United Rugby Championship: Frans Malherbe starts for Stormers as Ulster number eight Duane Vermeulen faces old side

David Skippers

There are eight games taking place in the United Rugby Championship this weekend, including the highly anticipated clash between an in-form Stormers outfit and second-placed Ulster in Cape Town on Saturday.

Check out the team news and our predictions for the matches below.

Friday 

Lions v Ospreys

Prediction: Lions by 5

The teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Francke Horn, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie/Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer/Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel/EW Viljoen

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Rhys Webb (c), 8 Ethan Roots, 7 Morgan Morris, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Will Griffiths, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Tiaan Thomas Wheeler, 23 Cai Evans

Venue: Emirates Airline Park
Kick-off: 19:00 local (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Blain
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen

Munster v Benetton

Prediction: Munster by 15

The teams:

Munster: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Jack O’Sullivan, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Chris Farrell

Benetton: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Rhyno Smith, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Nahuel Tetaz, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Ivan Nemer
Replacements: 16 Matteo Drudi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Matteo Meggiato, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Giacomo Da Re, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Venue: Musgrave Park
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Chris Evans
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross, Stuart Gaffikin
TMO: Eric Gauzin

Saturday

Zebre Parma v Scarlets

Prediction: Scarlets by 9

The teams:

Zebre: 15 Michelangelo Biondelli, 14 Giovanni D’Onofrio, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Liam Mitchell, 4 David Sisi (c), 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements:
16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Juan Pitinari, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Potu Junior Leavasa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Junior Laloifi

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Corey Baldwin, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Scott Williams (c), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Jac Price, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Shaun Evans, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Lewis Morgan, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Johnny Williams

Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Clara Munarini, Riccardo Angelucci
TMO: Stefano Penne

Stormers v Ulster

Prediction: Stormers by 3

The teams:

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c)
Replacements:
16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Rikus Pretorius

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements:
16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Ethan McIlroy

Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 15:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Gianlucu Gnecchi
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Dylen November
TMO: Quinton Immelman

Sharks v Edinburgh

Prediction: Sharks by 8

The teams:

Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khuta Mchunu, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 James Venter, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Boeta Chamberlain

Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Mark Bennett (c), 12 James Lang, 11 Freddie Owsley, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Ben Muncaster, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Pierce Phillips, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Harrison Courtney, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Glen Young, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Chris Dean

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 17:05 local (15:05 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Egon Seconds

Cardiff v Glasgow Warriors

Prediction: Glasgow by 3

The teams:

Cardiff: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Willis Halaholo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 James Ratti, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 James Botham, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Jamie Hill, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Cole Forbes, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown (cc), 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Stafford McDowall

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: AM Jacobs
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse, Simon Rees
TMO: David Rose

Bulls v Dragons

Prediction: Bulls by 35

The teams:

Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenkamp
Replacements:
16 Joe van Zyl, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Cornal Hendricks

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Ben Fry, 6 Harri Keddie (c), 5 Ben Carter, 4 Huw Taylor, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Aki Seiuli
Replacements:
16 Taylor Davies, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Lennon Greggains, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Will Reed, 23 Ioan Davies

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19:15 local (17:15 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Morne Ferreira
TMO: Ben Blain

Connacht v Leinster

Prediction: Leinster by 10

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Oran McNulty, 10 Jack Carty (c), 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Oisin Dowling, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Greg McGrath, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Sammy Arnold, 23 Diarmuid Kilgallen

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Rory O’Loughlin, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Doole
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Chris Cosgrave

Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross, Peter Martin
TMO: Leo Colgan

READ MORE: United Rugby Championship: Social media agency deal terminated after TikTok post