URC Round 12 - Teams and Predictions

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY PREVIEW: The Sharks and Stormers have adopted different approaches leading up to their Round 12 United Rugby Championship encounters this weekend.

With the season at its busiest, the Sharks have opted not to use their star players for their clash against Connacht in Galway on Saturday.

The Stormers on the other hand have gone with consistency in selection for their clash against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on Sunday.

The Stormers have opened a healthy gap on the chasing pack in the South African conference as they look to retain the Shield they won as the first step to their overall triumph in last year’s inaugural version of the URC.

With tough away games against Ulster, Leinster and the Bulls, plus a trip to Durban, to come later in the competition, the good derby wins over the Bulls and Lions in the last week of December still haven’t given the Stormers breathing space.

But Stormers coach John Dobson might feel his team will have room to manage players and selections a bit better if they do get home against Glasgow, a team they beat quite comprehensively at Cape Town Stadium last season.

It won’t be easy. While defeat won’t cost the Stormers their place at the top of the Shield, it will for their opponents, as there are still just four points separating Glasgow from Edinburgh, while they are level with Benetton on the number of log points accumulated.

Glasgow do have a game in hand on both Benetton and Edinburgh, but the Warriors coach Franco Smith, who coached the Cheetahs and was also an assistant Springbok coach for a while, will be targeting this game against his countrymen as a must win.

Stormers head coach John Dobson explained his decision to select his big guns for the clash.

“I think up until Clermont we were making seven to eight changes a game to keep guys relatively fresh for this period,” said Dobson.

“Our focus would be on cohesion and continuity.

“This week it is one tactical change and that is it. Next week we might be a bit broader in changing a bit more to get some of the other guys on the field like Sacha [Mngomezulu] and Stefan Ungerer, but this week it is minimal.”

The Stormers have had some troubles with Northern Hemisphere conditions in the past and Dobson admitted that they need to adapt better.

“To call it a hoodoo will be an exaggeration. On the 2020 tour, we were the only South African team to get two losses. We got a draw in Edinburgh in the rain and we beat the Dragons at Rodney Parade.

“In the URC we only lost two away games last year – in the sleet and snow of Galway [against Connacht] and in a rainy Cardiff, so we do need to get better.

“In the Cardiff game we scored four tries to two.

“In the Galway game we were beaten 19-17, so we were in the game but we do need to come better because those are teams we should beat.

“The fact that we lost to them away means that there is something that we are not getting spot on.”

Meanwhile, Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell spoke about how important squad management was before his team’s clash against Connacht in Galway on Saturday.

Powell has remained in Durban with most of his Springboks to prepare for next week’s big game against Bordeaux Begles in the Champions Cup and has entrusted Currie Cup head coach Joey Mongalo with the coaching reigns for this match.

“It is important for us to manage our squad well and it is part of our rotational policy,” said the Sharks boss.

“If you look at our travelling schedule over the next few weeks, we play Connacht away, then Bordeaux back here in Durban and then Harlequins away.

“I can’t imagine one team having to travel and play all those games.

“We are in an 11-game block where we only played six and we got another five left.

“For us to get the team and the coaching staff to have energy when we reach games 10 and 11 we needed to rotate and we needed to manage the squad a little bit.

“We identified this trip to Connacht as one of the weeks where we can use the rotational policy and create a bit of squad depth and also coaching experience.”

In Saturday’s other games, Benetton are at home against Ulster, while Zebre are making the trip to Scotland to take on Edinburgh.

There is a Welsh derby in the form of Cardiff and Scarlets, while the other match in Wales will see Ospreys up against league leaders Leinster.

All the teams and predictions for Saturday and Sunday follow below…

Saturday, January 7:

Benetton v Ulster
(Stadio Monigo, Treviso – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 Ireland & UK time; 13.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Ulster by nine points.

Teams:

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Federico Zani.
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon.

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Andy Warwick, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Ethan McIlroy.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Filippo Russo (Italy); Filippo Vinci (Italy)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Edinburgh v Zebre Parma
(Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT; 16.00 Italy time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Edinburgh by 13 points.

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Jack Blain, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Cammy Hutchison, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Nick Haining, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Luke Crosbie (captain), 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Lang.

Zebre: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Boni, 12 Enrico Lucchin (captain), 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Alessandro Fusco,8 Matt Kvesic, 7 MJ Pelser, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Jacques Du Toit, 17 Alessio Sanavia, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Ratko Jelic, 22 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 23 Franco Smith Jr.

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

Cardiff v Scarlets
(Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff – Kick-off: 17.15; 17.15 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Cardiff by eight points.

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies (captain), 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ioan Nicholas.

Cardiff: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Josh Turnbull (captain), 5 Seb Davies, 4 Lopeti Timani, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Rhys Carré.
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Mason Grady.

Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Gareth Newman (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Connacht v Sharks
(The Sportsground, Galway – Kick-off: 17.15; 17.15 GMT; 19.15 SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Connacht by four points.

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (captain), 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Oisín Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Leva Fifita, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Byron Ralston.

Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Murray Koster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Nevaldo Fleurs, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Henco Venter, 6 James Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo (captain), 4 Thembelani Bholi, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Fezo Mbatha, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Ockie Barnard, 20 Corne Rahl, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Ethan Hooker.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
TMO: Wayne Davies (Wales)

Ospreys v Leinster
(Swansea Stadium, Swansea – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Leinster by 15 points.

Teams:

Ospreys: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Mat Protheroe, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (captain), 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smit.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Jack Walsh.

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 19 James Ryan, 20 Josyh van der Flier, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rob Russell.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Dewi Phillips (Wales), Jason Bessant (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Sunday, January 8:

Glasgow Warriors v Stormers
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT; 17.00 SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Stormers by two points.

Teams:

Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Kyle Steyn (C), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Cameron Neild, 22 Ali Price, 23 Domingo Miotti.

Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Angelo Davids.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam (Scotland), Ross Mabon (Scotland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)