Seven local derbies take place in a day of mouthwatering PRO14 action on Saturday, with Edinburgh and Glasgow closing out the day's action at Murrayfield.
Kings v Cheetahs
There are a raft of changes made, some positional and some injury-enforced, to the Southern Kings team named by head coach Deon Davids.
The backline sees the exciting Masixole Banda – deployed exclusively as full-back this season – get his first start at fly-half with Yaw Penxe moving from the wing into the number 15 jersey.
Harlon Klaasen is drafted in on the wing vacated by Penxe. Ntabeni Dukisa who did duty at fly-half in the Kings’ last match against Cardiff Blues switches to inside centre in place of Luzuko Vulindlu with Jacques Nel selected outside him in preference to Berton Klaasen. Nel also takes over the captain’s armband for the day as a result of regular skipper Schalk Ferreira being unavailable due to injury.
Ferreira’s unavailability means there is a start in the number one jersey for Justin Forwood who makes a welcome return to action after a long-term injury.
Other changes amongst the forwards see Stephan Greeff re-united with regular lock partner Bobby De Wee and Lubabalo Mtyanda moved to the bench.
The loose forwards have also been re-arranged with only Marthinus Burger retaining his place after the Cardiff Blues encounter and Khaya Majola (flank) and Dries Van Schalkwyk (number eight) replacing Lusanda Badiyana and Ruaan Lerm respectively.
Davids has made three changes to the Kings bench. Dayan van der Westhuizen returns as replacement prop to fill the void left by Forwood’s promotion to the starting XV whilst JP Smith and JC Roos are also included as backline cover.
Meanwhile, Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has announced his team with some changes from last week. Niel Marais moves to fly-half with Johan Goosen providing cover on the bench. Clinton Swart will be wearing the number 12 jersey, while Lloyd Greeff is new to the bench and will be making his debut if he sets foot to field.
The teams:
Kings: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Ntabeni Dukisa, 11 Harlon Klaasen, 10 Masixole Banda, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Bobby de Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Lindokuhle Welemu, 20 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 21 Lusanda Badiyana, 22 JP Smith, 23 JC Roos
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Francois Venter (c), 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Charl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Lloyd Greeff
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa)
Television match official: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Dragons v Scarlets
Welsh international hooker Elliot Dee will captain his home region for the first time, as the Men of Gwent take on Scarlets at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Dragons captain Cory Hill has been ruled out due to an Achilles injury, so head coach Bernard Jackman has put his faith in 24-year-old Dee.
With four personnel changes and two positional changes made to the team, Dee knows that there will be a few players who haven’t played at the stadium so he has given them some advice on playing in front of a packed stadium.
“We talked about some of the players not having had a run out onto this pitch before and I explained that you need to embrace it as everyone is there to watch you,” explained the youngster.
Dee will captain the side from the front-row with props Thomas Davies and Lloyd Fairbrother either side of him. Rynard Landman returns to the second-row from the back-row and joins Joe Davies as Harri Keddie and James Benjamin link up with flanker Aaron Wainwright to complete the pack.
Hallam Amos, who recently made his Wales 7s debut in the Commonwealth Games is the only change in the back three, as he returns to the position of full-back alongside wings Ashton Hewitt and Jared Rosser. Zane Kirchner moves into the centre to partner Connor Edwards, whilst the half-back pairing remains unchanged.
The replacements bench has two changes to is as Luke Garrett and Sarel Pretorius join Liam Belcher, Dan Suter, Max Williams, Taine Basham, Adam Warren and Joe Goodchild.
Meanwhile, Scarlets have named a strong side, including no less than ten internationals in the starting XV.
One personnel change in the backline sees Ioan Nicholas come on to the wing. Leigh Halfpenny returns to the full-back berth and Rhys Patchell returning to the fly-half position sees Dan Jones move to the bench. Centre Scott Williams will lead the side in his final Judgement Day clash as a Scarlet.
In the pack Ryan Elias comes into the front-row, alongside Rob Evans and Samson Lee, with club captain Ken Owens moving to the bench. Lewis Rawlins and Steve Cummins pair up in the second-row with Tadhg Beirne moving to the blindside flank alongside James Davies and Will Boyde in the back-row.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Zane Kirchner, 12 Connor Edwards, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Arwel Rosbon, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 James Benjamin, 7 Aaron Wainwright, 6 Harri Keddie, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee (c), 1 Thomas Davies
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Dan Suter, 19 Max Williams, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Joe Goodchild
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Ioan Nicholas, 13 Scott Williams (c), 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Will Boyde, 7 James Davies, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 John Barclay, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Hughes
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: Principality Stadium
Kick-off: 15:05 local (14:05 GMT)
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
Television match official: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Connacht v Leinster
Connacht captain John Muldoon is set to lead his Connacht side out for the final time when they take on Leinster at the Sportsground on Saturday.
In the process he will make his 327th appearance for his native province having made his debut in October 2003.
The Portumna man is named at his familiar number eight position alongside flankers Eoin McKeon and Jarrad Butler in the clash with the Champions Cup finalists.
