Tyler Bleyendaal to skipper Munster
Four PRO14 games take place on Saturday with Cheetahs, Dragons, Southern Kings and Cardiff Blues hosting Zebre, Munster, Edinburgh and Connacht respectively.
Cheetahs v Zebre
Cheetahs head coach Franco Smith has made some changes to his starting line-up which beat Zebre in the corresponding fixture earlier this month.
In the forwards, Smith has selected a new second-row with Sintu Manjezi and Walt Steenkamp coming into the run-on side with Justin Basson and JP du Preez providing cover on the bench.
In the back-row, Gerhard Oliver moves to number eight and Junior Pokomela to the openside flank.
This means Abongile Nonkontwana will be starting on the blindside flank with Niell Jordaan providing cover on the bench.
Meanwhile, Zebre head coach Michael Bradley has made seven changes to his starting line-up for this fixture.
It will be a special match for the Italian outfit’s captain George Biagi. The lock will earn his 100th official cap, becoming only the fifth centurion to play for the club.
South African Francois Brummer will start at full-back, while Tommaso Boni will remain at inside centre where he forms a midfield combination with Englishman James Elliott.
In the pack, Eduardo Bello and Daniele Rimpelli are the two props and Luhandre Luus starts at hooker.
Samuele Ortis packs down alohgside Biagi in the second-row while the back-row forwards consists of Jacopo Bianchi and Johan Meyer, are the two flankers, and Giovanni Licata, who starts at number eight.
The teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (c), 8 Gerhard Olivier, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Justin Basson, 20 JP du Preez, 21 Niell Jordaan, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Louis Fouche
Zebre: 15 Francois Brummer, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 James Elliott, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Gabriele Di Giulio, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Joshua Renton, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Iacopo Bianchi, 5 George Biagi (c), 4 Samuele Ortis, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Luhandre Luus, 1 Daniele Rimpelli
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 James Brown, 21 Riccardo Raffaele, 22 Maicol Azzolini, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti
Venue: Free State Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Ben Crouse (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Dragons v Munster
Fly-half Josh Lewis returns to the starting line-up as Dragons make changes for their clash with in-form Munster at Rodney Parade.
Dragons head coach Ceri Jones makes a total of six alterations to the side that faced Clermont in the Challenge Cup last time out as league hostilities resume.
A new-look centre partnership will see Tyler Morgan and Jack Dixon combine while talented wing Will Talbot-Davies is also back in the team. Full-back Jordan Williams is also recalled to face the Irish province.
The only change to the forwards is the return of Nic Cudd to the back-row. Hooker Richard Hibbard will again captain the side.
Recent recruit Rhys Fawcett, this week signed officially on loan from Scarlets, is named among the replacements alongside Wales U20 back-row Taine Basham and Lewis Evans.
Meanwhile, Munster head coach Johann van Graan has made 13 changes to his side that secured a record 18th Champions Cup quarter-final place in last week’s 9-7 win over Exeter Chiefs.
Tyler Bleyendaal captains the team from inside centre with full-back Mike Haley and lock Jean Kleyn the only starters from the Exeter clash to keep their places.
Darren Sweetnam and Ronan O’Mahony are named on the wings with Bleyendaal and Dan Goggin forming the centre partnership.
Alby Mathewson and Bill Johnston are named in the half-backs.
Jeremy Loughman, Rhys Marshall and Stephen Archer pack down in the front-row with Archer making his 180th appearance for the province.
Kleyn and Billy Holland start in the engine room with a back-row of Fineen Wycherley, Conor Oliver and Arno Botha completing the side.
Prop Liam O’Connor is in line to make his first PRO14 appearance of the season off the replacements bench after recovering from a long-term knee injury with Academy man Gavin Coombes also among the replacements.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Will Talbot-Davies, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (c), 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Dan Suter, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Rhodri Davies, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Zane Kirchner
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Tyler Bleyendaal (c), 11 Ronan O’Mahony, 10 Bill Johnston, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Fineen Wycherley, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Calvin Nash, 23 Jaco Taute
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Keith Allen (Scotland), Finn Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Dave Pearson (Scotland)
Southern Kings v Edinburgh
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has been boosted by the return of recent Scotland call-ups David Cherry, Luke Crosbie and Chris Dean for their visit to the Kings.
The uncapped trio – who were released from Scotland camp earlier this week – are named in the starting line-up as the team selection includes nine changes to the side that secured an historic Champions Cup victory against Montpellier last Friday.
