Preview: Pro12, Round 18

All eyes will now be on the run-in to the Pro12 play-offs and there are some great derby games coming up.

 

The highlight this weekend must be the clash at the Sportsground on Saturday between the top two teams – Connacht and Leinster, the winner assured to go top of the table. This game will be matched in intensity the previous evening when reigning champions, Glasgow Warriors host fourth placed Ulster, with an eye on the prize of a place in the play-Off zone.

 

Connacht and Leinster have perhaps the toughest run-in of all the teams with each having to play all three of their fellow Irish provinces before the end of the season - Leinster's clash against Munster at the Aviva Stadium on April 2 already attracting ticket sales of over 35,000.

 

In Wales, for Ospreys to maintain a challenge for top tier European qualification next season they must overcome their opponents Scarlets on Saturday. With Cardiff Blues hosting Benetton Treviso this round as well a win for both home sides could set up a tense finale to the end of the season.

 

The game at the Liberty Stadium sets off a run of six Welsh derby games in a row culminating in Judgement Day IV at the in Cardiff on April 30, for which over 40 000 tickets have already been sold.

 

With just 25 possible league points remaining on offer for most teams, there certainly are no "easy games” left in the Pro12 this season as the players raise the bar in a final push to remain in with a chance to lift the silverware on May 28.

We take a look at all the Round 18 action!

Friday:

Munster v Zebre

(Thomond Park - Kick-off: 19.00: 19.00 GMT)

Munster slipped up 28-37 at Cardiff Blues in the rearranged Round 12 game last Friday, the first time they had failed to tally a league point from a Pro12 game in 2016. The Munstermen beat Dragons 26-5 at Thomond Park in Round 17 to end a three game home losing run in the competition.

Zebre have lost their last five Pro12 encounters and have beaten an Irish province just once before: 13-6 over Ulster in Parma in September 2014. The two sides have met on seven previous occasions with Munster winning them all

Teams:

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Johnny Holland, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Jack O'Donoghue, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland (captain), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 James Cronin, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Dave Foley, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 David Johnston.

Zebre: 15 Kayle Van Zyl, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Johan Meyer, 7 Federico Ruzza, 6 Jean Cook, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (captain), 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Guillermo Roan.

Replacements: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Emiliano Caffini, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Matteo Pratichetti.

Referee: Dudley Phillips 

Cardiff Blues v Benetton Treviso

(Cardiff Arms Park - Kick-off: 19.05; 19.05 GMT)

Cardiff Blues' only defeat in their last eight fixtures at Cardiff Arms Park in all tournaments was by a single point to Leinster in the Pro12 on February 20. The Blues have lost only once at home to an Italian opponent: 25-30 to Zebre in September 2013.

Benetton Treviso's last four matches in the Pro12 have all been won by the home side on the day whilst the Italians have not won away from home in the tournament since the short trip to Zebre in December 2014.

Cardiff Blues have won only one of their last four fixtures against Benetton Treviso: 36-25 in this equivalent fixture in Cardiff last year. Treviso have never before achieved a season's double over the Blues. 

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Dan Fish, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 James Down, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).

Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Aled Summerhill.

Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (captain), 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Dean Budd, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Filo Paulo, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Cherif Traorè, 18 Filippo Filippetto, 19 Jeff Montauriol, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Andrea De Marchi, 22 Alberto Lucchese, 23 Simone Ragusi.

Referee: Andrew Brace 

Glasgow Warriors v Ulster

(Scotstoun Stadium - Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)

Glasgow Warriors have won their last four Pro12 encounters since Ulster beat them 13-10 in Belfast on February 12. The Warriors have not lost at Scotstoun in the Pro12 since Round One when Scarlets were the visitors.

Ulster's 32-0 victory over Zebre in Belfast in Round 17 of the Pro12 ended a two game losing run. The Ulstermen’s last five fixtures against Scottish opponents have all been won by the home side on the day.

Ulster beat Glasgow 13-10 in Round 14 but have not achieved a Pro12 season's double over the Scotsmen since 2010/11, whilst Ulster's only previous victory at Scotstoun came in the European Champions Cup in October 2012. 

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Jonny Gray (captain), 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid.

Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro.

Ulster: 15 Stuart Olding, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rob Herring (captain), 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Andy Warwick, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Sam Windsor, 23 Darren Cave.

Referee: John Lacey 

Saturday:

Ospreys v Scarlets

(Liberty Stadium - Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)

Ospreys have slipped to successive defeats in the Pro12, away at Connacht and Leinster, but at Liberty Stadium the Welshmen have suffered only one reversal in their last nine matches in all tournaments: 9-22 to Leinster in Round 12 of the Pro12.

Scarlets have lost just one of their last four Pro12 fixtures: 23-24 to Edinburgh at Murrayfield in Round 16. Scarlets only victory in their last four away games in the tournament was by a single point at Ulster on February 21.

Ospreys only defeat in their last seven encounters with Scarlets was 10-22 at Parc y Scarlets in January 2015. Scarlets only previous victory at Liberty Stadium was 14-9 in the Pro12 in September 2007.

The teams:

Ospreys: TBC

Scarlets: TBC

Referee: Ben Whitehouse 

Connacht v Leinster

(Sportsground - Kick-off: 17.15; 17.15 GMT)

Connacht have won their last six matches in all tournaments, five of those with maximum points. Connacht's only loss at the Sportsground in any competition this season was 3-10 to Ulster in the Pro12 on December 26.

Leinster's four game winning run in the Pro12 ended in Glasgow on Friday in the rearranged Round nine fixture. The Leinstermen have won all three matches they have played against fellow Irish provinces this season.

Leinster have lost just once to Connacht in their last six encounters: 9-10 in Galway in this equivalent fixture in Round Three last season. 

Teams:

Ospreys: TBC

Scarlets: TBC

Referee: Nigel Owens 

Sunday:

Newport Gwent Dragons v Edinburgh 

(Rodney Parade - Kickoff: 14.30; 14.30 GMT)

Newport Gwent Dragons have lost their last five Pro12 fixtures since beating Leinster 23-13 at Rodney Parade in Round 13. The Dragons only victory in their last nine encounters with Scottish opponents in all competitions was 19-5 against Edinburgh in Newport in the Pro12 in May 2015.

Edinburgh's only victory in their last six matches in all tournaments was 24-23 at home to Scarlets on February 28, whilst the Scotsman’s only away victory in the Pro12 since Round Two came when they beat Glasgow 14-11 on January 2 in a fixture which Glasgow were forced to move to Murrayfield.

Edinburgh's only defeat in their last seven fixtures with Dragons in all tournaments came in Round 21 at Rodney Parade last season.

Teams:

Newport Gwent Dragons: TBC

Edinburgh: TBC

Referee: George Clancy 

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