Preview: Pro12, Round 14
Just two points separate the top four teams, whilst a mere five points separate the top six in the table and of those Leinster and Munster still have a game in hand, so the competition for the end of season play-offs and qualification for next year's Champions Cup is really intense.
It's a Thursday start for Round 14 of the Pro12 with Newport Gwent Dragons in action against an Irish province once again, this time welcoming Connacht to Rodney Parade.
Having not been outside the top four all season the visitors will be looking to continue their run of successes against Dragons to keep them in play-off contention.
The three remaining teams in the play-off zone are all in action at home on Friday night; table topping Ulster hosting reigning champions Glasgow Warriors, second placed Scarlets also welcoming Scottish visitors, this time the capital club, Edinburgh Rugby, whilst fourth placed Leinster face Italian outfit Zebre.
All three will be looking to make home advantage count and with only two points separating the top four teams any slip up could be costly.
Benetton Treviso and Cardiff Blues take centre stage on Saturday with the game timed to avoid a clash with the Six Nations fixture between Wales and Scotland later that day.
The Blues will be looking to reverse the outcome of this equivalent fixture last season which saw the Treviso club claim a bonus point victory.
The round wraps up at Irish Independent Park in Cork on Sunday, St Valentine's Day, when Munster face Ospreys.
The Welsh Region are just outside the Champions Cup qualifying places, below Munster in the table, but their opponents also have a game in hand, so every point is vital if Ospreys are to keep their record of qualifying for Europe's top tier every year since they were formed in 2003.
We look at all the Round 14 matches!
Thursday, February 11
Newport Gwent Dragons v Connacht
(Rodney Parade – Kick-off: 19.30; 19.30 GMT)
Newport Gwent Dragons have won just two of their last eight Pro12 encounters, at home to Munster and Leinster in Rounds Nine and 13 respectively.
The Dragons' only defeat at Rodney Parade since early November was by a single point to Cardiff Blues in the Pro12 on 27 December.
Connacht have won their last two matches in all competitions, against Enisei in the European Challenge Cup and over Scarlets in the Pro12 – both games were played in Galway.
Connacht have lost their last five away games since beating Munster 18-12 in Limerick on 28 November.
Connacht have won their last six encounters with Dragons, whilst the Welshmen's only victory over the Irish province in their last nine fixtures was 14-3 at Rodney Parade in the Pro12 in November 2012.
The teams:
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Nick Crosswell, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Ben White, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Angus O'Brien, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Eoghan Masterson, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 George Naoupu, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Peter Robb, 23 Rory Parata.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Simon Rees (both Wales)
Friday, February 12
Leinster v Zebre
(RDS Arena – Kick-off: 19.30; 19.30 GMT)
Leinster have slipped to back-to-back defeats at Wasps in the European Champions Cup and at Newport Gwent Dragons in the Pro12.
The Leinstermen are unbeaten in their last nine Pro12 encounters at the RDS Arena since Dragons beat them there on 15 February 2015.
Zebre have won four Pro12 matches this season, against Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues in October and home and away to Benetton Treviso over Christmas and the New Year.
The Italians have also won their last two away games – against Treviso and at Worcester in the European Challenge Cup.
Leinster have won all six previous encounters they have played against Zebre, achieving a try bonus on five occasions with the "closest" winning margin being 17 points in their 20-3 victory in Parma in October 2014.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Isa Nacewa (captain), 10 Cathal Marsh, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Mike Ross, 2 James Tracy, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Michael Bent,) 19 Tom Denton, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Cian Kelleher.
Zebre: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Maicol Azzolini, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Jean Cook, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Emiliano Caffini, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Guillermo Roan, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Bruno Postiglioni.
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Coria, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Giulio Toniolatti, 22 Mils Muliaina, 23 Abou Souare.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan, Mark Connolly (both Ireland)
Ulster v Glasgow Warriors
(Kingspan Stadium – Kick-off: 19.30; 19.30 GMT)
Ulster hit the top of the Pro12 table following their victory in the rearranged Round 12 game against Dragons on Friday – the first time they have led the league table since May 2013.
