URC, Rescheduled Round Two - Friday's Teams and Predictions

PREVIEW: Scotland international Dylan Richardson makes his first start for the club at hooker for Friday’s rescheduled United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster.

Versatile forward Richardson has featured regularly in the capital back row this season and shifts to the front row for the first time.

Head coach Sean Everitt also welcomes the return of Liam McConnell to the Edinburgh pack, starting at blindside flanker, having recovered from a rib injury.

“We’re hugely excited to play in front of another big crowd at Hive Stadium. When the stadium’s bouncing, there’s no better place to play, and we can’t wait to get back out there,” said Everitt.

“Ulster have been impressive this season, and they’ll come here and be confident that they can put a performance together. They’ve been dangerous on attack, and we’re going to have to play very well to beat them.”

Everitt names an unchanged back three, with Harry Paterson starting at fullback alongside the wing duo of Malelili Satala and Wes Goosen.

Mosese Tuipulotu once again starts at inside centre, this week partnered by Piers O’Conor who replaces James Lang in the midfield, the latter missing out with a dead leg.

The halfback partnership is unchanged, with Ross Thompson at flyhalf with Ben Vellacott, who scored two tries last time out against Scarlets.

Club centurion Boan Venter joins Richardson in the front row at loosehead prop, with tighthead prop Angus Williams starting for his first minutes of the season.

Marshall Sykes and Glen Young start at lock in front of a new-look back row, with Ben Muncaster shifting to No.8, next to blindside McConnell and openside flanker Connor Boyle – who also makes his first start of the season.

Meanwhile, South African No.8 Juarno Augustus returns to Ulster’s starting line-up following his recovery from an ankle injury.

Fellow South African Werner Kok will start on the right wing.

*Friday’s other match will see Connacht at home against Scarlets.

“Tomorrow [Friday] is another important game as we aim for play-off rugby, so it’s vital we build on the momentum from the wins over Zebre and Glasgow,” said Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster.

“We have 18 players unavailable between injury and national selection, but as we’ve seen already this season, that provides an opportunity for other players to take their chance.

“John Devine is another exciting prospect to come through the pathway system, and he performed very well for the Eagles recently, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do at 13.

“Scarlets are a proud Welsh team who play a good brand of rugby and have picked up some notable wins this season, so we have to be at our best while feeding off the atmosphere in the new stadium.”

Meanwhile, Scarlets Interim Director of Rugby Nigel Davies added: “Considering we are missing so many players with Wales, I am really happy with the side we are able to select this weekend. It is a strong, competitive squad travelling over there with a lot of exciting players, and these boys are capable of fronting up.

“Connacht will always be physical and have had a couple of good results recently. It is going to be a tough challenge, but for us, it is about looking to take our game to the next stage.

“Physicality is going to be huge going into this game. We know what’s coming at us. I thought we lacked a bit of physicality in Edinburgh; I am expecting to see a more dynamic team and more physical team this weekend.”

See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!

Friday, March 13:

Edinburgh v Ulster
(Hive Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off 19.45; 19.45 GMT)

Prediction

Rugby365: Ulster by seven points.

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Ben Muncaster, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Jack Brown.

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 David Shanahan, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Bryn Ward, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom McAllister, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 James McCormick, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 David McCann, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Ben Carson.

Teams:

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Sam O’Neil (Scotland)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

Connacht v Scarlets
(Dexcom Stadium, Galway – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)

Prediction

Rugby365: Connacht by five points.

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 John Devine, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Chay Mullins, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Paul Boyle (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 David O’Connor, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitlear, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Oisin McCormack.

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Jones, 14 Jac Davies, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Macs Page, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson (captain), 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Jac Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Gabe McDonald, 23 Tomi Lewis.

Referee: Ru Campbell (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Padraic Reidy (Ireland), Tomás O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)