URC, Round 16 - teams and predictions
FRIDAY PREVIEWS: As we head into the final stretch of the United Rugby Championship, it is do or die for some sides in a wide-open play-off race.
The URC since its inception in 2021 when the South African franchises joined the expanded Pro 14 has never been this competitive with three rounds remaining.
The 15th-placed Zebre are having a much improved season with five wins under the belt and currently standing on 27 competition points.
A mere 13 points separates them from the eighth-placed Stormers and 10 points between their opponents Edinburgh on Friday evening.
Mathematically the Parma outfit can make the play-offs but they will need to win their remaining three fixtures with bonus points and hope for some favours from other teams along the way.
Their visitors, Edinburgh will be rueing that they let a four-point lead slip to the Sharks to only be denied by an 80th-minute try by Springbok wing Makazole Mapimpi.
The result saw them drop down to 11th place on the table and put their play-off hopes into jeopardy which makes this clash a make-or-break fixture for the men from the Scottish capital.
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt said: “This is a really important fixture for us as we look to bounce back from the Sharks game. We know Zebre are a talented side, and they’ve shown they can be very strong at home.
“It’s vital that we go to Parma, put in another strong performance and maintain momentum as we enter the business end of the campaign.
“The return of Darcy [Graham] and Hamish [Watson] is a real boost, and we’re excited to see Jack [Mann] get his first start after his impressive impact last weekend.”
Zebre head coach Massimo Brunello said: “We’re hosting Edinburgh, another top-level side, fighting for a play-off spot and preparing for a Challenge Cup semifinal next week.
“We’ll try to build on the good performance against Glasgow. We want to be competitive. Sure, we’ve lost a day of preparation, but that doesn’t scare us. I’m confident the boys will give their all.”
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The Bulls will be beaming after their hard-fought victory against Munster at Thomond Park a week ago as they sealed an Irish ‘grand slam’.
Their assignment this week takes even more significance as they take on the team that upset them at Loftus Versfeld last season to win the URC title in Glasgow Warriors.
For these two sides, it’s a battle of clinching second place on the URC table and securing a possible home semifinal.
The third-placed Bulls are on 54 points and second-placed Glasgow on 58.
Despite the fact they’ve played and won the same amount of matches, it’s the four bonus points the defending champions picked up that give them the positional advantage.
A win for the Bulls would draw them level and a bonus point victory would leapfrog them into that desired second place.
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White rubbished any claims that this fixture is about revenge for the 2023-24 URC Final that Glasgow won last season at Loftus Versfeld.
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“It’s not revenge. We don’t coach rugby on revenge,” White said.
White added: “In sport, it happens. We lost a Final and it’s not something we enjoyed. It was at home and a massive opportunity and we let it slip.
“We always knew we would get Glasgow again and it’s not a revenge thing, it’s just the way sport works.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to not only measure ourselves against the champions of last year.
“It’s also a great measurement for us at this stage of the season post Munster and into the play-offs at the back end of the competition to ensure we learned the on and off-field lessons.
“Whether it’s mental, skills or anything that will make us better, it is a great opportunity against Glasgow this weekend.”
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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith said: “The Bulls will pose an extremely physical test tomorrow night, one that we know that we will need to match across the field.
“We’re pleased to welcome Scott [Cummings] back into our matchday 23 after his injury layoff, during which time he has worked tirelessly with our medical and S&C [strength and conditioning] teams to put himself in the best possible position to return.
“Training this week has been fully focused on ensuring we display the best version of ourselves tomorrow night, and we look forward to running out in front of what promises to be a sold-out Scotstoun [Stadium].”
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Another battle for play-off positions takes place at the Arms Park where the sixth-placed Cardiff takes on the seventh-placed Munster.
There’s a solitary point separating the two sides and both will be desperate to climb the table and make the top four.
Cardiff came off an emphatic bonus point win against the Ospreys whilst Munster would be licking their wounds for letting it slip against the Bulls in a narrow 13-16 defeat.
A win for both teams would ease the pressure to qualify for the play-offs with two rounds to go after this clash, with the loser left in a vulnerable position.
There are seven changes to the Munster side that faced the Bulls at Thomond Park last week.
Michael Milne starts on his Munster debut with Mike Haley, Calvin Nash, Craig Casey and Gavin Coombes all returning from injury/illness.
John Ryan and Fineen Wycherley also come into the side with academy tighthead prop Ronan Foxe and Academy flanker Ruadhán Quinn among the replacements.
In the back three, Haley starts at fullback for the first time since January after recovering from an ankle injury with right winger Nash also recovering from an ankle knock that forced him to miss the Bulls game.
Thaakir Abrahams moves from fullback to the left wing.
Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell continue their centre partnership as Casey returns from illness to join Jack Crowley in the halfbacks.
Milne, Niall Scannell and Ryan pack down in the front row with Wycherley and captain Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.
O’Donoghue, Alex Kendellen and Coombes form the back row with Coombes returning after an ankle knock.
Diarmuid Barron joins the replacements after recovering from a shoulder/arm injury with Mark Donnelly, Foxe, Jean Kleyn and Quinn completing the forward cover.
Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler and Seán O’Brien are the backline replacements.
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Meanwhile, Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt has named an unchanged backline for the Arms Park encounter with all the changes coming in the pack.
Danny Southworth starts with Corey Domachowski on the bench, while Josh McNally returns to the number four jersey following RAF duty.
In the back row, Thomas Young returns to the No.7 jersey for his last appearance at the Arms Park, partnering James Botham and Taulupe Faletau.
Sherratt said: “We are all really excited for Friday night. These are exactly the kind of games you want to be involved in.
“There’s no getting away from it, it’s one of the biggest games of the season.
“It’s a game with a lot riding on it, in a league that’s incredibly tight and against a brilliant team full of internationals, with massive history.
“We will need to be at our best and produce our most complete performance of the season to secure the result we need. If we can do that then we will travel to South Africa in a strong position.
“We are expecting another really good crowd and we know when we need our supporters, they come out in force and get behind us.
“For a number of players, it will also be their last game at the Arms Park so there is a huge amount of motivation to make it a special occasion.”
Cardiff has once again opted for a 6-2 split among the replacements with Tinus de Beer coming into the 23.
All Friday’s teams and predictions follow below …
Zebre v Edinburgh
(Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – Kick-off: 20.35; 19.35 UK time, 18.35 GMT)
Prediction:
@rugby365com: Edinburgh by 12 points
Teams
Zebre: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Scott Gregory, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali , 3 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti (captain).
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Juan Pitinari, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Rusiate Nasove, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Giovanni Montemauri, 23 Luca Morisi
Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Jack Brown, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Glen Young, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Paddy Harrison, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Mosese Tuipulotu.
Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
Assistant referees: Filippo Russo (Italy), Dario Merli (Italy)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)
Glasgow Warriors v Bulls
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 SA time; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction:
@rugby365com: Glasgow Warriors by five points
Teams
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn (captain), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne,8 Jack Mann, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Patrick Schickerling, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Adam Hastings
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Ruan Nortje (captain), 6 Jannes Kirsten, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jacobus Grobler, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Willie le Roux, 23 Stedman Gans.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Cardiff v Munster
(Arms Park, Cardiff – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction:
@rugby365com: Cardiff by two points
Teams
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Gabe Hamer-Webb, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Botham, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Danny Southworth.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Alun Lawrence,21 Ben Donnell, 22 Aled Davies, 23 Tinus de Beer
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell,11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Michael Milne.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Mark Donnelly, 18 Ronan Foxe, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Ruadhán Quinn, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Seán O’Brien.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Mike English (Wales), Aaron Parry (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
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