URC, Round 18 - Teams and Predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: The ‘Race to Eight’ in the United Rugby Championship is set for a tight finish as five teams are fighting for the final three play-off spots and Champions Cup qualification.

Friday will be a massive day for four of those sides.

It all kicks off in Cape Town with Cardiff (ninth) up against the Stormers (fifth), who have already qualified for the play-offs thanks to their 48-12 win over the Dragons in the penultimate round.

Cardiff will need a win to sneak into the play-offs as Friday’s other matches will see Benetton (seventh) up against Munster (eighth) and 10th-placed Edinburgh facing Ulster.

Edinburgh could still make the top eight if they beat the Belfast side and a few other results go their way.

Benetton, Munster, and Cardiff are level on points (46), with Edinburgh (44) not far behind.

The Scarlets (sixth with 48 points) will be in action on Saturday against the Sharks.

It will be very hard for Cardiff in Cape Town as they are up against a Stormers side brimming with confidence after three straight wins.

The preview continues below…

“At the start of the year, if you were saying that we were in Round 18 and we had a game to get in the play-off, we would snatch your hand off,” said Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt.

“It’s a must-win game in terms of getting in that top eight. The Stormers are a good team and are in good form as well.

“Like all the South African teams, they’ve got that balance between power and pace and their backs are very, very dangerous.

“It would be brilliant if we reached the play-offs. We have never been in the URC play-offs before and for the club with our history and potential, we should be getting into the top eight.

“It’s going to be a tough ask because results went against us at the weekend, but we spoke to the players around not trying to creep in, let’s win a game and get in there rather than hope that other teams didn’t get what they needed.”

Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson has made a few changes to his team with an eye on the play-offs.

If the top five log positions remain the same, they will head to Durban to face the Sharks (fourth) in the quarterfinals. However, many fans and pundits are predicting a trip to Scotland to face Glasgow.

That’s because Franco Smith’s side has a tough task against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday, and a defeat could see them drop to fourth.

On the challenge that Cardiff will bring, Dobson said: “They are very organised on attack and defence.

“They also put a lot of contestables up, so we know that is coming and they have beaten us before, but I think the team that beat us last time in Cardiff wasn’t as advanced as this team.

“They probably got the best Welsh scrum, and they have been good the whole season.

“What they have achieved this season on a reduced budget and the circumstances Welsh rugby has gone through, I think they deserve a lot of credit.”

*Meanwhile, Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt wants his team to show some more grit against Ulster.

A victory is needed to be in with the chance of qualifying for the URC play-offs and securing Champions Cup rugby.

“Last weekend’s gritty victory in Galway [against Connacht] was a testament to the resilience and character within this squad, and it provides us with real momentum as we head into tomorrow [Friday] night’s match against Ulster,” said Everitt.

“The passion and energy of our supporters have been incredible, and that atmosphere will be absolutely crucial in driving us forward once again.

“To be playing in front of a third consecutive sell-out crowd will be simply amazing – it underscores the connection we have with our city.

“We know we are playing for Edinburgh, for our supporters, and we are determined to deliver a performance they can be proud of.”

*In Cork, Springbok lock Jean Kleyn makes his 150th Munster appearance in the crucial clash against Benetton

However, the Italians would love to spoil the party and book a place in the play-offs.

“We know that we will have to play a great match,” said Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami.

“We are aware that for the second consecutive year, destiny is in our hands. We will go there and play our cards to try to get into the top eight of the URC.”

See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!

Friday, May 16:

Stormers v Cardiff
(Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town – Kick-off: 19.00; 18.00 UK & Ireland time; 17.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Stormers by 11 points.

Teams:

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ben Loader.

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Gabe Hamer-Webb, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Alun Lawrence, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally (captain), 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Danny Southworth
Replacements: 16 Dafydd Hughes, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 James Botham, 21 Dan Thomas, 22 Johan Mulder, 23 Rory Jennings

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Edinburgh v Ulster
(Edinburgh Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Edinburgh by 14 points.

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Harry Paterson, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Mark Bennett.

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 James McNabney, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Aidan Morgan, 23 Stewart Moore.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Scotland), Rob McDowell (Scotland)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (Wales)

Munster v Benetton
(Musgrave Park, Cork – Kick-off: 20.00; 21.00 CET; 19.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Munster by four points.

Teams:

Munster: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Michael Milne.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Tom Ahern, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Alex Kendellen.

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza (captain), 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Nicolò Casilio, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)

Additional reporting: SA Rugby & URC