Three games take place in the PRO14 on Saturday which include derbies between Leinster and Munster and Ospreys and Scarlets.
Benetton Rugby vs Southern Kings
Benetton Rugby will be looking to bounce back from last week’s defeat at Glasgow when they host the Southern Kings at Stadio Monigo.
Ignacio Brex replaces Tommaso Benvenuti at outside centre in the only change to their backline while Federico Zani comes in at loosehead prop and Marco Lazzaroni at lock for Cherif Traore and Marco Fuser respectively.
Meanwhile, the Kings have made two changes to their backline for the PRO14 clash in Italy, with their forwards unchanged from last week.
Sibusiso Sithole replaces Yaw Penxe on the right wing, while Luzuko Vulindlu comes in to form a new centre pairing alongside Jacques Nel.
The teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti
Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby de Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Martin Dreyer, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Entienne Swanepoel, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Khaya Majola, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Oliver Zono, 23 Berton Klaasen
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 20:00 local (18:00 GMT)
Referee: Seán Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Jonathan Hardy (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Leinster vs Munster
For Leinster, Joey Carbery continues at full-back but Adam Byrne is on the right wing, with Barry Daly coming in on the left for his first ever game in the Aviva Stadium.
In the centre there is a first game of the season for British & Irish Lion Robbie Henshaw, with Rory O’Loughlin retaining the number 13 jersey outside him.
Luke McGrath and captain Johnny Sexton are again the outhalf pairing for this game and having scored four points last weekend Sexton is now only five points away from becoming the all-time Leinster points scorer.
In the pack Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong again start at loosehead and tighthead prop, with James Tracy coming in at hooker.
Behind the Irish international front row, Devin Toner and Scott Fardy continue their partnership in the second row.
In the back row there are two changes from last week’s team with Rhys Ruddock retained at blindside flanker but Josh van der Flier comes in at openside, with Jack Conan selected at eight.
Meanwhile, Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus makes no changes to the starting pack with captain Peter O’Mahony again leading the side and number eight CJ Stander running out for his 100th appearance in a Munster jersey.
It’s also as you were in the half-backs with Conor Murray and last weekend’s man-of-the-match Ian Keatley in situ.
The backline sees four personnel changes and one positional switch. There is new a centre partnership with Tyler Bleyendaal named at inside centre alongside Chris Farrell.
Returning international Keith Earls makes his first appearance of the season starting on the wing and as JJ Hanrahan is promoted to make his first start of the season at full-back, Andrew Conway swops the number 15 jersey for the right wing.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Joey Carbery, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Fergus McFadden
Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Tyler Bleyendaal, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Robin Copeland, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Alex Wootton
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Ospreys vs Scarlets
Dan Biggar will play his 150th match in this competition for the Ospreys in their derby clash with the Scarlets at Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
He lines up alongside Rhys Webb in an all-international half-back combination with James Hook and Kieron Fonotia forming the midfield.
“Derby matches are games that get everybody excited and Ospreys v Scarlets is up there at any time as a fixture you want to be involved in,” said Ospreys head coach Steve Tandy.
“The form book is pretty clear. We’ve got the champions and Conference B leaders coming to the Liberty Stadium and we know that nobody outside of our environment will be predicting a home win. The Scarlets will be pretty clear favourites and we’ll be the underdogs but we have to ignore that and look at ourselves and where we need to improve on recent weeks.
“It’s a big occasion with a big crowd and, like any derby match, will be fast and physical. What has happened in previous games won’t count, it’s all going to be about what happens on the night. We know that we have to start well, build momentum and build our game by playing in the right areas and making the right decisions.”
Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has made six changes to the side that secured a bonus point victory over Connacht at Parc y Scarlets last weekend.
Two changes in the backline see Hadleigh Parkes and Gareth Davies replace Scott Williams and Aled Davies whilst there are four changes to the pack.
Rob Evans will miss the big West Wales derby clash as he recovers from last weekend’s concussion with fellow international prop Wyn Jones stepping into the breach. Samson Lee returns to partner his fellow internationals in the front row with Ken Owens leading the side out at the Liberty.
Lewis Rawlins gets his first start of the season after coming on as a replacement against Connacht last week and will partner Jake Ball in the second row.
With John Barclay unavailable due to injury Tadhg Beirne packs down at number eight for the first time in Scarlets colours.
“They’ll be a dangerous opposition, they always are at the Liberty regardless of their position on the points table and their form leading into it. Last year we fancied ourselves going out there but we were beaten across the park that day. You don’t have to go back too far to be reminded of how dangerous they can be,” said Pivac.
“They’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose which makes them a dangerous opponent from my perspective. I just look across their teamsheet at what could be facing us and we have the utmost respect for it and the utmost respect for their coaching group.
“I think they’ll be working very hard to keep improving their game. It took us a long time when we were adjusting our game to get it to where it ended up. What we do know is that we’re going to be in for a physical encounter against a team with their backs to the wall.
“Our focus this week is improving on where we need to improve from last week. We’ve got to make sure we get our house in order. We’re doing some good things but last year we weren’t allowed to play against them, they did a good job on us, and we’re mindful of that.”
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Cory Allen, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 James Hook, 11 Jeff Hassler, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 James King, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Paul James, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Owen Watkin
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny Mcnicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Paul Asquith, 23 Scott Williams
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
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