wales internationals, with Aled Davies and Sam Davies their starting half-backs.
Dan Evans, George North and Luke Morgan form the back-three while Owen Watkin and Scott Williams are in midfield for the Liberty Stadium clash.
Up front Scott Baldwin is at hooker while Alun Wyn Jones partners up with Adam Beard at lock. Justin Tipuric leads the side from the flank.
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Rowan Jenkins, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 James Hook, 23 Keelan Giles
Scarlets: 15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Kieron Fonotia, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Hadleigh Parkes, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Will Boyde, 7 James Davies, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Evans
Date: Saturday, December 22
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Tom Spurrier (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors
Edinburgh second-row Ben Toolis will make his 100th appearance for the club in the first leg of this season’s 1872 Cup derby against Glasgow.
An unchanged back-three sees Scotland international full-back Blair Kinghorn line up alongside wingers Duhan van der Merwe – a try-scorer in last Sunday’s Champions Cup win over Newcastle Falcons – and Darcy Graham.
Chris Dean is once again named at inside centre alongside James Johnstone, who retains his place in the starting XV after scoring in Sunday’s 21-8 win over the Falcons.
Jaco van der Walt – who knocked over 11 points with his boot in his last outing for the capital side – is partnered by experienced scrum-half Henry Pyrgos at half-back.
The inclusion of Pierre Schoeman at loosehead prop is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged front-row as captain Stuart McInally packs down alongside WP Nel.
Experienced locks Toolis and Grant Gilchrist continue in the second-row, whilst an unchanged back-row sees the PRO14’s leading ball carrier Luke Hamilton continue at blindside flanker alongside Hamish Watson and Fijian international number eight Bill Mata.
Meanwhile, Pete Horne will play his 150th game for Glasgow Warriors in the 1872 Cup first leg.
He starts again this weekend, at inside centre with Nick Grigg outside of him in midfield.
His younger brother George starts at scrum-half with Adam Hastings his half-back partner, both fresh from signing new contracts with the club this week.
DTH van der Merwe returns to the starting XV, joining Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg in the back-three.
Grant Stewart, who signed his first professional contract with the club this week, joins Oli Kebble and Siua Halanukonuka in the front-row.
Rob Harley and Jonny Gray start in the engine room, while Adam Ashe returns to the back-row alongside captain Callum Gibbins and Matt Fagerson.
Niko Matawalu is named among the replacements, the Fijian has scored seven tries in his last four games.
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Rob Harley, 3 Siua Halanukonuka, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Ali Price, 22 Huw Jones 23 Niko Matawalu
Date: Saturday, December 22
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Keith Allen (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Hugo Keenan gets his third start of the season for Leinster with the Academy back lining out up at full-back with try scorer from last week Adam Byrne on the right wing and Dave Kearney on the left.
Another Academy player Conor O’Brien starts at inside centre with last week’s man of the match Rory O’Loughlin outside him.
Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne are the starting half-backs for boss Leo Cullen.
In the pack Peter Dooley, Bryan Byrne and Michael Bent are in the front-row with former Connacht player Mick Kearney and Scott Fardy behind them in the second-row.
Rhys Ruddock captains the side from the blindside with Dan Leavy selected at openside and finally Caelan Doris selected at eight.
Meanwhile, Connacht head coach Andy Friend has made a total of 10 changes to the side that won away to Perpignan in the Challenge Cup.
Included in the starting side are internationals Finlay Bealham and Ultan Dillane as Bundee Aki is named among the replacements.
Bealham comes back into a front-row that sees Denis Buckley returning at loosehead and Tom McCartney retained at hooker. In the second-row Dillane will line up alongside Gavin Thornbury with James Cannon named among the replacements.
Captain Jarrad Butler comes back into the side at blindside alongside Colby Fainga’a and Paul Boyle at number eight.
Jack Carty and Caolin Blade renew their half-back partnership, while the back three sees Darragh Leader come in for Matt Healy who picked up a knock in training during the week, with Cian Kelleher named on the opposite wing with Tiernan O’Halloran at full-back. The midfield pairing of Tom Farrell and Kyle Godwin completes the side.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Conor O’Brien, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Noel Reid
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Darragh Leader, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Jarrad Butler (c), 5 Gavin Thornbury, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 James Cannon, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 James Mitchell, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Bundee Aki
Date: Saturday, December 22
Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Rob O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Sunday
Zebre head coach Michael Bradley has made three changes to the side that defeated Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup last weekend.
Captain Tommaso Castello starts after being named on the bench against the Russian outfit and he partners Giulio Bisegni at centre.
The final alteration comes at scrum-half as the club’s most capped player Guglielmo Palazzani is named in the XV.
In the pack, Oliviero Fabiani becomes Zebre’s fourth ever centurion after Palazzani, tighthead prop Dario Chistolini and former loosehead Andrea De Marchi.
Meanwhile, Benetton boss Kieran Crowley has selected Jayden Hayward at full-back and he will partner Ratuva Tavuyara and the dangerous Monty Ioane in the back three.
Dewaldt Duvenage and Ian McKinley are the half-back combination, while the back-row consists of captain Marco Barbini, Abraham Steyn and Sebastian Negri.
The experienced Alessandro Zanni features at lock alongside Federico Ruzza and they pack down behind Marco Riccioni, Hame Faiva and Nicola Quaglio.
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 James Elliott, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Giovanni Licata, 5 George Biagi, 4 David Sisi, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Maxime Mbandà, 21 Joshua Renton, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Tommaso Boni
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Michele Lamaro, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Tommaso Allan
Date: Sunday, December 22
Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy) Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)