Preview: Pro12, Round Eight
Springbok fullback Zane Kirchner earn his 50th cap for Leinster and Springbok scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar earns his 100th for Ulster in what looks to be the pick of the matches this weekend.
Leinster have a 100% record at home this season but, if they are to maintain that, scrum coach John Fogarty believes his players must come out on top in the scrum – an area in which they struggled in Saturday's European Cup defeat to Bath.
"You don't become a bad scrum overnight. You can have a bad day. That was a particularly bad day," said Fogarty.
"We're going to work hard to make sure that everyone's on the same page, that they understand how important this part of the game is, and we go after it. That message should be loud and clear to everyone.
"They're a fiery pack, they're a good set piece – Rory Best does a great job in that scrum.
"Again this week we're under no illusions what the test will be, what the contest is going to be in what's a local battle.
"Our eyes will be wide open. They're going to be enthused to come down to the RDS and do a good job. I'm sure they're smarting from their loss, so we're going to have two angry packs going at each other," he added.
Connacht's victory over Benetton Treviso last time out and the loss of Scarlets 100% record saw the Irish province take over top spot in the PRO12 table, a position they had not held after a full round of games since the start of season 2010/11.
With almost one third of the season gone fans are already seeing more tries, the 186 scored to date are the most tallied by this stage since the tournament went home and away, whilst the results are getting closer, as 22 of the games played so far, including four out of six in the last round, have ended up with a losing bonus point, the best ever recorded at this stage of the season. It all promises to make for a great season as teams battle to make the knock-out stages.
Connacht top not only the PRO12 table but after a disrupted couple of rounds of European rugby, also lead their pool in the Challenge Cup having completed both of their fixtures.
Fellow Irish provinces Ulster and Munster however along with Glasgow Warriors found their Champions Cup games against French opposition called off following the tragic events in Paris. Ospreys are the best placed PRO12 team in the Champions Cup leading the way in Pool Four.
The eighth round pits the two top teams against each other on Saturday evening when Munster host Connacht at Thomond Park, whilst fourth and fifth in the table, Leinster and UIster meet at the RDS Arena the night before.
With only one point separating each pairing coupled with the fact that third and sixth placed teams, Scarlets and Glasgow Warriors, both face Italian opposition there could be significant changes in the play-off zone comes the end of the round.
The round begins with two other sides who also top their Challenge Cup pools – Edinburgh and Newport Gwent Dragons facing each other at Murrayfield.
All of the match details:
Friday, November 27
Edinburgh v Newport Gwent Dragons
(Murrayfield – Kick-off: 19.35 GMT)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Will Helu, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 John Hardie, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Fraser McKenzie, 4 Alex Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 John Andress, 19 Jamie Ritchie, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Mike Allen, 23 Blair Kinghorn.
Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Rhys Thomas, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Ross Wardle.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Cammy Rudkin (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland) & Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Glasgow Warriors v Treviso
(Scotstoun – Kick-off: 19.35 GMT)
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Grayson Hart, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (captain), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm,17 Ryan Grant, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sam Johnson.
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean (captain), 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Sam Christie, 11 Simone Ragusi, 10 Jayden Hayward, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Abraham Steyn, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Jeff Montauriol, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Filippo Filippetto, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Matteo Zanusso.
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Dean Budd, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Andrea De Marchi, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 James Ambrosini.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Graeme Wells (Scotland)
Leinster v Ulster
(RDS – Kick-off: 19.35 GMT)
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Zane Kirchner, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Ian Madigan, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Garry Ringrose.
Ulster: 15 Peter Nelson, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Kyle McCall.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Ricky Lutton, 19 Roger Wilson, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Louis Ludik.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Olly Hodges (Ireland)
TMO: Dermot Moloney (Ireland)
Saturday, November 28
Ospreys v Cardiff Blues
(Liberty Stadium – Kick-off: 15.00 GMT)
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Hanno Dirksen, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 James King, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Ben John.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 James Down, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Leighton Hodges (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)
Munster v Connacht
(Thomond Park – Kick-off: 17.15 GMT)
Teams:
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Robin Copeland. 7 Jack O'Donoghue, 6 CJ Stander (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Denis Hurley.
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoghan Masterson, 7 James Connolly, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Nathan White, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Darragh Leader.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Jonathan Peak (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Sunday, November 29
Scarlets v Zebre
(Parc y Scarlets – Kick-off: 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Steffan Evans, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Aled Davies, 8 John Barclay (captain) 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 Maselino Paulino, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans,
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Jack Condy, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Steve Shingler, 23 Gareth Owen.
Zebre: 15 Guglielmo Palazzani, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 George Biagi (captain), 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Guillermo Roan, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Filippo Ferrarini, 22 Tommaso Boni, 23 Edoardo Padovani.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
