URC Round 13 - Teams and Predictions
EUROPEAN ACTION: Leinster will look to maintain pole position as United Rugby Championship leaders during the latest round of action this week.
The Irish side face their hosts Benetton, knowing victory at Stadio Monigo would keep them in top spot.
Ulster can climb back to the summit if they beat Kingspan Stadium visitors Cardiff on Friday but it would be short-lived if Leinster triumph less than 24 hours later while Edinburgh are also in action on Friday as they take on Connacht at the DAM Health Stadium.
Third-placed Glasgow Warriors, tucked in a point behind Ulster, head to West Wales on Saturday for an appointment with the Scarlets, knowing a win on the road would keep them firmly in the mix.
The same goes for Munster, in fourth, who will attempt to make home advantage count when they tackle the Dragons at Thomond Park.
Welsh Shield leaders Ospreys, meanwhile, can consolidate that position at home to Zebre Parma on Sunday, with the Italian side yet to taste victory in the URC this season.
Friday, March 4
Ulster v Cardiff
(Kingspan Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)
Ulster will bid for a sixth successive victory since a 13-18 URC defeat to Munster when Cardiff arrive in Belfast.
They also have a 100 percent home record in all competitions this season and can reflect on eight wins in their last nine games against the Welsh opposition.
Cardiff have form behind them, though, losing just one of their last four URC fixtures, with those victories including a memorable one against Leinster which was secured by Jarrod Evans' final-kick penalty.
Cardiff have not beaten Ulster for four years and it is almost 12 years since they won in Belfast.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Ulster by five points
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Ben Moxham, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 Jordi Murphy, 5 Iain Henderson (Captain), 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick,
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Sam Carter, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Aaron Sexton.
Cardiff Rugby: 15 Hallam Amos; 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Aled Summerhill; 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams; 8 James Botham, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Josh Turnbull (captain), 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Brad Thyer.
Replacements: 16 Keiron Assiratti, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 James Ratti, 21 Jamie Hill, 22 Ben Thomas, 23 Matthew Morgan
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (IRFU) & Nigel Correll (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Edinburgh v Connacht
(The DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)
Edinburgh are down to fifth having slipped to three successive URC defeats.
They have not lost four on the bounce since October 2020 and are unbeaten at home in all competitions for six games.
Connacht are on the trail of a third successive URC victory, having toppled the Scarlets and Stormers, which is a run they last achieved almost a year ago.
Both games between Edinburgh and Connacht last season were won by the away side while Connacht have claimed four victories from their last six visits to the Scottish capital.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Edinburgh to win by three points
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Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 James Lang, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Henry Pyrgos (Captain), 8 Mesulame Kunavula, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Glen Young, 4 Pierce Phillips, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Harrison Courtney, 18 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 19 Jamie Campbell, 20 Rudi Brown, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Matt Currie.
Connacht: 15 John Porch, 14 Peter Sullivan, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Jack Carty (Captain), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Oisin Dowling, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Jordan Duggan.
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Tietie Tuimauga, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Abraham Papali’i, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Jarrad Butler.
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Finlay Brown (SRU) & Ross Mabon (SRU)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
Saturday, March 5
Benetton v Leinster
(Stadio Monigo, Treviso – Kick-off 13.55; 12.55 UK Time; 12.55 GMT)
Leaders Leinster will seek to maintain their dominance over Benetton when they head to Italy.
The Dublin-based side have lost once in 13 previous visits to Stadio Monigo – which was more than 11 years ago - and have won their last six games against Italian opposition.
Benetton are striving to avoid a third URC reversal on the bounce after going down to Glasgow and Sharks.
The history books will offer them little comfort, having only beaten Leinster once since 2010 - a 17-15 verdict at Dublin's RDS Arena almost four years ago.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster to win by 20 points
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Teams:
Benetton: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Lorenzo Pani, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Filippo Drago, 11 Rhyno Smith, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Lorenzo Cannone, 6 Matteo Meggiato, 5 Carl Wegner (captain), 4 Nicola Piantella, 3 Nahuel Tetaz, 2 Corniel Els, 1 Federico Zani.
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Matteo Drudi, 18 Cherif Traore, 19 Abraham Steyn, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Luca Petrozzi, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Luca Sperandio.
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Harry Byrne, 11 Tommy O’Brien, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (captain), 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Thoas Clarkson, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Cormac Foley, 22 Rory O’Loughlin, 23 Dave Kearney.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assitant referees: Manuel Bottino (FIR) & Alex Frasson (FIR)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Scarlets v Glasgow
(Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 17.15; 17.45 GMT)
The Scarlets are aiming to prevent a third successive URC loss, having gone down to Ulster and Connacht, but they have only beaten Scottish opponents once from the last seven attempts.
Glasgow are on a roll, winning their last five URC games - their best run in the competition since May 2019.
They have also triumphed on their last two visits to Llanelli, winning there in November 2016 and April 2018.
Glasgow can also reflect on three wins in a row against Welsh opposition since losing to the Dragons at the Principality Stadium last March.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Scarlets to win by three points
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Scott Williams (captain), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Jac Price, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Joe Roberts.
Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Josh McKay, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Cole Forbes, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Ally Miller, 6 Ryan Wilson (captain), 5 Rob Harley, 4 Kiran McDonald, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Oliver Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Murphy Walker, 18 Ewan McQuillin, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Thomas Gordon, 21 Jordan Lenac, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Stafford McDowall.
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Elgan Williams (WRU) & Steffan Edwards (WRU)
TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)
Munster v Dragons
(Thomond Park, Limerick – Kick-off: 17.15; 17.45 GMT)
Munster knows victory will keep them in touch with the URC top three of Leinster, Ulster and Glasgow and they are unbeaten at home for eight games.
They lost their most recent fixture against Welsh opposition, though - 18-10 against the Ospreys – which ended a run of 15 successive wins.
Dragons have not tasted victory since winning at Connacht in October and their only previous triumph at Thomond Park was 18 years ago.
After beating Saturday's opponents 22-6 in December 2015, they have suffered seven successive defeats against Munster.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Munster to win by 10 points
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Teams:
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Alex Kendellen, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Rory Scannell.
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Will Talbot-Davies, 13 Jack Dixon, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Harri Keddie (captain), 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Taylor Davies, 1 Greg Bateman.
Replacements: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Mesake Doge, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Ben Fry, 21 Dan Baker, 22 Lewis Jones, 23 Josh Lewis.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU) & Stuart Douglas (IRFU)
TMO: Colin Stanley (IRFU)
Sunday, March 6
Ospreys v Zebre
(Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea – Kick-off: 14.00; 15.00 Italian Time; 14.00 GMT)
The Ospreys are chasing a fourth successive victory on home soil, which they have not achieved in the URC since October 2018.
They have also reeled off three wins on the bounce against Italian opponents and only lost once to Zebre in almost four years.
Zebre have now gone more than a year without a victory in any competition, with a home win against Dragons their last success.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Ospreys to win by three wins
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Rhys Webb (captain), 8 Ethan Roots, 7 Morgan Morris, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Will Griffiths, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 23 Mat Protheroe.
Zebre Parma: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Giovanni D’Onofrio, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Asaeli Tuivuaka, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Nicolò Casilio, 8 Renato Giammarioli (captain), 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Liam Mitchell, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Cristian Stoian, 20 Taina Fox-Matamua, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Timothy O’Malley, 23 Junior Laloifi.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (WRU) & Wayne Davies (WRU)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)