Preview: Pro14, Round Nine
WELCOME BACK: There is a whole host of intriguing match-ups, cross-conference clashes and no shortage of attacking this week.
Just a few weeks ago Niko Matawalu’s stunning hat-trick inspired Glasgow Warriors to a bonus-point away win at Ospreys, while Leinster hit six tries in their victory on the road at the home of the Southern Kings.
Those wins solidified positions for Glasgow and Leinster at the top of each conference but Round Nine offers opportunities for the other teams to make up ground.
Conference A’s second-placed side Munster travel to Zebre while it’s second plays third in Conference B as Ulster travel to Scarlets.
What’s at Stake
Round Nine kicks off on Friday night with a trio of mouth-watering clashes, one of which sees Glasgow welcome Cardiff Blues to Scotstoun in a Conference A clash. These two sides haven’t met in the Championship yet in 2018, with the Warriors prevailing in both Pro14 clashes in 2017. The Blues are in strong form, losing just one of their last five Pro14 encounters (to Cheetahs in Round Seven) and recording a bonus-point win last time out. That Round Eight victory saw an impressive 37-0 scoreline against Zebre at Cardiff Arms Park, Gethin Jenkins coming on for his final professional appearance and Rey Lee-Lo touching down for a double.
Over in Ireland at the same time Leinster host Ospreys at Dublin’s RDS Arena, with the Welsh region looking to continue their strong season
start. Ospreys may have lost to Glasgow (29-20) in Round Eight but have five wins from their opening matches to the season and have already beaten Leinster once in 2018 – a bonus-point win at the Liberty Stadium in March. Leinster though are on a roll, winning seven out of eight in the Pro14 and going over the 30-point mark in the last three rounds.
The only match to kick off on Saturday sees Benetton travel to South Africa to take on the Cheetahs in another intra-conference match-up. Both of these sides fell to narrow defeats in Round 8, Benetton going down to Ulster 15-10 and the Cheetahs being pipped by Munster – 30-26. Hooker Joseph Dweba led from the front row against Munster, grabbing two tries, whilst Sibahle Maxwane is the top Pro14 try-scorer with seven tries scored.
On Sunday lunchtime in South Africa, the Southern Kings host Connacht as both sides look to push their way up the Conference tables. The Kings go in search of their second win of the season while Connacht is looking for their fifth after a bonus-point victory over the Dragons in Round Eight. Connacht did the damage with a six-minute first-half salvo containing three tries, later wrapping things up with further scores for Tom McCartney and Thomas Farrell. The Irish province has won the only previous fixtures between the two sides (32-10 in September of last year) but was defeated by a single point on their only previous visit to South Africa by Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last March.
Munster currently trails Glasgow by eight points and will want to keep up the pressure when they travel to Zebre in what looks to be a testing away encounter. Munster have won all 12 of their matches against the Italian side but Zebre is a team on the up and have only lost one of their last seven home games in all tournaments. They will look to the Round Seven 34-16 victory over Edinburgh for inspiration while Munster is boosted by Mike Haley’s late try that sealed an impressive 30-26 win in Bloemfontein last time out.
The weekend is rounded off by Edinburgh’s trip to Dragons in what looks set to be an intense Conference B battle. Dragons could lift themselves off the bottom of the table with a win and have been competitive at Rodney Parade, beating both the Kings and Zebre whilst conceding narrow defeats to Benetton and the Blues.
In Round Eight Edinburgh sealed a five-try win, with Tom Brown and the irrepressible Bill Mata both grabbing doubles.
Pick of the Round
Scarlets v Ulster
On Friday Scarlets welcome Ulster to west Wales with just a point separating the sides in the Conference B table. These two teams have already met once this season – John Cooney’s last-minute kick clinching a thrilling victory at the Kingspan Stadium with a 15-13 scoreline. The two sides are clearly well matched, with five Pro14 wins each so far, although Scarlets have a better points difference (36 to -17) despite being lower in the Conference table. Last time out Scarlets went down 31-21 at Edinburgh but Ulster won 15-10 on the road – second-half tries for Sean Reidy and Rob Herring getting them over the line.
We look at all the Round Nine matches!
Friday, November 23
GLASGOW WARRIORS v CARDIFF BLUES
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)
Glasgow Warriors’ last three matches have all been played away from home but two of those have ended in bonus point victories.
The Warriors most recent match at Scotstoun ended in a 3-13 defeat to Saracens, but in the Pro14 their only defeat at the venue since the start of last season was in the semifinal in May.
Cardiff Blues have lost just one of their last five Pro14 encounters: 10-21 to Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in round 7.
Blues lost all three fixtures against Scottish opponents in the Championship last season.
The two sides have already met in the European Champions Cup this season with the Scotsmen winning 29-12 at the Arms Park.
Blues only victory over the Warriors in the Championship since 2011 was at Cardiff Arms Park in September 2016, whilst their only previous victory at Scotstoun was 9-7 in the Champions Cup in December 2013.
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (captain), 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Kevin Bryce, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Rory Hughes.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams (captain), 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Seb Davies, 4 George Earle, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer.
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 James Down, 20 Sion Bennett, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Harri Millard.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Ian Kenny (Scotland)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2d7Q25drGA
LEINSTER v OSPREYS
(RDS Arena, Dublin – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)
Leinster’s only defeat in their last eight first team fixtures was by a single point in Toulouse in Round Two of the European Champions Cup.
Leinster have lost only one game at the RDS Arena since the start of last season, 15-17 to Benetton in the Pro14 in April.
Ospreys have lost two of their last three Pro14 fixtures and have only won once away from home this season, 22-8 at Zebre on 29 September.
Ospreys have not beaten an Irish province on their own turf since a trip to Connacht in September 2016.
