URC, Round 17 - Teams and Predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: The Sharks are entering their United Rugby Championship Round 17 clash against Benetton in a do-or-die situation with a play-off spot and Champions Cup qualification on the line.

The Sharks have 41 points, while the Lions are three points behind the Durbanites in 11th place – with Benetton and Cardiff locked in between those positions. This means the Sharks may have to win their remaining two matches to finish in the top eight and qualify for the quarterfinals.

Friday’s clash between the Sharks and Benetton is expected to be a thriller as they are only separated by one log point.

Both sides have won eight of their 16 pool matches, but the KwaZulu-Natalians will draw inspiration from the fact that they have home-ground advantage and boast a better record on attack and defence this season than the visitors.

Fuelling the Sharks’ motivation is the fact that Benetton have only won two games on the road, but with everything to play for on both sides, it could be a ding-dong battle.

“We have to win both games [Benetton and Munster],” said Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell.

“This is quite a crucial game for them as well to keep them in the play-off race, so we are under no illusions that they will come with everything they have.

“They got their Italian international players back as well and they are playing a good brand of rugby.

“Beating Cardiff last week in the Challenge Cup was a good result for them, so they will be a good side.

“We understand where they are and how important this game is for them. It’s the same for us.

“We are sitting in eighth spot and I think we can finish from fifth to eighth. Even if we win the next two games it also depends on what happens in the other matches – not just this weekend but next weekend as well.

“The guys are really keen to be successful over the next two weeks. It’s a proper opportunity to get into the URC quarterfinals and also qualification for the Champions Cup next season.”

Champions Cup qualification

If the Sharks are to qualify for next season’s Champions Cup, they will likely have to finish in the top seven in the URC standings.

The winner of each Shield conference will qualify for that tournament. The remaining four places will then be awarded to the four highest-ranked teams in the single-standing league table who did not win their regional conference.

“At this time Wales do not have a team in the top eight, so they will go into that one bracket because one of their teams will finish on top of their conference and then there are only three spots left,” Powell explained.

“That is why we need to finish in the top seven to still make it into the Champions Cup next season.

“So, it’s just not the URC we are playing for.”

Also, Scarlets and Benetton are in the EPCR Challenge Cup semifinals and if one of them wins the competition, it will take away one of the qualification spots from the URC for next season.

Friday’s other matches will see Glasgow Warriors up against the Scarlets at Scotstoun Stadium and Ulster hosting the Dragons in Belfast.

Glasgow Warriors are in fourth position in the standings and a win on Friday will put pressure on Ulster and the Stormers, who are third and second respectively.

Ulster are expected to get the maximum points against Dragons, which will seem them overtake the Stormers, who are at home against Munster on Saturday.

“Tomorrow [Friday] presents another good test for our squad, against a team that has been performing well in recent weeks,” said Glasgow’s head coach Franco Smith.

“Training has been competitive this week, with everyone keen to put their hand up for selection.

“We look forward to running out in front of our home supporters.”

See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!

Friday, April 14:

Sharks v Benetton
(Kings Park, Durban – Kick-off: 18.30; 18.30 Italy time; 16.30 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Sharks by 19 points.

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Henry Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nché.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Carlü Sadie, 19 Jeandre Labuschagne, 20 Phendulani Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marnus Potgieter, 23 Thaakir Abrahams.

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Joaquin Riera, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Nahuel Tetaz.
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Glasgow by 15 points.

Teams:

Glasgow: 15 Huw Jones, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Cole Forbes, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Ali Price, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Scott Cummings, 21 Rory Darge, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Domingo Miotti.

Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Ioan Nicholas, 12 Eddie James, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Iwan Shenton, 5 Vaea Fifita, 4 Morgan Jones, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Shaun Evans, 1 Wyn Jones.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Iestyn Rees, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Joe Roberts.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ross Mabon (Scotland), Calum Worsley (Scotland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Ulster v Dragons
(Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Ulster by 24 points.

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen 7 Marcus Rea, 6 David McCann, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Jeffery Toomaga Allen, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Ethan McIlroy.

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Jared Rosser, 12 Max Clark, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Rhodri Williams (captain), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 George Nott, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 George Young, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Will Reed, 23 Aneurin Owen.

Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland),  Padraic Reidy (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Additional reporting: @URCOfficial & SA Rugby