Wales stars straight into PRO14 action

There’s three PRO14 matches scheduled on Friday as Cardiff Blues, Connacht and Edinburgh host Scarlets, Benetton and Leinster respectively.  

Cardiff Blues vs Scarlets

Cardiff Blues boss John Mulvihill has called upon his entire Wales contingent for their PRO14 derby against Scarlets on Friday.

Following their Grand Slam heroics Josh Navidi and Gareth Anscombe go straight into the starting line-up, with Dillon Lewis named on the bench.

Fellow Six Nations squad members Seb Davies, Josh Turnbull, Tomos Williams and Jarrod Evans are also all included in the matchday 23 for the Cardiff Arms Park encounter.

It is a significant boost to the Blues, who are battling to reach the PRO14 play-offs and qualification for the Champions Cup.

Meanwhile, James Davies makes his return from injury as the Scarlets resume their hunt for a PRO14 play-off spot.

The Wales international flanker has been sidelined with a foot issue since the defeat to the Blues at Parc y Scarlets at the end of December.

He is named as one of five changes to the Scarlets’ side that claimed a hard-earned 10-6 win against Munster last time out.

Head coach Wayne Pivac includes eight of Wales’ Six Nations-winning squad in his matchday 23.

Leigh Halfpenny, Rhys Patchell, Wyn Jones and Samson Lee are named in the starting XV, with Rob Evans, Gareth Davies, Ken Owens and Steff Evans among the replacements.

Patchell replaces Dan Jones as the only change behind the scrum, while up front, tighthead prop Lee and lock Steve Cummins return. James Davies replaces Dan Davis in the back-row, while Marc Jones comes in at hooker for the injured Ryan Elias.

Elias has a shoulder problem and is likely to be sidelined for up to six weeks, as is second-row Jake Ball, who has a foot injury.

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomas Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Dimitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey (c), 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Harri Millard, 23 Matthew Morgan

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Kieron Fonotia (c), 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 James Davies, 6 Josh Macleod, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Josh Helps, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Evans

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Connacht vs Benetton

Connacht have been boosted by the return of Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion and Ultan Dillane for the PRO14 clash with Benetton at the Sportsground.

The return of the trio is a welcome boost to Connacht’s matchday squad as they face an in-form Benetton side who have already registered 10 wins this season and sit in second place in Conference B of the PRO14.

Carty and Marmion will start on the bench, as Caolin Blade and Kyle Godwin are named as the starting half-back partnership.

Peter Robb and Tom Farrell start again in the Connacht midfield following the bonus-point win over the Ospreys in the last round. Meanwhile, in the back three, Tiernan O’Halloran is named at full-back with Matt Healy and Darragh Leader on the wings.

Dillane’s inclusion sees him named in a second-row alongside James Cannon, with Gavin Thornbury returning from injury to take his place on the bench.

In the front-row, props Denis Buckley and Finlay Bealham are selected with Shane Delahunt at hooker.

The back-row has a familiar look to it with captain Jarrad Butler at number eight and Eoin McKeon and Colby Fainga’a at blindside and openside respectively.

Meanwhile, Benetton have named Luca Sperandio at full-back while Ratuva Tavuyara and Monty Ioane are on the wings. Tommaso Benvenuti and captain Alberto Sgarbi will be the centres.

The half-backs are Dewaldt Duvenage at scrum-half and Ian McKinley at fly-half.

Up front, Nicola Quaglio, Hame Faiva and Marco Riccioni are in the front-row while Irné Herbst and Alessandro Zanni are at lock and finally the back-row sees Marco Lazzaroni, Giovanni Pettinelli and Toa Halafihi complete the XV.

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Darragh Leader, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Kyle Godwin, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Jarrad Butler (c), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Stephen Fitzgerald

Benetton: 15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (cc), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Ian McKinley (cc), 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Giovanni Pettinelli, 6 Marco Lazzaroni, 5 Alessandro Zanni, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Barbini, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Tommaso Iannone

Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Graeme Ormiston (Scotland)
Television match official: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Edinburgh vs Leinster

Scotland international back-row John Barclay will make his long-awaited Edinburgh debut in Friday’s PRO14 showdown with Leinster at Murrayfield.

The 71-times capped flanker is named in a starting XV that features 10 internationals – four of whom started in last weekend’s remarkable 38-38 Calcutta Cup draw at Twickenham. Scotland stars Darcy Graham, Hamish Watson, Ben Toolis and WP Nel all return for the crunch match.

The team selection also sees Scotland centre Matt Scott return to action for the first time in over five months following a head injury sustained against Toulon back in October.

A revamped back-three sees Graham return to club action following last weekend’s two-try performance against England in the Six Nations.

The winger is joined by full-back Dougie Fife and wing Duhan van der Merwe, with both players returning from injuries that kept them out of the defeat to Benetton two weeks ago.

Scott – who makes his seventh start of the season – is partnered by James Johnstone in midfield, with the latter scoring his seventh try of the season against Benetton a fortnight ago.

Experienced scrum-half Henry Pyrgos captains the side, with Jaco van der Walt at fly-half.

Pierre Schoeman is named at loosehead prop and packs down alongside Scotland pairing Ross Ford and Nel, while Toolis is partnered by fellow club centurion Fraser McKenzie in the second-row.

Barclay makes his debut at blindside flanker with Scotland star Watson at openside, while Fijian international Viliame Mata returns to the number eight jersey.

Meanwhile, there is a welcome return to competitive action for a number of Leinster players that have been out with injury for the last few months as the province look to get back up and running in the PRO14 after a few weeks off.

Ciarán Frawley comes in at full-back for his first start in the number 15 jersey, with Fergus McFadden on the right wing and Barry Daly on the left. Daly has scored two tries in five appearances since his return in January from a knee injury.

In the centre Joe Tomane makes his first start since injuring his hamstring in November against the Southern Kings. The 17 times capped Australian is joined in the centre by Noel Reid.

Luke McGrath is back from a knee injury to take his place at scrum-half with Ross Byrne outside him at number 10.

In the pack the front-row sees Ed Byrne, Seán Cronin and Michael Bent selected with Josh Murphy and Mick Kearney in the second-row.

Captain Rhys Ruddock is joined in the back-row by Dan Leavy who has recovered from a calf injury and by Max Deegan to complete the Leinster XV.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Chris Dean

Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Noel Reid, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Oisín Dowling, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Jimmy O’Brien, 23 Conor O’Brien

Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Rhys Jones (Wales)
Television match official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)