PRO14 Preview: Tuesday

Three games take place on Boxing Day with the big clash between the two giants of Irish rugby, Munster and Leinster, the highlight of the day.

Dragons v Cardiff Blues

These two regions battle it out against each other as they return to the PRO14 after two weeks of matches in the Challenge Cup competition.

The Dragons' back three has one change made to it as wing Pat Howard returns to the starting XV with fellow wing Ashton Hewitt and full-back Hallam Amos. The centre partnership remains unchanged as Adam Warren and Jack Dixon retain their places as well as the half-backs Gavin Henson and young scrum-half Dan Babos.

The front-row sees ex-Cardiff Blues player Sam Hobbs named alongside fellow prop Lloyd Fairbrother and last weekend’s man-of-the-match, hooker Elliot Dee. The second-row sees Joe Davies named with skipper Cory Hill, whilst the back-row has Aaron Wainwright and James Benjamin selected as flanker with James Sheekey getting the nod as number eight.

Speaking ahead of the game, Dragons fly-half Gavin Henson said: “It’s been a while since I’ve been involved in them, so it’s nice to be back home.

“The Blues is a massive one for this region, there’s a bit of niggle there and I can gauge that from the boys already. That’s the big one for us, we are looking forward to that one and then it’s nice to have the Ospreys at home as well (on New Year’s Eve).

“We’ve played against them away and hopefully we can learn from the mistakes and how we let ourselves down and put it right.

“I remember Swansea v Llanelli and they were great days, so I am looking to this one and seeing what the Rodney Parade crowd will be like. They have been great all season so far so with a full house it will be amazing!”

The replacements bench includes prop Nicky Thomas who is set to make his first start for the Dragons.

Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues have made two changes for the PRO14 derby.

Following a hard-fought victory over Sale Sharks to remain top of their Challenge Cup pool, the Blues now enter a testing period of three consecutive Welsh derbies, starting at Rodney Parade on Tuesday.

In the backs Rey Lee-Lo replaces Willis Halaholo at centre, while up front Olly Robinson returns at openside flanker after he was released back from Bristol early, with Macauley Cook moving into the second-row and Josh Navidi to the blindside.

Wales' capital region have triumphed on the last five occasions against the Dragons but head coach Danny Wilson is under no illusion of the challenge ahead at a packed out Rodney Parade.

He said: "Facing our local rivals on Boxing Day, at a sold out Rodney Parade will be a great occasion and a great challenge for us.

"The Dragons are playing well at home and while we've had some good wins at the Arms Park the challenge now is to do it on the road.

"After beating Sale Sharks last week to stay top of our group in Europe we have a bit of momentum going into this period of three derbies in 11 days. It will certainly impact selection and test squad depth but we have a couple of players back or nearing a return.

"Having said that every time we have given an opportunity to young players they have stepped up and we will continue to reward good performances."

Gethin Jenkins, who pulled out of last week's victory over Sale, is set for a return to action after being named among the replacements, while Tom James is also included following short-term injury.

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Dan Babos, 8 James Sheekey, 7 James Benjamin, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Ben Roach, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Jared Rosser

Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Macauley Cook, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Tom James

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)

Munster v Leinster

Munster head coach Johann van Graan makes four changes to the side that defeated Leicester in the Champions Cup last weekend for their sold-out Interprovincial derby against Leinster at Thomond Park.

Returning to the side are Rhys Marshall and Andrew Conway with both players successfully completing their return to play protocols.

Keith Earls and Tommy O’Donnell are also named to start for the first time since Connacht in round seven.

In the back three, Earls takes the place of Alex Wootton on the wing while Conway replaces Simon Zebo at full-back, joining Darren Sweetnam who once again retains the number 14 jersey.

The midfield paring of Rory Scannell and Sammy Arnold, and half-backs of Conor Murray and Ian Keatley are as they were.

O’Donnell completes an international back-row that includes last week’s try scorer CJ Stander and captain Peter O’Mahony who becomes the latest player to make 100 appearances for the province.

Kleyn and Holland continue their second row partnership as Marshall joins the unchanged props of Dave Kicoyne and Stephen Archer.

Named in the replacements is James Cronin who is returning from a calf injury sustained while playing for the Barbarians against Tonga in November.

Meanwhile, Leinster Academy back Jordan Larmour makes his first senior start against Munster from full-back with Barry Daly returning from ankle injury to take his place on the right wing.

On the left wing new signing James Lowe makes his second appearance in blue after his two-try debut in Italy a few weeks ago.

Robbie Henshaw and Rory O’Loughlin are selected in the centre together for the second time this season. They last started a game together in the centre in the corresponding fixture at the Aviva Stadium in October. O’Loughlin scored two tries in that game.

Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne are the half-backs for the Round 11 clash.

In the pack Jack McGrath captains the side for the first time ever. The St Mary’s club man who has played 121 times for Leinster and 42 times for Ireland is joined in the front row by fellow internationals James Tracy and Michael Bent.

In the second-row Devin Toner and James Ryan will start with Jordi Murphy, Dan Leavy and Jack Conan completing the pack.

The teams:

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Simon Zebo

Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Barry Daly, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Jordi Murphy, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath (c)
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Noel Reid

Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Scarlets v Ospreys

Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has named his side to take on the Ospreys at Parc y Scarlets on Boxing Day.

Four changes have been made to the side that secured a bonus-point victory over Benetton Rugby in the European Rugby Champions Cup last weekend. Hadleigh Parkes comes back in to the starting line-up to partner Scott Williams with Paul Asquith moving to the replacements bench.

Tadhg Beirne moves from the back-row to the second-row making way for Aaron Shingler’s return following a foot injury.

Speaking ahead of the game Pivac said; “Regardless of how the Ospreys are playing up until this particular match we’ve got nothing but respect for them because of the quality that they’ve got in their squad.

“They work very hard, they’re a very proud club and they’ve got the history to back that up. We’re preparing for a strong Ospreys opposition regardless of the side they put out. We know that they’re a formidable side when they bring their ‘A’ game.

“It will be a big day, we know that, and they’ve hit a bit of form in recent weeks.”

Meanwhile, the Ospreys have left both Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar on the bench as Tom Habberfield and Sam Davies earn starts for the derby.

Alun-Wyn Jones captains the side from lock alongside Bradley Davies while Wales internationals Dan Lydiate and Justin Tipuric join Olly Cracknell in the back-row.

The Ospreys are without Cory Allen, Dan Baker, Keelan Giles amongst others due to injury.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 John Barclay, 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Steven Cummins, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Paul Asquith

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Ben John, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Jeff Hassler, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Paul James, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Ashley Beck

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:35 GMT
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)