URC, Round Two - Teams and Predictions
PREVIEW: The Stormers will be looking to build on their strong start to the third season of the United Rugby Championship when they host Scarlets on Saturday – the only game in South Africa with the Sharks, Lions and Bulls playing abroad.
Returning to Stellenbosch for their Round Two clash against the Welsh club on Saturday, the Stormers would have taken notice of the big score posted last weekend by the Bulls against the same opponent.
The Capetonians have not lost to the Scarlets and even though they will be without their captain Salmaan Moerat, who was injured last weekend against the Lions, John Dobson’s team will approach Saturday’s game with confidence after they kicked off the season with a full house of five log points in Johannesburg.
Playing at the Danie Craven Stadium has also been a boon for the Stormers. They’ve hosted three URC games there and are yet to lose in the picturesque Boland town. They have also only lost once before to a Welsh club – to Cardiff a year ago (24-30).
"Our challenge is to give them a tough experience based on our rugby ability and our intensity," said Dobson.
"The Bulls were very good last week, but [Scarlets had] to play at altitude, in that temperature and in that bright blue stadium and probably not having the best tactical approach in that game. A lot of circumstances caused that poor performance.
"I think they will feel much more comfortable here, so will have to give them a similar experience to what the Bulls gave them. The Bulls provided us with a useful template."
Dobson also doesn't want his team to play to the Scarlets' strengths in Stellenbosch.
"Like all the Welsh teams, they got a good contestable kicking game and we saw it last week. They are a bit different to some other teams. When they win a contestable, they want to play so that is in the DNA of the old Llanelli and if we get sucked in, they got a really dangerous back three.
"They are good in the air, so we got to be careful not to get sucked into a contestable [kicking] game ourselves."
The Sharks face a different prospect altogether though, as they are up against Irish giants Leinster in Dublin on Saturday.
Playing Leinster in the Irish capital is never easy – they have only lost three URC matches at home in the last two seasons – and the KwaZulu-Natalians will face a side keen to rectify matters after taking a big defeat last weekend in Glasgow.
The Sharks could scarcely have asked for a tougher start to the season. Last weekend, they faced the defending champions, Munster in Limerick, and this weekend they are up against a Leinster team that beat the Durbanites by 35-5 on their last visit to Dublin, in the 2023 quarterfinal.
The visitors will probably be looking to assert dominance at scrum time: last weekend, the Sharks won all of their attacking scrums; in contrast, Leinster conceded five scrum penalties.
"There was a change in attacking mindset against Munster last week and we want to continue that," said Sharks head coach John Plumtree. "We just let ourselves down last week with some soft moments mainly around our defence and we missed a couple of opportunities on attack as well.
"So, tomorrow [Saturday] against this team it is going to be really important that we don’t miss those opportunities and we don't have those soft moments, because this team will hurt you."
"Although it is not a full-strength Leinster side, they play a similar brand of rugby and they have got such good depth on their set-up here and it has been developed over a long period of time.
"We know what a tough challenge it is going to be."
The final match on Saturday involving a South African team – excluding the Springboks in Paris – is in the Scottish capital, where the Lions take on Edinburgh.
The Scots – who have lost their last six URC matches against South African franchises – are still looking for their first win over Jozi’s Pride, having lost at home in the fourth round just over a year ago, and the previous season in Johannesburg.
While the Lions ran the Stormers close last weekend, Edinburgh took a lot of confidence from their away victory over Dragons in Newport, where Scotland international and former Munster stalwart Ben Healy kicked 17 points, sending a timely reminder to the Gautengers that they must be disciplined on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's match, Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen believes he has the right balance of players on this tour who can vary his side’s play in conditions a far cry from sunny South Africa.
"I’m really excited about the group we have going into this four-week tour," said Van Rooyen.
"I feel we’ve gone with a dynamic mix of players who can go physical and where needs be, have the option to select players to speed the game up.
"We are expecting strong line-ups from all four teams we will be facing with a couple of their internationals reporting back for club duty. Pitch conditions are something we are also familiar with in that there will be a combination of grass and artificial surfaces over the next four weeks."
Van Rooyen added: "We’ve learnt a lot from this past weekend. We played with good intensity and when we were physically dominant in certain parts of the game, we had the makings of a championship team.
"Unfortunately, there were moments where we were inconsistent and that for us is a big work on ahead of Saturday and the rest of the tour."
In the last match of the round on Sunday, the Bulls face a tough exam at Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast against Ulster, who will be determined to improve after being run close by Zebre Parma in Italy last weekend.
Had the Italians’ goal-kicking been better, the result may have gone against Ulster, who also had two players sin-binned, something they know they can’t afford against a Bulls side that started the season with the biggest win of Round One against Scarlets in Pretoria last weekend.
Scoring nine converted tries on a hot day in Pretoria is one thing, but cold and rainy weather is predicted for Belfast on Sunday, and the conditions will probably suit Ulster better.