The Ulstermen's only defeat in their last five Pro12 fixtures was 7-9 to Munster in Belfast on January 2.
Glasgow Warriors have won just one of their last six matches in all tournaments: 22-5 over Racing 92 in Kilmarnock on 23 January.
Warriors only victory on the road in the Pro12 this season was 35-30 at Cardiff Blues on 7 November, they did however draw 20-all at Ospreys in round 13.
Ulster have won just one of their last six contests with Glasgow: 29-9 at Kingspan Stadium in the Pro12 in October 2014. Glasgow return for the first time to the scene of their title triumph last year, beating Munster in the Pro12 final there in Belfast in May.
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Stuart Olding, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Windsor, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Robbie Diack, 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 Bronson Ross, 19 Chris Henry, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Sammy Arnold.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Glenn Bryce, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Gregor Hunter, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson (captain), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D'Arcy Rae, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Gary Conway, Paul Haycock (both Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Scarlets v Edinburgh
(Parc y Scarlets – Kick-off: 20.15; 20.15)
Scarlets only victory in their last eight first team matches was 21-19 over Connacht in the Pro12 on 10 January.
Scarlets have lost just one of their last eight home games at Parc y Scarlets in the Pro12: 26-27 to Ospreys on Boxing Day.
Edinburgh have slipped to successive defeats, to Grenoble in the European Challenge Cup and at Cardiff Blues in the Pro12.
Edinburgh's solitary victory on their last five trips to Wales came on their most recent visit to Parc y Scarlets in March 2015.
The two meetings between the clubs in the Pro12 last season ended in a 20-all draw at Murrayfield and a 26-15 Edinburgh win in Wales. Edinburgh's overall record at Parc y Scarlets is won two, lost six.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Gareth Owen, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes (captain), 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 David Bulbring, 4 George Earle, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Rory Pitman, 20 Steff Hughes, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Steff Evans.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Michael Allan, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 John Andress, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Toolis, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Dougie Fife.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans, Greg Morgan (both Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Saturday, February 13
Benetton Treviso v Cardiff Blues
(Stadio Monigo – Kick-off: 13.30; 12.30 GMT)
Benetton Treviso are still searching for that elusive first win of the 2015/16 season.
In fact their most recent victory was over Cardiff Blues in this equivalent fixture in the Pro12 last campaign played on 20 February 2015.
Cardiff Blues have won their last four Pro12 fixtures since their 6-13 reversal at Ospreys in November.
Blues have not won five in a row in the competitions since 2010.
The Blues have already been defeated in Italy this season losing 15-26 at Zebre in Round Six.
The last five meetings between the two sides have been evenly split with two wins apiece plus a draw, whilst the Blues are winless on their last three visits to Stadio Monigo.
The teams:
Benetton Treviso: TBC
Cardiff Blues: TBC
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Filippo Bertelli, Stefano Bolzonella (both Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
Sunday, February 14
Munster v Ospreys
(Irish Independent Park – Kick-off: 17.00; 17.00)
Munster have won their last three games since their 7-27 defeat at Stade Francais in the European Champions Cup on January 9.
The Munstermen have lost their last two home games in the Pro12 to Connacht and Leinster, but they were both played at Thomond Park, however in Cork they have won a dozen in a row since Cardiff Blues beat them there over three years ago.
Ospreys two most recent encounters in the Pro12 were both at Liberty Stadium and ended in a defeat to Leinster and a draw with Glasgow Warriors.
Away from home in the tournament their only defeat in their last four fixtures came on a trip to Glasgow in November.
Munster have won their last two clashes with Ospreys – last season's semi-final in Limerick and the Round Two meeting at Liberty Stadium.
Ospreys have visited Irish Independent Park on four previous occasions, all between 2004 and 2008, with their only victory being 18-15 on their inaugural trip in February 2004.
Teams:
Munster: TBC
Ospreys: TBC
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton, Jonathan Peak (both Ireland)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)
Source: @PRO12rugby
