PREVIEW: PRO12, Round 22
Only the top five teams can now make the Pro12 play-offs, and ultimately the Pro12 Final at BT Murrayfield on May 28, namely: Glasgow Warriors, Leinster, Connacht, Ulster, and Scarlets.
Of those only Scarlets cannot claim a home tie.
It will take other results going their way for Ulster to be playing in Belfast should they retain their place in the top four.
Defending champions, Glasgow Warriors and Connacht face each other, the winner of that tussle is sure to claim one of the two home play-off places.
The loser will be looking over their shoulders to see how Leinster are faring against Benetton Treviso, who upset Connacht in Round 21.
A Leinster bonus-point win in that game should be enough to see them book a home play-off berth for the third year in a row.
Glasgow Warriors and Scarlets are already assured to be the highest Scottish and Welsh finishers in the Pro12 and claimed automatic spots in next season’s Champions Cup.
Connacht and Benetton Treviso presently hold the Irish and Italian spots, although only one league point separates Treviso and Zebre.
The three other places up for grabs in Europe’s top tier would at present go to Leinster, Ulster and Munster, however Ospreys and Edinburgh can mathematically still overtake Munster should the Irishmen not pick up a point in Round 22.
We look at all the Round 22 action!
Saturday, May 7
Connacht v Glasgow Warriors
(Sportsground, Kick-off; 15.00, 14.00 GMT)
The winner of this match will guarantee a home play-off, the losers will have to wait on other results.
Connacht have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, but the three defeats have all been away
from home.
Connacht’s only defeat at The Sportsground this season in any tournament was to Ulster in the Pro12 on 26 December.
Glasgow Warriors top the table for the first time this season following their biggest ever Pro12 victory at home to Zebre last weekend.
The Warriors have won their last nine encounters in the tournament since Ulster beat them in Belfast on February 12.
Warriors have won their last eight fixtures against Connacht with the Irishmen’s most recent victory in the series being 37-8 in Galway in February 2011.
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Nidi Adeolokun, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (captain), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Ronan Loughney.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 JP Cooney, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 John Cooney, 22 Shane O’Leary, 23 Peter Robb.
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ryan Wilson, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (captain), 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Simone Favart, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Sean Lamont.
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU)
Edinburgh Rugby v Cardiff Blues
(Murrayfield, Kick-off: 15.00, 14.00 GMT)
Edinburgh Rugby could still mathematically make Champions Cup qualification but would need a maximum point win and even then would depend upon other results going their way.
The Scotsmen have lost their last two Pro12 matches in Ireland, to Leinster and Munster, but have lost just once at Murrayfield in any tournament since November.
Cardiff Blues four game winning run ended with their Judgement Day defeat to Ospreys.
The Blues only defeat in their last six fixtures with Edinburgh was 13-28 in this equivalent fixture at Murrayfield in Round Eight last season.
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Nasi Manu, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford (captain) 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally 17 Allan Dell, 18 John Andress, 19 Alex Toolis, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Will Helu.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 James Down, 4 Cam Dolan, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Gavin Evans.
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson, Keith Allan (both SRU)
TMO: Charles Samson
Leinster v Benetton Treviso
(RDS Arena, Kick-off: 15.00, 14.00 GMT)
Leinster require a maximum point win to guarantee a home spot in the play-offs, less if Connacht do not beat Glasgow Warriors.
Leinster’s last six matches have all been won by the home side on the day whilst the Leinstermen are the only side with a perfect played ten, won ten record this season.
Benetton Treviso climbed above Zebre in the table for the first time this season after their last minute victory over Connacht in Round 21, but with just one point separating the two teams, Treviso will be looking for the results from Parma in the race for the Italian Champions Cup qualification spot.
Treviso’s only previous victory over Leinster came on their very first meeting in the Pro12 at Stadio Monigo in September 2010.
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa (captain), 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Noel Reid.
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Abraham Steyn, 7 Alessandro Zanni(captain), 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Matteo Zanusso.
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Andrea De Marchi, 21 Alberto Lucchese, 22 James Ambrosini, 23 Enrico Bacchin.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Munster v Scarlets
(Thomond Park, Kick-off: 15.00, 14.00 GMT)
Munster need two points from this game to secure champions cup rugby in 2016/17, anything less and they could open the door for ospreys.
The Munstermen’s last six games have been won by the home side on the day, whilst they have not been defeated in limerick since December 27.
Scarlets require as many points as possible to give themselves a shot at a play-off spot for the first time since season 2012/13.
Scarlets Judgement Day victory over Newport Gwent Dragons ended a two game losing streak, with their last four encounters all being won by the away side on the day.
Scarlets only defeat in their last four fixtures against munster was at Thomond Park in this equivalent fixture in Round Six last year.
The Welshmen’s only previous victory in limerick was in september 2003.
Teams:
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Johnny Holland, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Dave Foley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Robin Copeland, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Ronan O'Mahony.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Gareth Owen, 13 Steff Hughes, 12 Hadeigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans 10 Steve Shingler 9 Aled Davies, 8 John Barclay, 7 James Davies, 6 Lewis Rawlins, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Ken Owens (captain), 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Tom Price, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Michael Tagicakibau.
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Ospreys v Ulster
(Liberty Stadium, Kick-off: 15.00, 14.00 GMT)
Ospreys require a victory to give themselves any chance of acquiring a champions cup spot for next season, even then it may still not be enough.
The Welshmen have won their last three matches, all with maximum points, since their home defeat to scarlets at the end of March.
A maximum-point win would guarantee Ulster a play-off spot, and also give them any outside chance of that game being in Belfast.
Anything less and they will be looking at other results to confirm their place in the last four for a fourth successive year.
The Ulstermen’s only defeat in the last five rounds of pro12 play was at glasgow in Round 18.
Ulster have lost just one of their last five fixtures against ospreys: 20-31 at liberty stadium in the equivalent fixture in Round 10 last season.
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Ben John, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar 9 Rhys Webb (captain), 8 James King, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Joe Bearman, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Tom Grabham.
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Sean Reidy, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Pete Browne, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Andrew Warwick, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Darren Cave.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR)
Assistant referees: Leighton Hodges, Gwyn Morris (Both WRU)
TMO: Derek Bevan (WRU)
Zebre v Newport Gwent Dragons
(Stadio Lanfranchi, Kick-off: 16.00, 14.00 GMT)
Zebre currently lie one league point below Treviso and must at least equal their opponents tally of points after this round of games to secure the Italian spot in the Champions Cup next season, however Zebre have not won in the Pro12 since beating Treviso on January 3.
Newport Gwent Dragons' only victory in their last 11 matches in all tournaments was 23-21 at Gloucester in the
quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup on April 9.
Zebre’s only victory in their seven previous contests with Dragons was 23-17 in Parma in Round 16 last season.
Teams:
Zebre: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Kayle Van Zyl, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Johan Meyer, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (captain), 3 Guillermo Roan, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Mils Muliaina.
Dragons: 15 Geraint Rhys Jones, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 James Thomas, 6 James Benjamin, 5 Nick Crosswell (captain), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Rhys Buckley, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Carl Meyer.
Referee: David Wilkinson (42Nd Competition Game)
Assistant referees: Elia Rizzo, Simone Boaretto (both FIR)
TMO: Stefano Marrama (FIR)
Soure: @PRO12rugby
