Pro12: Munster look for consistency
The 2014/15 Pro12 season kicks off with two games on Friday.
Munster will be entertaining Edinburgh at Thomond Park, whilst Benetton Treviso are the visitors to the Liberty Stadium in Swansea where they will face Ospreys.
Both home sides finished in the top half of the table last season, Munster making it through to the play-offs, so will be looking to better that this year.
First up on Saturday will be Scarlets against Ulster from Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, followed by a re-run of last season's final, only this time Glasgow Warriors will host Leinster at Scotstoun.
Both hosts built up impressive home records during their last campaigns, and will want to continue that into the new season.
Connacht on the other hand will be looking to change their luck after racking up five successive defeats, Saturday's visitors, Newport Gwent Dragons, being the last team to lose to the Irishmen.
The round concludes in Italy on Sunday, when Zebre host Cardiff Blues.
Zebre did the double over Blues last season, the first time they had recorded that feat in the Pro12, so will be looking to take the points from this game to get their campaign off to a positive start.
Peter O'Mahony, who will miss the start of the Pro12 season through injury, demanded more consistency from his troops this time around.
O'Mahony is recovering from double shoulder re-construction and could only watch from the sidelines as the men in red were pipped by Glasgow Warriors in last season's semifinals.
The Irish province have recruited well over the summer however with Australian centre Andrew Smith and Kiwi playmaker Tyler Bleyendaal the marquee arrivals.
And with their season kicking off on Friday against Edinburgh in Limerick, O'Mahony is keen to hit the ground running in the new campaign.
"I think the most important thing for us this year is consistency, I think we have had a couple of great performances last year backed up by a few very poor performances which a few years ago wouldn't have been the case," he said.
"The thing that will always been the measure of us is silverware and I think it is about getting that consistency
back to put us in a better position at the end of the season.
"I think the signings have been a great addition as well, Andrew Smith just arrived from Australia and Robin Copeland and Martin Kelly have come in from Leinster and have all made a great impact."
O'Mahony himself is still more than a month away from making his return but the Ireland flank is confident that he will be as good as new when he pulls on the famous red shirt again.
"It has been a really good pre-season and really enjoyable from my point of view, just getting back in with the squad was great as for the first couple of weeks I was training on my own," he added.
"I have another six weeks to go before I am fully fit but certainly from five months ago when I was in a double sling most of the hard work has been done so I am looking forward to getting back playing."
All the fixtures and teams for Round One:
Friday, September 5:
Munster v Edinburgh
(Thomond Park – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
Teams:
Munster: 15 Ronan O'Mahony, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Johne Murphy, 12 Andrew Smith, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Shane Buckley, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan (captain), 3 BJ Botha, 2 Kevin O'Byrne, 1 John Ryan.
Replacements: 16 Duncan Casey, 17 Alan Cotter, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Johnny Holland, 23 Ivan Dineen.
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tomas Leonardi, 5 Ollie Atkins, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 John Andress, 2 Ross Ford (captain), 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Mike Coman, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Nick McLennan, 23 Phil Burleigh.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
TMO: Jude Quinn (Ireland)
Ospreys v Benetton Treviso
(Liberty Stadium – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Baker, 7 James King, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Lloyd Peers (captain), 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Daniel Suter, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Benetton Treviso: 15 Simone Ragusi, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Sam Christie, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 James Ambrosini, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Tomas Vallejos Cinalli, 6 Meyer Swanepoel, 5 Corniel van Zyl (captain), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Muccignat.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Salesi Manu, 18 Matteo Zanusso, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 Angelo Esposito, 23 Henry Seniloli.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Greg Morgan (Wales), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Saturday, September 6
Scarlets v Ulster
(Parc y Scarlets – Kick-off: 14.40; 15.40 GMT)
Teams:
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Connacht v Newport Gwent Dragons
(Sportsground – Kick-off: 17.00; 18.00 GMT)
Teams:
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Mark Connolly (Ireland)
Glasgow Warriors v Leinster
(Scotstoun Stadium – Kick-off: 17.15; 18.15 GMT)
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss (captain), 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Alex Allan.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Adam Ashe, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Stuart Hogg, 23 Sean Lamont.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Neil Paterson (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Sunday, September 7
Zebre v Cardiff Blues
(Stadio XXV Aprile – Kick-off: 17.00; 19.00 GMT)
Teams:
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Matteo Liperini (Italy), Filippo Bertelli (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