The two sides met just once last season with Ospreys victorious at Liberty Stadium, to end a six-game winless run against Leinster.
Ospreys most recent victory at the RDS Arena was by a single point in 61 to take the 2012 Championship title.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Conor O’Brien, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy (captain), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Jimmy O’Brien, 23 Jack Kelly.
Ospreys: 15 James Hook, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Olly Cracknell (captain), 5 Lloyd Ashley, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Will Jones, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Luke Morgan, 23 Tom Williams.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Eddie Hogan O’Connell, Rob O’Sullivan (both Ireland)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1_647KwPY0&t=3s
SCARLETS v ULSTER
(Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)
Scarlets defeat in Edinburgh in round 8 of the Pro14 ended a three-game winning run in the Championship.
Scarlets are unbeaten in their last 25 Championship encounters at Parc y Scarlets, only Leinster have had two longer home unbeaten runs in the history of the tournament – 26 and 29 games.
Ulster’s only defeat in their last four matches was to Racing92 in Paris on 20 October.
The Ulstermen have lost just once away from home in the Pro14 this season, but that was by a record margin at Munster in Round Five.
Ulster has not been victorious in Wales since they beat Dragons at Rodney Parade in March 2017.
The last five fixtures between the two sides have all been won by the home side on the day whilst Ulster’s most recent victory at Parc y Scarlets was in December 2012.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Will Boyde (captain), 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steve Cummins, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Clayton Blommetjies, 23 Morgan Williams.
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 James Hume, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Billy Burns, 9 David Shanahan, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Angus Kernohan.
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris, Aled Evans (both Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Saturday, November 24
CHEETAHS v BENETTON
(Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein – Kick-off: 14.30; 13.30 Italian time; 12.30 GMT)
Cheetahs only victory this season was at home to Cardiff Blues in round 7 of the Pro14.
The South Africans played three matches against Italian opponents last season, winning two and losing one.
Benetton has won only one of their last six Pro14 encounters: 28-5 at home to Southern Kings on 6 October.
Benetton has not been victorious away from home in the Championship since a visit to Dragons on the opening weekend.
The two sides have met just once before, in round 13 last season in Treviso with the home side winning 27-21.
Teams
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (captain), 8 Daniel Maartens, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Herhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Sinthu Manjezi, 20 Abongile Nonkontwana, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 William Small-Smith
Benetton Rugby: 15 Angelo Esposito, 14 Marco Zanon, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini (captain), 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Giuseppe Di Stefano, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Nicola Quaglio.
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Alberto Sgarbi
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze (both South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Sunday, November 25
SOUTHERN KINGS v CONNACHT
(Madibaz Stadium, Port Elizabeth – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 UK & Ireland time; 13.00 GMT)
Southern Kings only win so far this season was 38-28 over Glasgow Warriors at Madibaz Stadium in Round Four.
The Kings’ record against Irish provinces in the Pro14 is played eight, lost eight.
Connacht won their most recent Pro14 match: 33-12 at home to Dragons but have not won successive matches in the Championship for over 12 months.
Connacht has won just once away from home in any competition since February, 22-15 at Ulster on 5 October.
The two sides have met just once before, in round 2 last season in Galway with the home side winning 42-10.
Connacht was defeated by a single point on their only previous visit to South Africa, by Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last March.
Teams
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Cyril-John Velleman, 5 JC Astle (captain), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Lupumlo Mguca
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 Martinus Burger, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tertius Kruger
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Jarrad Butler (captain), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 James Mitchell, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Darragh Leader
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Paul Mente, Ruhan Meiring (both South Africa)
TMO: Sean Veldsman (South Africa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqTBPVDCepY
ZEBRE v MUNSTER
(Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma – Kick-off: 16.30; 15.30 UK & Ireland time; 15.30 GMT)
Zebre’s only victory in the last five rounds of the Pro14 was at home to Edinburgh on 26 October.
Zebre has lost only one of their last seven home games in all tournaments: 8-22 to Ospreys in Round Five of the Pro14.
Munster are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions since tripping up to Leinster at Aviva Stadium in Round Six of the Pro14.
The Munstermen have won their last nineteen fixtures against Italian opponents in all tournaments.
The two sides have met on a dozen previous occasions with Munster victorious each time.
Teams:
Zebre: 15 Gabriele Di Giulio, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Riccardo Raffaele, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Maxime Mbandà, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 David Sisi (captain), 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 George Biagi, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Josh Renton, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Ronan O’Mahony, 13 Rory Scannell, 12 Tyler Bleyendaal (captain), 11 Alex Wootton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Gavin Coombes, 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Sean O’Connor, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Chris Farrell
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Fin Brown (Scotland), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Dave Pearson (Scotland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpmh1upXXrg
DRAGONS v EDINBURGH
(Rodney Parade, Newport – Kick-off: 17.30; 17.30 GMT)
Dragons have lost their last four Pro14 matches since beating Zebre at Rodney Parade on 22 September.
Dragons only victory in their last twelve meetings against Scottish opponents was 27-19 over Edinburgh at Newport two years ago.
Edinburgh’s only defeat in the last four rounds of the Pro14 was to Zebre in Parma on 26 October.
The Scotsmen have not been victorious away from home since a trip to Connacht in round 18 last season.
Edinburgh has lost just one of their last six fixtures with Dragons, at Rodney Parade in November 2016.
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Lewis Evans, 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (captain), 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements:16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Rhodri Davies, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Adam Warren
Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos (captain), 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Ally Miller, 6 Ben Toolis, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 James Hodgson, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:16 David Cherry, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Callum Atkinson, 20 Lewis Wynne, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones, Wayne Davies (both Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Source: @PRO14Official