Pierre Schoeman, Bill Mata, Henry Pyrgos, Jaco van der Walt, James Johnstone and Dean all retain their place in the starting XV as the capital side search for their second victory over their Conference B rivals this month.
Full-back Dougie Fife returns to action for the first time since being named as man of the match in the 38-0 victory over the Southern Kings three weeks ago.
The Scotland international is joined in the back-three by Tom Brown and James Johnstone, with the latter switching to the wing after nailing down the number 13 jersey in recent weeks.
Dean is partnered in midfield by Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy graduate, George Taylor, whilst an unchanged half-back paring sees Van der Walt once again link up with experienced scrum-half, Pyrgos.
Fijian international number eight, Mata – who this week was named as one of 15 nominees for EPCR European Player of the Year – anchors a back-row featuring Ally Miller and blindside flanker, Crosbie.
Meanwhile, the Southern Kings will potentially make six changes to their team that will run out at the Nelson Mandela University’s Madibaz Stadium on Saturday.
The backline will see one forced change at centre, where Berton Klaasen has been ruled out of action this week after sustaining an eye injury. His place in the starting XV will be taken by Harlon Klaasen.
The change will bring about a positional switch in the midfield which will see Tertius Kruger, who started at outside centre last week, donning the 12 jersey with Harlon Klaasen playing at outside centre.
Tighthead prop Luvuyo Pupuma will make a return to the starting line-up, replacing Nicolaas Oosthuizen.
Experienced former Italian international, Andries van Schalkwyk, will also start alongside captain JC Astle in the second-row, with Stephan Greeff going onto the bench.
Blindside flanker Martinus “Tienie” Burger will also start this week ahead of Henry “Bakkies” Brown, while number eight Andisa Ntsila returns to the starting XV in the place of Ruaan Lerm, who will not be part of the matchday squad this week due to personal reasons.
The teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Ntabeni Dukisa, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Cyril John Velleman, 5 John-Charles Astle (c), 4 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira/Alulutho Tshakweni
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Lupumlo Mguca, 18 Alulutho Tshakweni/Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 19 Stephan Greeff, 20 Henry Brown, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Bader Pretorius, 23 Meli Rokoua
Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Tom Brown, 13 George Taylor, 12 Chris Dean, 11 James Johnstone, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Ally Miller, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 Fraser McKenzie (c), 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 David Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Mungo Mason, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Venue: Madibaz Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry (South Africa), Ruhan Meiring (South Africa)
TMO: Sean Veldsman (South Africa)
Cardiff Blues v Connacht
Kristian Dacey returns to captain Cardiff Blues in Saturday’s crucial PRO14 encounter against Connacht at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Irish province currently sit five points ahead of the Blues in Conference A, as the race for European qualification heats up.
Dacey recovers from a shoulder injury and is one of eight changes made following last week’s bonus-point win over Lyon in the Champions Cup.
Shane Lewis-Hughes, who featured in recent European encounters against Glasgow Warriors and Lyon, makes his first start in the PRO14, alongside Olly Robinson and Nick Williams in the back-row.
Robinson steps into the number seven jersey, replacing Josh Navidi who is away on international duty, while Brad Thyer and George Earle are also introduced to the pack.
Steven Shingler and Lloyd Williams both return to form the half-back partnership, with Matthew Morgan the other change amongst the backline.
Meanwhile, Connacht head coach Andy Friend has given 21-year-old Cillian Gallagher his first start of the season.
Gallagher is one of 10 changes to the Connacht side that played Bordeaux last weekend, with six players away on international duty and Gavin Thornbury picking up a shoulder injury in training during the week.
In the front-row, Denis Buckley is named at loosehead alongside Finlay Bealham at tighthead and hooker Dave Heffernan, who signed a contract extension this week. Gallagher’s inclusion in the second-row sees him form a partnership with James Cannon, while in the back-row captain Jarrad Butler comes back into the side at number eight alongside flankers Eoin McKeon and Colby Fainga’a.
The half-back pairing sees James Mitchell coming in to partner David Horwitz who is retained at fly-half.
The back three sees Tiernan O’Halloran starting again at full-back with Matt Healy and Cian Kelleher on the wings. In the midfield, on loan centre Tom Daly starts his second game of the season alongside Kyle Godwin.
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey (c), 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 James Botham, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Dan Fish, 23 Willis Halaholo
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Matt Healy, 10 David Horwitz, 9 James Mitchell, 8 Jarrad Butler (c), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 Cillian Gallagher, 4 James Cannon, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 Joe Maksymiw, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Angus Lloyd, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Stephen Fitzgerald
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)