PRO14 Preview: Saturday, Sunday
The PRO14‘s final round of 2018 throws up four fixtures on Saturday and one on Sunday, with Munster clashing with Leinster the pick of the action.
Following a narrow 10-8 win last week, Benetton will hope to make it back-to-back victories over Zebre at Stadio Monigo on Saturday.
Team news sees Jayden Hayward at full-back, Ratuva Tavuyara and Angelo Esposito on the wings while Ignacio Brex and Luca Morisi will be the centres.
The half-backs are Dewaldt Duvenage at scrum-half and Tommaso Allan at fly-half.
The front-row will consist of Derrick Appiah, Luca Bigi and Marco Riccioni, with Alessandro Zanni and Federico Ruzza the locks and Michele Lamaro, Abraham Steyn and captain Marco Barbini completing the XV in the back-row.
Meanwhile, Zebre have made three changes as they look to bounce back from that painful home defeat.
Two changes come in the pack as hooker Luhandre Luus will start while flanker Apisai Tauyavuca is at openside.
The last alteration sees Josh Renton get the nod at nine alongside fly-half Carlo Canna.
The teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Michele Lamaro, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Derrick Appiah
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Irné Herbst, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti
Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 James Elliott, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Joshua Renton, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Apisai Tauyavuca, 6 Maxime MbandĂ , 5 George Biagi, 4 David Sisi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Luhandre Luus, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Samuele Ortis, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 James Brown
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
Television match official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Dave Rennie has made six changes to his starting XV as Glasgow Warriors prepare to face Edinburgh for the second time in seven days.
The capital side won the opening fixture 23-7 at Murrayfield and Saturday’s sold-out game at Scotstoun is the second of three derby games this season with the teams facing off again in Glasgow in April.
Alex Dunbar is involved for the first time since starting against Saracens in the Champions Cup back in October.
He starts in midfield alongside Pete Horne who made his 150th appearance for the club in Edinburgh last weekend.
Ali Price starts alongside Adam Hastings and Niko Matawalu also comes into the starting XV, with Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg completing the backline.
Co-captain Ryan Wilson returns and fellow skipper Callum Gibbins joins him in the back-row alongside Matt Fagerson.
Tim Swinson is brought in to join Jonny Gray in the second-row while D’Arcy Rae starts at tighthead. Oli Kebble and Grant Stewart are the other front-row forwards.
Meanwhile, Scotland international back-row Jamie Ritchie will return to Edinburgh’s starting XV.
The inclusion of Ritchie – who missed the capital club’s last two fixtures through injury – is the only alteration to the side that defeated Glasgow at Murrayfield last weekend.
The teams:
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Sam Johnson, 23 DTH van der Merwe
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 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Venue: Scotstoun
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), David Sutherland (Scotland)
Television match official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Munster vs Leinster
Munster head coach Johann van Graan has made 12 changes to the side beaten by Ulster last week as CJ Stander captains them against Leinster.
Jean Kleyn keeps his place to make his 50th appearance for the province.
Mike Haley continues at full-back with wingers Andrew Conway and Keith Earls completing the back three.
Rory Scannell and Dan Goggin form the midfield partnership with Conor Murray and Joey Carbery in the half-backs.
Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and John Ryan start in the front-row as Kleyn is joined by Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.
Fineen Wycherley keeps his place in the back-row with Chris Cloete and Stander completing the starting XV.
Meanwhile, Leo Cullen has made a number of changes from the Leinster team that recorded a bonus-point win against Connacht last Saturday at the RDS Arena.
Jordan Larmour comes in at full-back and with James Lowe coming in on the left wing, Dave Kearney moves across to the right wing from last week.
Rory O’Loughlin is again selected in midfield but shifts inside with Garry Ringrose coming in at 13.
There is a new pair in the half-backs with Luke McGrath partnering captain Johnny Sexton.
It’s an historic evening for Clontarf man Cian Healy as the 31-year-old loosehead prop runs out for his 200th cap for Leinster.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander (c), 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Fineen Wycherley, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Darren Sweetnam
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Rory O’Loughlin, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Noel Reid
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Jonny Erskine (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Scarlets have been able to call on the expertise of full-back Leigh Halfpenny for Saturday’s clash against his former side Cardiff Blues.
Having suffered a concussion against Australia during Wales‘ November campaign, Halfpenny has been unavailable for the region but makes a welcome return to action.
With Halfpenny returning Johnny McNicholl retains his place wing with Rhys Patchell unavailable after suffering a hamstring injury last weekend. Gareth Davies and Hadleigh Parkes retain their half-back partnership with Jonathan Davies and Kieron Fonotia in midfield. Tom Prydie joins McNicholl and Halfpenny in the back-three.
Following Jake Ball’s shoulder injury against the Ospreys Josh Helps comes in to the second-row alongside David Bulbring with the remainder of the pack remains unchanged.
Cardiff Blues have made three changes for Saturday’s PRO14 encounter, as they target back-to-back victories in the crucial festive derbies.
Two of John Mulvihill’s changes come in the pack, with both Brad Thyer and George Earle re-introduced into the starting line-up, as back-row Olly Robinson is named on the bench.
The only other change to the starting XV sees experienced scrum-half, Lloyd Williams, given the nod at number nine, replacing Tomos Williams.
Newly-appointed captain, Kristian Dacey, will lead the side at Parc y Scarlets, as Josh Turnbull, Josh Navidi and Nick Williams are named in a physical back-row combination.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 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 Josh Helps, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tom Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Paul Asquith
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Garyn Smith, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Seb Davies, 4 George Earle, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey (c), 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 James Down, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Matthew Morgan
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
Television match official: Ian Davies (Wales)
[playbuzz-item item=”9c95e814-329b-41e8-a601-ae4e5126b015″ info=”false” shares=”false” wp-pb-id=”670581″]
Sunday
Prop Aaron Jarvis will make his first PRO14 start of the season as he lines up to face his former team the Ospreys in the Welsh derby at Rodney Parade.
Jarvis replaces Lloyd Fairbrother in the front-row, while there are call-ups to the replacements bench for Dan Suter and James Benjamin.
Centre Adam Warren hits a memorable milestone in midfield as he plays his 100th game in the PRO14 alongside Jarryd Sage as the Dragons stick with the same centre pairing. Tyler Morgan misses the cut, despite his return to training this week.
Meanwhile, Ospreys name a side that includes George North, Scott Williams, Justin Tipuirc, Alun Wyn Jones and Scott Baldwin as they look to build on last week’s win over Scarlets.
Tipuric once again captains the team while Aled Davies and Sam Davies are retained as the half-back combination.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Aaron Wainwright, 6 Cory Hill (c), 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Gerard Ellis, 18 Dan Suter, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Jordan Williams
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 Rhodri Jones/Rowan Jenkins, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Luke Price/James Hook, 23 Cory Allen
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)