URC Round One - teams and predictions

SATURDAY PREVIEW: The Bulls, beaten finalists last season, are looking to take their game up to a level where they will be crowned champions at the end of the 2022-23 United Rugby Championship season.

Just over three months since the Stormers beat them in an all-South African Final, the Bulls travel south on the N1 to take on the hapless Lions at Ellis Park in one of six Saturday games and one of three derby fixtures.

Leinster will make the trip to Zebre Parma, Ospreys make the trip to Scarlets as they look to defend the Welsh Shield title, Ulster face Connacht at home in Belfast, Cardiff welcome Munster to the Arm’s Park and Welsh side Dragons travel to Edinburgh.

The off-season has seen a number of teams shake up their coaching setup and this weekend marks the first real opportunity to see how those changes translate on the field.

Glasgow parted company with Danny Wilson following their heavy defeat to Leinster in last season’s quarterfinals, with former Italy coach Franco Smith drafted in as his replacement.

Munster will be under the leadership of Graham Rowntree for the first time after he stepped up following the departure of Johann van Graan, while Connacht and the Dragons have altered the structure of their coaching setup.

Andy Friend has taken on the role of Director of Rugby in Galway, with Pete Wilkins stepping up as head coach, while Dai Flanagan has been appointed as coach by the Dragons, working under Director of Rugby Dean Ryan.

Fabio Roselli, meanwhile, takes charge of Zebre Parma from the start of the season for the first time having assumed the role midway through last term.

However, it is in Johannesburg where the weekend’s big focus will be.

Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White admitted they are still ‘hurting’ from their close loss to the Stormers in last season’s Final.

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“At the highest level the margins are very small,” the Bulls boss said.

He added that they have some “stability” going into the new season.

“Our tight five has played a fair amount of URC games together,” White told @rugby365com, adding: “The backline – although I swapped them around – understand each other.”

The coach said their game will change ‘a little bit’ from last season, although they are unlikely to stray too far away from what worked last season.

“We’ve had a good pre-season, with some new ideas about what we can add to our game.

“It won’t be added all in one game, but we will grow as the competition progresses.”

Having lost five of their first six games in the inaugural season, the Bulls know they have to get ‘out the blocks’ a bit better in the 2022-23 edition.

“If we get better [as a team] we will be tough to beat,” he added.

* Leinster is another team that will look to make up of their disappointing finish to the season, after they were beaten in Dublin by the Bulls.

Leo Cullen has named new signings Jason Jenkins and Charlie Ngatai in the starting XV for their Leinster debut in their URC season opener against Zebre in Parma.

Rhys Ruddock captains the side from the back row where he’s alongside Scott Penny and Max Deegan.

David Sisi captains the Zebre Parma side, which includes four debuts in starting XV – Richard Kriel, Tiff Eden, MJ Pelser and Jacques du Toit.

All the teams and predictions are below …

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Zebre v Leinster
(Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – Kick-off: 13.00 Ireland & UK time; 14.00 Italian & SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Leinster by 15 points

Teams

Zebre: 15 Richard Kriel, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Taina Fox-Matamua, 7 MJ Pelser, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi (captain), 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Juan Pitinari, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Guido Volpi, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Franco Smith Jr, 23 Jacopo Trulla.

Leinster: 15 Max O’Reilly, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Ed Byrne.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Will Connors.

Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Federico Boraso (Italy), Dario Merli (Italy)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Lions v Bulls
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 15.05 Ireland & UK time; 16.05 Italian & SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Bulls by nine points

Teams

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruhan Straeuli, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Sithembiso Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis.

Bulls: 15 Wandisile Simelane, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 David Kriel, 11 Sibusiso Nkosi, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Ruan Vermaak, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Izak Burger, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Stedman Gans.

Referee: AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuisen (South Africa)

Cardiff v Munster
(Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff – Kick-off: 15.05 Ireland & UK time; 16.05 Italian & SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Munster by five points

Teams

Cardiff: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Botham, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Josh Turnbull (captain), 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Carré.
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Uilisi Halaholo.

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Jack O’Sullivan, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Rory Scannell.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales) AR 2: Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

Scarlets v Ospreys
(Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 17.15 Ireland & UK time; 18.15 Italian & SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Scarlets by six points

Teams

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Jonathan Davies (captain), 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Tom Price, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Corey Baldwin.

Ospreys: 15 Michael Collins, 14 George North, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (captain), 6 Jac Morgan, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Will Griffiths, 21 Reuben Morgan Williams, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Max Nagy.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Edinburgh v Dragons
(Edinburgh Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 19.35 Ireland & UK time; 20.35 Italian & SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Edinburgh by 12 points

Teams

Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 WP Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Nick Haining, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 James Lang.

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ben Fry, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 Will Rowlands (captain), 4 Ben Carter, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Aki Seiuli.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Will Reed, 23Jordan Williams.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland) AR 2: Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)

Ulster v Connacht
(Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.35 Ireland & UK time; 20.35 Italian & SA time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Ulster by 14 points

Teams

Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann,7 Marcus Rea, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Aaron Sexton.

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Tom Daly, 11 John Porch, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Gavin Thornburyn (captain), 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Oran McNulty.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Chris Busby (Ireland) AR 2: Andrew Cole (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

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* Additional reporting by @URCOfficial