URC Round Seven - Teams and Predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: Glasgow Warriors are ready to put a disruptive period behind them when they face Benetton in Round Seven of this season’s United Rugby Championship.

After opening their South African tour with a 12-40 defeat to the Sharks in Durban, the Scottish side then had to deal with a mass outbreak of “gastroenteritis infections”.

Their second tour match against the Lions was eventually called off because of that, which means they headed home with no log points in the bag.

Franco Smith’s side enters Friday’s match in 12th place, while Benetton is in ninth.

Smith revealed a starting XV showing 11 changes from the club’s most recent outing, as they look to finish the first block of 2022/23 fixtures on the front foot against their Scottish-Italian Shield rivals.

Some of the more notable changes is a new halfback combination with Jamie Dobie and Domingo Miotti making their first starts of the 2022/23 season.

Meanwhile, a brace of returnees from Scotland camp will combine in the midfield, as Stafford McDowall lines up inside club captain Kyle Steyn in the centres.

“After a disrupted few weeks everyone is looking forward to getting back to playing rugby in front of our home crowd tomorrow [Friday] evening,” said Smith.

“It’s great to be able to welcome Jamie Dobie back into the side and we’re looking forward to seeing Alex [Samuel] and Euan [Ferrie] earn their debuts.

“Tomorrow is another challenge – Benetton out-performed us in the first week and we need to be at our best to rectify that tomorrow at Scotstoun in front of our home crowd.”

Meanwhile, Benetton will be looking to bounce back from their defeat at home to the Bulls last weekend.

Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami knows that his team will have to be strong on defence against a dangerous Glasgow side.

“Playing away from home we have already experienced that it is a very big challenge, so we will prepare for a tough game but we will go there with the intention of winning the game,” said Bortolami.

“By better managing some situations, even basic ones, that got out of hand against the Bulls we will be able to realise the opportunities created.

“We must be confident and have the energy to finish the first block of the season in the best possible way.

“Glasgow at home is a team that plays a lot of ball in hand starting with their own half. We will have to be able to defend for many phases, being careful and trying to hold up for the whole 80 minutes. Compared to the game against the Bulls we expect a much faster match than less based on pure physicality.”

The preview continues below…

🦅 @ConnachtRugby’s Mack Hansen
🪄 Rio Dyer’s magic feet
🎯 Rhys Priestland’s kicking masterclass
👏 Dramatic derby win for @LeinsterRugby
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Friday’s other match will see Scarlets up against Irish giants Leinster in Llanelli.

Scarlets are second from bottom in the standings with just one win from their six games so far.

Leinster, on the other hand, are in pole position with six wins from their six games.

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel knows that his team are overwhelming underdogs for the clash.

“People will obviously doubt us against Leinster, but it’s a great opportunity for us to have a go at them,” said Peel.

“We understand what is coming here. We know they are a quality outfit and have strength in depth.

“They are well coached and well drilled.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for us, but we are confident we can get amongst them and try and upset them.”

*See Friday’s teams and predictions below!

Glasgow Warriors v Benetton
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 Italy time; 18.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Glasgow by nine points.

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn (captain), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Rufus McLean, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Gregor Brown, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Lewis Bean, 21 Euan Ferrie, 22 Sean Kennedy, 23 Tom Jordan.

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Henry Stowers, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Federico Zani, 1 Nahuel Tetaz.
Replacements: 16 Manuel Arroyo, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alessandro Izekor, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Marcus Watson.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Finlay Brown (Scotland), Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Scarlets v Leinster
(Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Leinster by 13 points.

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Steff Evans, 12 Jonathan Davies (captain), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tom Price, 4 Jac Price, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kelmsey Mathias, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Corey Baldwin.

Leinster: 15 Chris Cosgrave, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 John McKee, 1 Ed Byrne.
Replacements: 16 Tadhg McElroy, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ben Brownlee.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Mills (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)