Three games take place in the PRO14 on Saturday with Scarlets welcoming Edinburgh to Parc y Scarlets the pick of the action.
Connacht v Cardiff Blues
Fly-half Andrew Deegan is set to make his debut for Connacht. Deegan signed for Connacht from Australian side the Waratahs ahead of the new season and joined up with the squad two weeks ago. He is among a host of changes from the side that started the defeat away to the Dragons a week ago.
Deegan forms a half back pairing with Irish international Kieran Marmion who returns to the starting XV after coming off the bench against the Dragons. The side includes two other players making their first starts of the season. Dave Heffernan comes in as hooker and Craig Ronaldson forms up a centre partnership with Bundee Aki.
Back in the front five are Ireland internationals Ultan Dillane and Quinn Roux while Jarrad Butler is included in the back row for his third start of the season. Ahead of the clash with Cardiff, Butler spoke of the style of play that new Head Coach Kieran Keane is trying to instil in the squad: “There is a big emphasis on players taking ownership for what they do in the game and taking responsibility for what we do on the field. Obviously, KK wants to play an attacking exciting brand of rugby and that is a great environment for us to play in.”
Commenting on the test that Connacht face against Cardiff, Forwards Coach Jimmy Duffy said: “Cardiff had a good performance last weekend and they came very close to Glasgow. We are fully aware of the quality in their side and we give them the upmost respect. Every game we have played against Cardiff over the last few years has been in the balance. We are generally close to each other in the table and this year will be no different now that we are in the same conference.”
Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues have made three changes to their starting line-up. The three changes all come in the front-row with Brad Thyer stepping up from the bench for his first start since November, while Taufa’ao Filise and Kristian Dacey return from injury.
Welsh international Dacey, who will make his first Cardiff Blues appearance of the campaign, was voted Players’ Player of the Season and Fans’ Player of the Season during 2016/17, having crossed for six tries over the course of the season.
Meanwhile, Connacht fell to a 21-8 defeat to the Dragons last week and Wilson hopes his side can follow that up to complete a Welsh double.
“We had a good look at Connacht over their first three games and they’re their usual selves,” said Wilson.
“A gritty side at home who play a fair amount of rugby, which Pat [Lam] has left that imprint in them and they’re playing from quite deep.
“I believe they left two or three players who had played the first few games out of the trip to face Dragons, but we’re predicting some of those guys might come back in.
“It was a good win for Dragons to beat Connacht at home and hopefully we can follow suit and beat them away.
“At the moment, the weather prediction is pretty savage so we’ve been working on a gameplay to deal as much with Connacht as with the weather. But you know that when you go out there, that’s probably a given.”
Lloyd Williams captains the side, and is part of an unchanged backline, while there are three further changes on the bench.
Ethan Lewis is included in the matchday squad for the first time this season season, while short-term loanee, Olly Robinson, looks set to make his Cardiff Blues debut, having signed from Bristol earlier in the week.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Andrew Deegan, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (c) 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Coulson, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Stacey Ili
Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Tom James, 10 Steve Shingler, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 George Earle, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Matthew Morgan
Date: Saturday, September 23
Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-Off: 15:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Nigel Correll (Ireland)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
Southern Kings v Zebre
The Southern Kings starting XV shows just one change from the side that did duty against Leinster last weekend.
At the official team announcement yesterday Kings Head Coach Deon Davids revealed that Pieter Steyn De Wet would start at flyhalf in place of Kurt Coleman who had suffered an injury to his quadriceps that was likely to keep him out of action for about 4 weeks.
Kurt Coleman was a late withdrawal from the Kings team last weekend, with Zono starting at fly-half.
On the bench, a fit-again front-rower Rossouw De Klerk – having completed his compulsory concussion protocol – returns at the expense of Petrus Strauss while there’s also a call up for Thato “Freddy” Ngoza who replaces Siyabulela Mdaka as loose-forward cover. Players still on the comeback trail from injury include lock Jurie Van Vuuren and prop Entienne Swanepoel.