Honours are even between Ulster and the Bulls in their two clashes to date, but the men from Pretoria will remember Round 16 last season when they were denied a bonus point in Belfast with Tom Stewart scoring a hat-trick of tries for the Irish hosts.
What’s more, the Bulls have played Irish provinces in Ireland five times, only winning once – the 2021/22 semifinal against Leinster in Dublin.
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White was pleased with what he saw against Scarlets and he is keen to see a few more combinations on tour.
"It is early days but it is nice to have guys like [Cameron] Hanekom make their debut and really put in the kind of performances that he did, winning the man of the match," said White.
"It is quite nice as a coach to know that there are still a couple of combinations that we can try. I thought Nizaam [Carr] was wonderful and he went into the openside and did very well,"
"It is a 4G pitch [In Belfast], it will most likely rain and that presents a lot of challenges for us but we must learn from last year.
"Their set-pieces are strong and they have great players in certain positions and we must make sure we match them in those positions."
On the opposition, White added: "It is going to be a tough game, playing Ulster early up. They have a lot of passion and they are playing in their new field and I am sure they will want to impress on their first home game and they will be inspired because we had the same feel last week on our new turf.
“From the start, we had last week, we have to play well and build on it."
Other games this weekend are between Ospreys and Zebre in Swansea; Connacht v Glasgow Warriors in Galway; Benetton v Munster in Treviso; and Dragons v Cardiff in Newport.
See below for Round Two's teams and predictions!
Saturday, October 28:
Ospreys v Zebre Parma
(Swansea Stadium, Swansea – Kick-off: 13.00; 12.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Ospreys by 13 points.
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Dom Morris, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Mat Protheroe, 10 Jack Walsh, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (captain), 6 James Ratti, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Ethan Lewis, 1 Garyn Phillips.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 James Fender, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Keiran Williams, 23 Owen Williams.
Zebre Parma: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Franco Smith Jr, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Giovanni Licata (captain), 7 Giacomo Ferrari, 6 Guido Volpi, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Giovanni Montemauri, 23 Scott Gregory.
Referee: Ian Kenny
Assistant referees: Gareth Newman, Gwyn Morris
TMO: Dave Sutherland
Connacht v Glasgow Warriors
(The Sportsground, Galway – Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Glasgow by seven points.
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (captain), 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Oisín Dowling, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Liam McNamara, 23 Conor Oliver.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (captain), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Angus Fraser, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Rory Darge, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Duncan Weir.
Referee: Adam Jones
Assistant Referees: Padraic Reidy, Sam Holt
TMO: Jon Mason
Stormers v Scarlets
(Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch – Kick-off: 16.00; 15.00 UK & Ireland time; 14.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Stormers by 25 points.
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Courtnall Skosan.
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies (captain), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Morgan Jones, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Shaun Evans, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Isaac Young, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Jac Price, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Eddie James.
Referee: Sam Grove-White
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Christopher Allison
TMO: Mike Adamson
Leinster v Sharks
(RDS Arena, Dublin – Kick-off: 16.55; 15.55 GMT; 17.55 SAST)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster by six points.
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny (captain), 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Donnellan, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Rory McGuire, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Will Connors, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Rob Russell.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2. Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khwezi Mona, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 George Cronje, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli
Assistant referees: Joy Neville, Paul Haycock
TMO: Stefano Roscini
Edinburgh v Lions
(Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 17.00; 16.00 GMT; 18.00 SAST)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Edinburgh by three points.
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Ross McCann, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 WP Nel, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Chris Dean.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.
Referee: Chris Busby
Assistant referee: Jonny Perriam, Rob McDowell
TMO: Colin Stanley
Sunday, October 29:
Benetton v Munster
(Stadio Monigo, Treviso – Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 UK & Ireland time; 14.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Munster by 10 points.
Teams:
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Filippo Drago, 11 Edoardo Padovani, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Edoardo Iachizzi, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Mirco Spagnolo.
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Henry Time-Stowers, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Marco Zanon.
Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Shay McCarthy, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Sean O’Brien.
Referee: Morne Ferreira
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi, Alex Frasson
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen
Dragons v Cardiff
(Rodney Parade, Newport – Kick-off: 14.30; 14.30 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Cardiff by one point.
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Steff Hughes (captain), 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Dan Lydiate, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Joe Davies, 20 George Nott, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Will Reed, 23 Jack Dixon.
Cardiff: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Seb Davies, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Thomas Young, 21 E Bevan, 22 Ben Thomas, 23 Harri Millard.
Referee: Frank Murphy
Assistant referees: Elgan Williams, Ben Connor
TMO: Mark Patton
Ulster v Bulls
(Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 17.00; 17.00 GMT; 19.00 SAST)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bulls by four points.
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Dave McCann, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Andy Warwick.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Greg McGrath, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Mike Lowry.
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (co-captain), 5 Ruan Nortje (co-captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Stedman Gans.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole, Robbie Jenkinson
TMO: Stefano Roscini