URC, Round 17 - Teams and predictions
SATURDAY PREVIEW: It is all about securing wins as the Bulls and Lions fight to remain in the race for the play-offs in the penultimate round of the United Rugby Championship pool matches.
The Round 17 action on Saturday kicks off with a double-header in Johannesburg between Bulls and Zebre, followed by a clash between Lions and Leinster.
The Stormers will wrap up the action for the South African teams against Munster in Cape Town.
In Saturday's other matches, Edinburgh take on Ospreys and Connacht play host to Cardiff.
As things stand, the Stormers – in second place with 61 points on the log – are guaranteed a home quarterfinal.
However, they will have to fend off third-placed Ulster (59 points), who trail by only two log points, in the last two league rounds to remain in a favourable position for a possible home semifinal if they advance to the top four.
For the Bulls and Lions, it's a little bit more complicated.
The Bulls are in seventh place with 43 points but still have their fate in their own hands. The side needs to secure a bonus-point win over Zebre on Saturday - which by all means should be an easy feat.
Jake White's troops head into the fixture as clear favourites against a Zebre side who have yet to register a win this season.
"Zebre have not won in a long time, but the reality is they are always there about," Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White said.
"If you look at some of the results, they don't get put away easily and I have no doubt it will be the same this Saturday.
"There are a couple of South African guys that know the Bulls well and there is a couple who played at the Bulls.
"They have Richard Kriel and like I said they are one of those teams that just won't go away."
The big news in the Bulls team is the selection of Johan Goosen at flyhalf.
Goosen will get his first Bulls to start in the URC since recovering from shoulder surgery seven weeks ago.
White hopes Goosen will add the much-needed energy alongside Springboks like Canan Moodie, Kurt-lee Arendse and Embrose Papier
"We’ve got a guy like Johan Goosen playing 10, and we know how good he is," White said, adding: "We know when he’s on the song, what a difference he makes to our team.
"He’s here until 2026, and through injury, he has been in and out. But part of my brief is to get him to play his best rugby.
"He was the player of the season in France, but has come back now from a shoulder injury. If he’s playing his best rugby and combining with Canan and Kurt-Lee – and Embrose Papier as well, who played well last week – then all of a sudden, you have four Springboks in your backline.
“And when you get that sort of experience and that calibre of player playing together, it gives you a chance in big games. He’s back now, and I can’t wait to see how he does."
Meanwhile, the Lions are in the 11th place - they are just three points adrift eight placed Sharks - with Benetton and Cardiff locked in between those positions.
The Johannesburg will closely monitor the Sharks and Bulls’ matches as well as the clash between Cardiff and Connacht when they host Leinster on Saturday, as a surprise victory by the hosts combined with defeats for Benetton and Cardiff could see them leapfrog those teams on the table.
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Thus far the Lions have produced some incredible results with consecutive victories over Glasgow, Bulls and Benetton.
They will certainly draw confidence from those triumphs but they know they have to deliver one of their best performances this season to topple the unbeaten Leinster, whose worst result so far this season has been a draw.
The Irish giants are already guaranteed a top spot but will be out to keep their unbeaten record this season intact.
While a defeat for the Lions will leave them out of the race and short of their target for the season.
There is no doubt that all eyes will be on the Cape Town clash where the Stormers host fifth-placed Munster.
Victory is a necessity for the reigning champions as they attempt to hold off the challenge of Ulster and retain the second spot.
They have racked up 19 straight wins at Cape Town Stadium since their last defeat on home soil in December 2021, so securing home advantage for the first two stages of the play-offs is clearly a huge incentive.
"We want to secure a possible home semifinal and want to cement our spot in the top two," Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff said.
"We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we played a quarterfinal and have to travel for the semifinal again
"So we want to go undefeated until the end of the season and therefore every game is as important as a URC final."
The captain is confident his team is well prepared for the Munster's plan.
"Like a typical Irish team, they have a well-structured attack and are organized in defence with a solid set-piece," Kitshoff said.
"For us on attack and defence, it's about understanding our roles, stopping their momentum so that they don't get front-foot ball.
"It's all about breaking those things down, and finding space for guys like Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel and Suleiman [Hartzenberg] to actually have a run on the outside."
Munster will be hoping to keep alive their hopes of lunging into the top four for a possible home quarterfinal in the last two league rounds.
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See below for Saturday’s teams and predictions!
Bulls v Zebre Parma
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 Italy time; 11.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bulls by 20 points.
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 David Kriel, 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Cornal Hendricks.
Zebre: 15 Richard Kriel, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Guido Volpi, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi (captain), 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Jacques Du Toit, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Alessio Sanavia, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Giacomo Ferrari, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Jacopo Trulla
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)
Lions v Leinster
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 16.00; 15.00 Ireland & UK time; 14.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster by five points.
Teams:
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Delport, 6 Jacobus Kriel, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger.
Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Travis Gordon, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.
Leinster: 15 Chris Cosgrave, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Ben Brownlee, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Alex Soroka, 20 James Culhane, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Rob Russell
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)
Stormers v Munster
(Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 18.15; 17.15 Ireland & UK time; 16.15 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Stormers by five points.
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Keith Earls
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Connacht v Cardiff
(The Sportsground, Galway – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Connacht by three points.
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Ben Thomas, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tomos Williams (captain), 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Botham, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Lopeti Timani, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 James Ratti, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Harri Millard
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (captain), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Shane Jennings
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Dan Carson (Ireland), Tomas O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Edinburgh v Ospreys
(Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Edinburgh by 10 points.
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 James Lang, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Duhan van der Merwe
Ospreys: 15 Iestyn Hopkins, 14 George North, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Dan Lydiate (captain), 6 Rhys Davies, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Ethan Roots, 21 Reuben Morgan-Wiliams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Max Nagy
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Fin Brown (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
*Additional reporting: @URCOfficial & SA Rugby