Lock Gavin Thornbury is named to start against his home province in what will be his 14th appearance of the season. Thornbury starts alongside Quinn Roux with Ultan Dillane named among the replacements.
In the midfield, Tom Farrell and Bundee Aki continue their centre partnership, while the back three of full-back Tiernan O’Halloran and wingers Matt Healy and Niyi Adeolokun remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, it will be a special occasion for a number of players in particular Noel Reid who makes his 100th appearance for Leinster having made his debut in October 2011 in the RDS against Aironi. The 27-year-old will start the game at number 12.
It will also be a special occasion for the man outside him in the number 13 jersey as Tom Daly makes his seasonal debut. The Carlow man injured his ACL in the pre-season game against Perpignan and has been on a long road to recovery since then.
Over the last few weeks he has lined out with his club Lansdowne in the AIL, with Leinster ‘A’ in the B&I Cup semi-final and now finally with the senior team in the Round 21 game.
In doing so, Daly becomes the 54th player to have worn a Leinster senior jersey this season for Leo Cullen.
Elsewhere, loosehead prop Jack McGrath captains the side with James Tracy and Andrew Porter completing the front-row. Behind them Ross Molony and Mick Kearney start in the second-row.
In the back-row Max Deegan starts in the number six jersey for the first time this season having played there a number of times off the bench. Peadar Timmins and Jack Conan complete the starting pack.
In the backs, Joey Carbery starts at full-back with Barry Daly and James Lowe on the wings. It’s an all-UCD half-back pairing with Nick McCarthy partnering Ross Byrne.
Off the bench, Jamison Gibson-Park will win his 50th cap and Seán Cronin his 150th should either be introduced during the game.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Darragh Leader
Leinster: Joey Carbery, 14 Barry Daly, 13 Tom Daly, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Peadar Timmins, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath (c)
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Jordan Larmour, 23 Adam Byrne
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 15:05 local (14:05 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Joy Neville (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
Television match official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Benetton v Zebre
Benetton have made just one change to their starting XV for this Italian derby compared to the run-on side that won against Leinster in Dublin a fortnight ago.
The only alteration is made in the back-line where Tommaso Benvenuti takes over from Andrea Bronzini on the right wing.
Benvenuti is joined in the back three by fellow flyer Monty Ioane and full-back Jayden Hayward. The rest of the backline sees Tommaso Iannone and captain Alberto Sgarbi lining up in midfield while Tito Tebaldi and Tommaso Allan start at scrum-half and fly-half respectively.
The front-row will consist of Federico Zani, Luca Bigi and Simone Ferrari while Marco Lazzaroni and Alessandro Zanni pack down in the second-row.
Finally, the back-row sees Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri and Nasi Manu completing the XV chosen by Kieran Crowley.
Meanwhile, Zebre head coach Michael Bradley has named the same matchday 23 which beat the Ospreys last Saturday in Parma.
Bradley deploys an all-Italian back-line with Matteo Minozzi at full-back and Mattia Bellini with Giovanbattista Venditti as the wings.
The chosen centres are Giulio Bisegni and captain Tommaso Castello, while the half-backs are Carlo Canna and Marcello Violi.
In the pack, Johan Meyer will start in the back-row alongside number eight David Sisi and blindside flanker Jacopo Sarto.
In the second-row, George Biagi will partner Leonard Krumov, while the starting front-row comprises Dario Chistolini, Oliviero Fabiani and Andrea Lovotti.
The teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Federico Ruzza, 5 Alessandro Zanni, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Abraham Steyn, 22 Luca Sperandio, 23 Marty Banks
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 David Sisi, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 George Biagi, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Gabriele Di Giulio
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 18:00 local (16:00 GMT)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Television match official: Sean Davey (England)
Munster v Ulster
Mike Sherry and James Cronin will both earn their 100th Munster caps in this clash with Sherry captaining the side for the first time since 2013.
Stephen Fitzgerald makes his second start of the season at full-back with Ireland international Darren Sweetnam and Academy winger Calvin Nash on the flanks.
Young Player of the Year Sammy Arnold keeps his place in the side and is joined in midfield by Dan Goggin.
Scrum-half Duncan Williams returns to the starting XV having made a speedy recovery from injury with JJ Hanrahan at fly-half.
Sherry and Cronin are joined in the front-row by Brian Scott with Gerbrandt Grobler and Darren O’Shea in the engine room.
Dave O’Callaghan, Conor Oliver and Robin Copeland make up the back-row.
Rhys Marshall, Jeremy Loughman and Stephen Archer provide the front-row cover with Player of the Year nominee Jean Kleyn and Jack O’Donoghue completing the forward replacements.
James Hart, Bill Johnston and Academy centre Shane Daly, an Ireland 7s international, are the backline substitutes with Daly in line to make his senior debut for Munster.
Meanwhile, Rory Best returns to captain the Ulster side from hooker and he will be joined in the front-row by Callum Black and Ross Kane.
Iain Henderson is back in the second-row alongside Alan O'Connor after missing last week's win over Glasgow, while an injury to Jean Deysel means Clive Ross will wear the number six jersey. He slots into the back-row with Sean Reidy and Nick Timoney.
