Four games are scheduled for Saturday with Munster, the Cheetahs, Zebre and Benetton Rugby hosting Ospreys, Scarlets, Connacht and Leinster respectively.
Munster v Ospreys
This match will be new Munster head coach Johann van Graan’s first home game in charge as the province seek a third PRO14 win in a row.
There are two changes to the side that secured a bonus-point victory away to Zebre last weekend as Ian Keatley and John Ryan return from international duty to start.
Simon Zebo starts at full-back with Darren Sweetnam and Alex Wootton, the province’s top try-scorer with seven tries so far this season, making up the back three.
Rory Scannell and Sam Arnold are in the centres as Keatley partners James Hart at half-back.
Ryan comes in at tighthead prop to partner Liam O’Connor and Rhys Marshall in the front row.
Captain Billy Holland and Jean Kleyn are in the second-row with the back-row of Jack O’Donoghue, last week’s Man of the Match Chris Cloete and Robin Copeland unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Ospreys remain without their Welsh contingent who face South Africa on Saturday.
Gareth Thomas and Will Jones makes their first PRO14 starts at loosehead prop and openside flanker respectively while Rowan Jenkins will make his PRO14 debut if he comes off the replacements bench.
Bradley Davies is set to play in his 100th Championship game this weekend.
"Going to Munster always presents a sizeable challenge, any time of the season and whoever is on the field. This weekend is no different with Munster able to welcome back their Ireland contingent and Wales playing against South Africa," said Ospreys head coach Steve Tandy.
"Clearly we have to see a reaction after the huge disappointment of Sunday, with the circumstances meaning the onus is on this group of players and us as coaches to find a solution. We can’t dwell on it, we have to learn from it and look forward. It’s a cliché maybe, but it’s the reality of where we are this weekend with a short turnaround, the travel and player availability.
"We certainly won’t be sitting in a corner feeling sorry for ourselves. We know we are in a fight and will stick together to do the Ospreys badge justice."
The teams:
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sam Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 James Hart, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Liam O’Connor
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Sean O’Connor, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Calvin Nash
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 James Hook, 11 Jeff Hassler, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Will Jones, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Bradley Davies (c), 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rowan Jenkins, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Luke Price, 23 Joe Thomas
Date: Saturday, December 2
Venue: Irish Independent Park, Cork
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Simon Rees (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Cheetahs v Scarlets
Cheetahs head coach Rory Duncan has announced his team to take on the Scarlets, making one change to his side from last week.
Craig Barry will replace Luther Obi on right wing, with Obi breaking his arm in the match against Edinburgh. Sibhale Maxwane will be providing cover on the bench and making his Cheetahs and PRO14 debut when he sets foot to field.
"The game against Scarlets will be a great challenge for us, especially playing them later in the year but the players are really excited. We will have to put our best foot forward but we belief that it is a team that we can beat," said Cheetahs captain Torsten van Jaarsveld.
Meanwhile, Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has made two changes to the side that secured a bonus-point win over the Kings last weekend.
Scrum-half Mike Phillips comes into the starting XV, as the only change to the backline, with Jonathan Evans sidelined with an ankle injury.
Openside flanker James Davies makes a long awaited return to action after recovering from shoulder surgery and comes straight back into the starting line-up, following yesterday's news that he has extended his stay in West Wales.
Will Boyde moves across the backline to number eight with Josh Macleod moving to the replacements bench.
Lock Steven Cummins will make his Scarlets debut if he appears from the replacements bench as well as scrum-half Herschel Jantjies, who has been signed on a shirt-term loan from the Stormers. Fly-half replacement Ioan Hughes will also look to make his regional debut.
The teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Craig Barry, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Makazola Mapimpi, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Rynier Bernardo, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Hugo Reniel, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten Van Jaarsveld (c), 1 Charles Marais
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Jasper Wiese, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Tertius Kruger, 23 Sibhale Maxwane
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Will Boyde, 7 James Davies, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Dylan Evans
Replacements: 16 Taylor Davies, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Steven Cummins, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Ioan Hughes, 23 Morgan Williams
Date: Saturday, December 2
Venue: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 19:35 local (17:35 GMT)
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Stephen Geldenhuys (South Africa), Jaco Kotze (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Zebre v Connacht
Zebre are boosted by the return of nine internationals for their home clash with Connacht.
There is also good news on the injury front as locks David Sisi and George Biagi return after a number of weeks out due to injury.
Meanwhile, Connacht head coach Kieran Keane has included new signing Pita Ahki among his starting side to face Zebre on Saturday.
Ahki, who came off the bench to make his debut against Cardiff Blues last week, will make his first start for the province as they travel to Italy for the PRO14 clash.
The Connacht side features a new half-back pairing with Steve Crosbie starting at fly-half and Kieran Marmion back at scrum-half following his return from international duty. In the pack Shane Delahunt, who scored two tries against Cardiff Blues starts at hooker where he is flanked by Denis Buckley at loosehead and Finlay Bealham at tighthead.
Academy player and Sligo native Cillian Gallagher, who made his debut against Worcester in October, is named among the replacements.
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Maxime Mbandà, 5 George Biagi (c), 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 David Sisi, 20 Jacopo Sarto, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Serafin Bordoli, 23 Ciaran Gaffney
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Pita Ahki, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Steve Crosbie, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 James Connolly, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Cillian Gallagher, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Eoin Griffin
Date: Saturday, December 2
Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 15:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Benetton Rugby v Leinster
Benetton Rugby have made two changes to the XV that faced Ulster last weekend while there are three tweaks on the bench for this game.
Full-back will be Marty Banks and he is joined by Tommaso Benvenuti and Luca Sperandio on the wings. Ignacio Brex and captain Alberto Sgarbi will be the centres.
The half-backs are Giorgio Bronzini at scrum-half and Tommaso Allan at fly-half.
Up front, the props are Cherif Traore and Tiziano Pasquali with Tomas Baravalle at hooker while Alessandro Zanni and Irné Herbst are at lock and the back-row sees Whetu Douglas, Nasi Manu and Robert Barbieri named.
Meanwhile, similar to last week Leinster boss Leo Cullen is able to welcome back a number of players from injury in addition to a few players from international duty, while he also hands out a debut to new arrival James Lowe.
Leinster Academy back Jordan Larmour continues in the number 15 jersey but there are changes on both wings. Dave Kearney comes in on the right wing with Lowe coming in on the left.
Lowe arrived from the Chiefs who reached the semi-finals of Super Rugby this year. Lowe played in 16 Super Rugby matches this season, scoring 11 tries. After the Super Rugby season finished he competed in the New Zealand Provincial competition, the Mitre 10 Cup, helping his team Tasman to reach the final.
In the centre Noel Reid is again selected at inside centre while Garry Ringrose returns from shoulder injury to make his first appearance of the campaign.
Luke McGrath is back to captain the side from scrum-half with Ross Byrne outside of him at fly-half.
In the pack Jack McGrath and James Tracy come back in for their first involvement since the Guinness Series to join Andrew Porter in the front-row.
In the second-row Ian Nagle makes his first start of the campaign and is joined by Scott Fardy.
In the back-row it’s an all-Irish international combination with Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan completing the pack. It will be Van der Flier’s first game back since injuring his ankle against Glasgow Warriors in October.
The teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Marty Banks, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Nasi Manu, 6 Whetu Douglas, 5 Irné Herbst, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Cherif Traore
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Alberto De Marchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Sebastian Negri, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 Luca Morisi
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jordi Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ian Nagle, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Fergus McFadden, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Date: Saturday, December 2
Venue: Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 17:30 local (16:30 GMT)
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
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