Three games take place in the PRO12 on Saturday, with Ospreys versus Ulster the pick of the lot at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.
Ospreys vs Ulster
Ospreys have named a strong side for their clash with Ulster on Saturday, with Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar pairing up as the half-backs.
Ashley Beck and Kieron Fonotia form a strong midfield combination while in the pack Lions call-up Justin Tipuric is joined by flanker Sam Underhill and number eight James King, with Bradley Davies and Tyler Ardron at lock.
Ulster’s starting XV shows just three personnel changes as they travel to Swansea knowing PRO12 play-off destiny still remains in their own hands with two regular season games remaining.
Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey, who returned from a three month injury lay-off with an impressive second half cameo against Munster a fortnight ago, is drafted into the starting XV where he will partner Luke Marshall in midfield.
The other backline change sees fellow Irish international Craig Gilroy brought in at full-back, where he will form an explosive back three partnership with Charles Piutau and captain Andrew Trimble.
The experienced half back pairing of Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Jackson remain in situ.
Robbie Diack is the sole change in the pack as he will slot in at number eight, where he will be flanked by Iain Henderson and Sean Reidy.
Kieran Treadwell and Alan O’Connor will continue their second row partnership for the fifth game in a row, while the front row of Andy Warwick, Rory Best and Wiehahn Herbst is also retained.
Paul Marshall, Stuart Olding and Jacob Stockdale provide strong backline options from the bench, while the forwards are also well backed up by Rob Herring, Callum Black, Rodney Ah You, Franco van der Merwe and Nick Timoney.
Form: Ospreys Rugby have slipped to three straight defeats in the Guinness PRO12 but have not lost four in row in the Championship in the same season since their inaugural campaign in 2003/04. Ospreys two defeats at Liberty Stadium in the PRO12 this season have come in their last three home fixtures, against Munster and Leinster whilst their only victory in their last six encounters with Irish provinces was when Connacht visited Swansea in January. Ulster Rugby’s six game winning run in the Guinness PRO12 has come to an end with a draw at home to Cardiff Blues and a loss in Munster in the last two rounds. The Ulstermen have lost just one of their last eight fixtures against Welsh regions: 13-16 in Llanelli in round 13. Ulster’s only defeat in their last seven matches against Ospreys was 20-31 at Liberty Stadium in December 2014.
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Habberfield, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb (c), 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Underhill, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Paul James, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Josh Matavesi
Ulster: 15 Craig Gilroy, 14 Andrew Trimble (c), 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Alan O’Connor, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Jacob Stockdale
Date: Saturday, April 29
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Treviso vs Munster
Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus makes ten changes for their return to PRO12 action as the province face Treviso at Stadio Monigo.
Six from Munster’s British and Irish Cup winning Munster A squad are introduced to the side with Darren O’Shea and Conor Oliver in the starting XV and Kevin O’Byrne, Brian Scott, Rory Burke and Alex Wootton named in the replacements. This is a first PRO12 squad inclusion for academy prop Rory Burke.
It’s an all changed front row with James Cronin, Rhys Marshall and Stephen Archer named while lock Darren O’Shea links up with Billy Holland in the second row pairing. Holland is the only player to retain his place in the pack and captains the side for the ninth time this season.
Dave O’Callaghan, Conor Oliver and Jack O’Donoghue make up the back row.
Three changes to the backline sees this season’s leading try scorer Ronan O’Mahony and Darren Sweetnam cover the wings and Francis Saili joins Jaco Taute in the centre partnership.
It’s as you were in the half backs with Duncan Williams and Tyler Bleyendaal.
Treviso have made two changes to their starting XV compared to the side that played against Edinburgh in Round 20.
Full-back will be David Odiete who is joined on the wings by Angelo Esposito and Luca Sperandio. Tommaso Benvenuti and Alberto Sgarbi will be in the centres.
Edoardo Gori is named at scrum-half and Ian McKinley fly-half while up front Federico Zani, Luca Bigi and Simone Ferrari are the front-row.
