United Rugby Championship: Dave Kearney starts for Leinster while Simon Zebo hits 150 games for Munster

There’s two games taking place on Friday in the United Rugby Championship as Leinster face Edinburgh before Glasgow Warriors host Munster.

Leinster v Edinburgh

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is able to recall Dave Kearney on the left wing, who will make his first appearance of the season on Friday.

Kearney joined in the back three by full-back Jamie Osborne and Tommy O’Brien.

Nick McCarthy gets his first start since returning from Munster in the summer and will partner Ross Byrne in the half-backs.

Sitting outside them in midfield are Ciarán Frawley and Rory O’Loughlin.

Cullen has switched up half of his pack with four changes from those who started the loss to Cardiff last time out.

James Tracy replaces Seán Cronin in the front-row with Ed Byrne and Michael Ala’alatoa retaining their spots either side of him.

Ross Molony and Josh Murphy come into the second-row while Max Deegan is the sole change in the back-row.

Deegan will wear the number eight shirt with Scott Penny swapping to the openside. Rhys Ruddock fills the last spot in the XV and will captain the side.

On the bench, Cullen has opted for Cronin, Peter Dooley, Vakh Abdaladze, Devin Toner, Martin Moloney, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne and Rob Russell.

Meanwhile, internationalists James Lang and Ramiro Moyano return to Edinburgh‘s starting line-up for the trip to Dublin.

The duo are back from the respective injuries that kept them out of last month’s loss to Ospreys and are selected alongside young fly-half Charlie Savala (21), who makes his second start of the season to complete the changes to the capital backline.

Up front, Adam McBurney gets the nod at hooker alongside Fijian international tighthead Lee-Roy Atalifo, while recent FOSROC Academy graduate Ben Muncaster is named at blindside flanker to make his first start of the season.

Elsewhere, recently recruited tighthead prop Jake Armstrong and Watsonians and former Scotland U20 back-row, Kwagga van Niekirk, are both named among the replacements and will make their Edinburgh debuts if called upon.

The inclusion of Argentine international Moyano on the wing is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-three as compatriot Emiliano Boffelli (wing) and Henry Immelman (full-back) once again start.

Scotland international Lang links up with Academy graduate Matt Currie in midfield, while scrum-half Henry Pyrgos – who skippers the side – and fly-half Savala combine at half-back.

Loosehead prop Boan Venter – who became the first-ever prop to score a URC hat-trick on his last outing against Ospreys – packs down alongside McBurney and Atalifo up front, as locks Marshall Sykes and Glen Young complete the tight-five.

Fijian number eight Mesulame Kunavula anchors the back-row as young flankers Muncaster and Connor Boyle form the remainder of the pack.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 James Tracy, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Rob Russell

Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Mesulame Kunavula, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Sam Grahamslaw, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Kwagga van Niekirk, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cammy Hutchison

Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 18:00 GMT
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (IRFU), Stuart Douglas (IRFU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

Glasgow Warriors v Munster

Glasgow Warriors centre Robbie Fergusson will make his first appearance of the 2021/22 campaign, after being named in the midfield for their clash with Munster.

The Scotland 7s star is named in the starting XV for the first time since re-joining his first professional club at the end of 2021, after returning to Scotstoun for a third spell after his Olympic exploits with Team GB.

There are four changes in total to the starting line-up that claimed a bonus-point win away to Connacht last time out, with attack coach Nigel Carolan set to take charge of the team after head coach Danny Wilson tested positive for Covid-19.

Simon Berghan comes into the team to start at tighthead, joining fellow Scotland internationals Oli Kebble and Fraser Brown in the front-row.

Richie Gray retains his place in the second-row, as Scott Cummings is released from Scotland camp to partner the Cambuslang product in the engine room.

An unchanged back-row sees Ryan Wilson and Thomas Gordon continue on the flanks, with Jack Dempsey – the top carrier in the United Rugby Championship – starting at number eight for the fourth match in succession.

George Horne starts at scrum-half after a lively showing in Galway a fortnight ago, with Duncan Weir once again lining up outside him in the number 10 jersey.

An all-new centre partnership sees Fergusson paired with Sam Johnson in the midfield, the latter having started in Scotland’s 20-17 victory over England in the Calcutta Cup last weekend.

Sebastian Cancelliere and Ollie Smith are joined by Rufus McLean in the back-three, with the flying McLean looking to build upon a two-try performance in the 42-20 win over Connacht.

Meanwhile, Simon Zebo starts on the wing for his 150th Munster appearance as Gavin Coombes returns from international duty to start at number eight.

There are eight changes to the side that secured a bonus-point win away to Zebre last time out.

Zebo, Mike Haley, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell and Ben Healy come into the backline with Coombes, Stephen Archer and Chris Cloete joining the pack.

Jack O’Donoghue captains the side and is joined in the back-row by Coombes and Cloete, who has scored three tries in as many games this season and makes his first appearance since October.

Haley, Shane Daly and Zebo form the back three with a centre partnership of Scannell and Farrell.

Neil Cronin keeps his place at scrum-half after a Player of the Match performance against Zebre with Healy starting at fly-half.

Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron and Archer pack down in the front-row with an unchanged second-row partnership of Jean Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley.

O’Donoghue, Cloete and Coombes complete the side.

Kevin O’Byrne is among the replacements and could make his first appearance since September.

The teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Robbie Fergusson, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rufus McLean, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Thomas Gordon, 6 Ryan Wilson (c), 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Fraser Brown (c), 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Stafford McDowall

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Cian Hurley, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 John Hodnett

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 20:15 GMT
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Keith Allen (SRU), David Sutherland (SRU)
TMO: Neil Paterson (SRU)