Coach Davids gave the assurance that there was no chance of the Kings underestimating their Italian opposition this weekend. “I thought Zebre played some good rugby against the Cheetahs and would probably feel they could have won that game. We’ll have to make sure we are on-song on the day and not have a situation where we play two halves of completely different rugby again. It’s time we put together a game of two good quality halves and play eighty minute rugby,” he said.
One aspect of the Zebre game that shouldn’t give the Kings too much trouble on Saturday is understanding any communication between the Italian players in their home language.
Kings lock Dries Van Schalkwyk recently returned to South Africa after five seasons of playing for the Zebre side in Italy and is fluent in the language.
“Anything I can use to help my new team overcome my old team I will happily employ,” he chuckled
“We are excited for our curtain raisers happening this Saturday. Bring your family down to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth as we take on the North” said Charl Crous, Southern Kings COO.
Zebre head coach Michael Bradley has made four changes, three in the backs and one in the pack: with tight-head Roberto Tenga making his first start in the white & black jersey.
Andrea De Marchi has the same amount of caps and the Italian prop can become the overall leader in the history of Zebre Rugby Club if he features from the bench.
In the starting line-up of Zebre there are 13 Italian internationals, including six who attended the Italian Rugby Union National Academy “Ivan Francescato”.
The teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Sibusiso Sithole, 10 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Stephen Greeff, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 Bobby de Wee, 20 Freddy Ngoza, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Oliver Zono, 23 Jacques Nel
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Giovanni Licata, 6 Johan Meyer, 5 George Biagi, 4 David Sisi, 3 Roberto Tenga, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Sami Panico, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Jacopo Sarto, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Serafin Bordoli, 23 Ciaran Gaffney
Date: Saturday, September 23
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Kick-Off: 19:35 local (17:35 GMT)
Referee: Seán Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Scarlets v Edinburgh
Scarlets' pack remains unchanged from the one that faced Ulster at Kingspan Stadium last Friday evening with Ken Owens captaining the team.
Tighthead prop Samson Lee will lead the side to the field marking his 100th appearance in the traditional Scarlets jersey.
Centre Jonathan Davies makes his first start of the season with Hadleigh Parkes moving to 12 in the only changes to the backline.
Looking ahead to the game head coach Wayne Pivac said; “We’re not going to change the way we play, it’s just making the right decisions and knowing when it’s on and when it’s not. It’s not a panic situation, it’s just being a little bit smarter in certain situations in the game.”
Edinburgh's team selection includes seven changes to the starting XV which lost to Treviso last weekend. The only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-three sees Tom Brown replace Damien Hoyland on the wing, as Blair Kinghorn and Jason Harries continue to impress in attack.
In the midfield, Robbie Fruean drops to the bench and is replaced by Phil Burleigh, who make his first appearance of the season. The New Zealand-born centre partners Chris Dean who has three tries to his name so far this season. Nathan Fowles and Duncan Weir will continue their half-back partnership.
In the front-row, Stuart McInally returns at hooker after missing last weekend's fixture due to injury. The 27-year-old will pack down alongside Michele Rizzo and WP Nel – who returns to the starting XV.
Recent centurion Grant Gilchrist rotates in for Anton Bresler at lock and will partner Ben Toolis.
In the back-row, captain Magnus Bradbury reverts back to number eight. The 22-year-old will feature alongside Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie – who returns to the side after being rested last weekend.
On his team selection, Cockerill said: "We know that Scarlets are going to be an incredibly tough side to break down defensively, but we've got confidence in this group of players. If we bring the correct levels of intensity and desire, there is no reason we can't stay in the battle and look to come away with a result.”
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny Mcnicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 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 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Jones, 23 Paul Asquith
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ricthie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Michele Rizzo
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 John Hardie, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Robbie Fruean
Date: Saturday, September 23
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-Off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
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