The locks are Marco Fuser and captain Dean Budd while Francesco Minto, Abraham Steyn and Robert Barbieri are the back-row.
Form: Treviso have won two of their last three matches in the Guinness PRO12, both at home, to Ospreys and Edinburgh in rounds 18 and 20. The Italians have not won three successive home games in the Championship since 2013. Benetton have lost all seven games they have played against Irish provinces this season. Munster Rugby have lost only one of their last fourteen matches in the Guinness PRO12: 21-30 at home to Scarlets in round 16, whilst they have not lost an away game in the tournament since they faced Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in October. The Munstermen have won their last 15 games against Italian opponents in all competitions. Munster have won their last six fixtures against Benetton in the PRO12 since the Italian’s 29-19 triumph at Stadio Monigo in September 2013.
The teams:
Treviso: 15 David Odiete, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto Porolli, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Jean-Francois Montauriol, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Andrea Pratichetti
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Ronan O’Mahony, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Darren O’Shea, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Rory Burke, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Angus Lloyd, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Alex Wootton
Date: Saturday, April 29
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 19:05 local (17:05 GMT)
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Connacht vs Scarlets
Connacht head coach Pat Lam has made ten changes to his side to face Scarlets at the Sportsground.
Darragh Leader, who this week signed a new deal with his home province, will start on the right wing for his first game in 18 months having returned from long-term injury. On the other wing, Cian Kelleher also returns following a long-term absence this season with injury.
Tom Farrell and Eoin Griffin make up a new centre partnership while Marnitz Boshoff is handed the reins at fly-half, with Caolin Blade starting in the number nine shirt.
Up front, Ireland international Finlay Bealham shifts to loosehead prop to allow Dominic Robertson-McCoy pack down at tighthead. James Cannon forms a second-row partnership with Andrew Browne who captains the side on Saturday.
Sean O’Brien and Eoghan Masterson are promoted to the starting back row where they join Jake Heenan.
Meanwhile, Scarlets welcome the return of fly-half Rhys Patchell for the crucial PRO12 clash.
Whilst Scarlets are in a position to welcome the return of Patchell, for the penultimate round of the regular PRO12 season, following a calf strain the West Wales region will head to Galway without turnover specialist openside flanker James Davies, who suffered a shoulder injury in the Judgement Day V clash against Newport Gwent Dragons a fortnight ago.
With Scarlets’ strength in depth paying dividends Head Coach Wayne Pivac has named Hadleigh Parkes in midfield alongside Jonathan Davies with Scott Williams moving to the replacements bench. His fellow Welsh international, scrum half Gareth Davies, also moves to the bench with Jonathan Evans coming in to the starting XV.
Flanker Aaron Shingler returns from injury to take his place in the backline alongside Will Boyde, making a return from illness, and Scottish international John Barclay.
Irishman Tadhg Beirne joins Jake Ball in the second row whilst the international front row of Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Samson Lee remains unchanged.
Form: Connacht Rugby’s only victory in the last four rounds of the Guinness PRO12 came on a visit to Edinburgh on 7 April. The Irishmen have lost just twice in Galway since mid-September: against Munster on New Year’s Eve and Leinster in round 20. Connacht’s only two home defeats to Welsh regions in the last three seasons have both been to Ospreys. Scarlets only loss in the last nine rounds of the Guinness PRO12 was to Leinster in Dublin on 4 March, a defeat which also saw them end a four game winning run against Irish provinces. Connacht have won only two of their last ten encounters against Scarlets – both in Galway, in November 2014 and January 2016.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran 14 Darragh Leader, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Cian Kelleher, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Eoghan Masterson, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Andrew Browne (c), 4 James Cannon, 3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Finlay Bealham
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 JP Cooney, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 John Muldoon, 21 John Cooney, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Danie Poolman
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 John Barclay, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Scott Williams, 23 DTH van der Merwe
Date: Saturday, April 29
Venue: Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Helen O’Reilly (Ireland)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)
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