With John Cooney unavailable due to concussion, Dave Shanahan starts at scrum-half, with Johnny McPhillips continuing in the fly-half role.
Stuart McCloskey, who was Man of the Match in last week's four-try success, is once again partnered in midfield by Luke Marshall.
Charles Piutau is unavailable for family reasons, so Louis Ludik occupies the full-back berth as Jacob Stockdale and Craig Gilroy start on the wings.
Retiring duo Paul Marshall and Tommy Bowe are named on the bench along with Irish U20 star Angus Curtis, who will be hoping for more game-time after making his debut last weekend.
Rob Herring, Andy Warwick, Tom O'Toole, Kieran Treadwell and Chris Henry are the forward replacements.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Stephen Fitzgerald, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Brian Scott, 2 Mike Sherry (c), 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 James Hart, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Shane Daly
Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Dave Shanahan, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Clive Ross, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O'Toole, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Tommy Bowe
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:35 local (16:35 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Aled Evans (Wales), Simon Rees (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Cardiff Blues v Ospreys
Taufa'ao Filise returns to the Cardiff Blues line-up as Danny Wilson makes 13 changes for Saturday's Judgement Day clash against Ospreys.
The prop, who will make his 254th appearance for the region, was a try scorer during this fixture last season, as Wales' capital region sealed a memorable bonus-point victory over their rivals.
Gareth Anscombe, who was a stand-out player during last season's victory at the Principality Stadium, captains his side for the PRO14 encounter and makes a switch from full-back to the number 10 jersey.
The only other player to be retained in the starting line-up from last week's Challenge Cup semi-final win over Pau is Josh Turnbull, who features at number eight.
Experienced scrum-half, Lloyd Williams, returns to partner Anscombe at half-back, while Matthew Morgan, Aled Summerhill and Blaine Scully are also introduced to the backline.
Steven Shingler, who combines with Garyn Smith in midfield, will make his 50th appearance for the region.
Seven changes are made in the pack, with Olly Robinson starting at openside following an impressive outing as a replacement during last week's semi-final. Rhys Gill and Kirby Myhill join Filise in a new-look front-row, with Damian Welch partnering James Down in the second-row.
Meanwhile, Ospreys head coach Allen Clarke makes wholesale changes to his line-up after their loss to Zebre.
Only Sam Cross retains his place in the side as Nick Smith, Scott Otten and Dmitri Arhip come into the front-row, Bradley Davies and Alun-Wyn Jones line up at lock while Cross is joined in the back-row by Justin Tipuric and James King.
In the backline, Tom Habberfield is partnered with Dan Bigger at half-back, the centres are Owen Watkin and Kieron Fontia while Hanno Dirksen, Jeff Hassler and Dan Evans complete the side.
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Blaine Scully, 10 Gareth Anscombe (c), 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Turnbull, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 James Down, 4 Damian Welch, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Ben Murphy, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Harri Millard, 23 Max Llewellyn
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Cross, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Giorgi Nemsadze, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Ashley Beck
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: Principality Stadium
Kick-off: 17:35 local (16:35 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Shane Kierans (Ireland)
Television match official: Neil Hennessey (Wales)
Edinburgh v Glasgow
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has named a settled team ahead of Saturday’s 1872 Cup decider at BT Murrayfield.
The return of Fijian international number eight Bill Mata is the only alteration to the side that defeated Scarlets 52-14 a fortnight ago.
An unchanged back-three sees Blair Kinghorn return to full fitness and named at full-back. Duhan van der Merwe – who notched a brace of tries in the win over Scarlets two-weeks ago – and Dougie Fife continue on the wings.
In the midfield, James Johnstone keeps his place at outside centre and is partnered by Chris Dean. Jaco van der Walt and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne continue their half-back partnership.
Hooker Stuart McInally is named as captain and will pack down alongside Simon Berghan and Samoan international Jordan Lay in the front-row. Scotland duo Grant Gilchrist and Ben Toolis keep their spot in the second-row.
Mata is named at number eight, with Magnus Bradbury and Jamie Ritchie making up the remainder of a strong back-row.
Meanwhile, DTH van der Merwe will make his 100th Glasgow Warriors appearance in the 1872 Cup decider.
The club’s all-time top try scorer, the Canadian international winger rejoined the Warriors from Newcastle Falcons this season and scored twice on his comeback match against Zebre at Scotstoun.
He joins Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg, both of whom are already club centurions, in the back-three.
Sam Johnson and Nick Grigg both return to the starting XV in midfield, outside of Finn Russell.
George Horne starts at scrum-half having shone for Scotland 7s at the Commonwealth Games and on the World Rugby Sevens series earlier this month.
Ryan Wilson captains the side at number eight having recovered from injury, joining Matt Fagerson and Callum Gibbins in the back-row.
Jonny Gray is also fit to play, partnering Tim Swinson in the second-row. They pack down behind Alex Allan, Fraser Brown and Zander Fagerson.
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Allan Dell, 18 WP Nel, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 George Horne, 8 Ryan Wilson (c), 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Alex Allan
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Lee Jones
Date: Saturday, April 28
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 19:45 local (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Dunx McClement (Scotland)
Television match official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
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