URC, Round Eight - Teams and Predictions
PREVIEW: With the South African fixtures in Round Eight postponed, attention turns firmly to the Northern Hemisphere and a roll call of rugby’s great rivalries, culminating in the heavyweight clash between Munster and Leinster.
Munster will have the chance to go top with a win as they enter the match only three points behind the unbeaten Stormers.
The Limerick side had a strong start to the campaign, winning six of their first seven games, most notably versus Leinster at Croke Park in Round Four.
Jack Crowley and co put on a display for the ages, taking down the stacked capital favourites against all odds. Key figures such as Tadhg Beirne and Craig Casey were pivotal that day, as they have been in both attack and defence all season.
Leinster, by contrast, have shown resilience, but also inconsistency. Their latest URC outing saw a gritty comeback win over Ulster, raising questions about cohesion even as they grind out results.
Head coach Leo Cullen has publicly challenged his side to raise standards ahead of this high-stakes derby, highlighting areas such as defensive structure and attacking fluency.
Cullen’s right-hand man, former Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber, knows that they can’t afford to give Munster soft moments at Thomond Park.
“You have to say fair play to the teams that we play,” said Nienaber.
“When we make a mistake like last weekend, Ulster is good enough to capitalise on it.
“The same with Munster when we played them in Croke Park. You don’t deal with an attacking kick; they’re good enough to punish you.”
There will also be a big spotlight on Murrayfield, where Edinburgh will host Glasgow Warriors in the second leg of the 1872 Cup.
Warriors captain Kyle Steyn will bring up a century of appearances for the club this Saturday.
Scott Cummings will also reach a personal milestone should he come off the bench in Edinburgh this weekend, the British & Irish Lions lock set to reach 150 appearances for his boyhood club a week on from putting pen to paper on a new contract.
The Hunger Games or Armageddon? 🎬✨
If a Movie could describe the 1872 Cup… 🏆
#BKTURC #URC | #1872Cup #EDIvGLA pic.twitter.com/urAakAufLv— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) December 24, 2025
Head coach Franco Smith has made six changes in total to the team that earned a 24-12 victory over Edinburgh at Hampden Park last weekend, with all six alterations coming in the forward pack ahead of the return fixture.
“We were pleased to get the win at Hampden Park last weekend, but we know that it is only half-time in terms of the wider 1872 Cup series,” said Smith.
“Edinburgh will bring physicality in both attack and defence in front of a passionate home support, and we know they will throw everything at us on Saturday afternoon.
“We are also pleased to see Kyle reach his century, and for Scott to reach 150 appearances – they each give their all each time they run out onto the field for this club, and we congratulate them on reaching their respective landmarks.
“From a personal perspective, I’m proud to see both men reach their milestones, and I know they will lead from the front on Saturday afternoon.”
Round Eight’s action will kick off on Friday with Cardiff at home against the Dragons before another Welsh derby gets underway in Llanelli with the Scarlets up against the Ospreys.
On Saturday, Zebre Parma will host Benetton at Stadio Lanfranchi, and Connacht will be up against Ulster in Galway.
See below for Round Eight’s teams and predictions!
Friday, December 26:
Cardiff v Dragons
(Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff – Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK; 16.00 CET; 17.00 SAST)
Prediction
Rugby365: Cardiff by 13 points.
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Rhys Barratt.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 George Nott, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 James Botham, 22 Johan Mulder, 23 Jacob Beetham
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (co-captain), 14 Huw Anderson, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Che Hope, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter (co-captain), 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 George Roberts, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 Sam Scarfe, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Harri Keddie, 21 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 22 Rhodri Williams, 23 David Richards.
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), Amber Stamp-Dunstan (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)
Scarlets v Ospreys
(Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 17.30 IRE & UK; 18.30 CET; 19.30 SAST)
Prediction
Rugby365: Scarlets by six points.
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Ellis Mee, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Eddie James, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Joe Roberts, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Taine Plumtree, 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Ryan Elias (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Josh Morse, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Tristan Davies, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Elis Price, 23 Macs Page.
Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Ryan Conbeer, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 James Ratti, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Huw Sutton, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Steffan Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Iestyn Hopkins.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales); Carwyn Sion (Wales)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Saturday, December 27:
Zebre Parma v Benetton
(Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – Kick-off: 14.30 IRE & UK; 15.30 CET; 16.30 SAST)
Prediction
Rugby365: Benetton by three points.
Teams:
Zebre Parma: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Malik Faissal, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata (captain), 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Alessandro Ortombina, 3 Juan Manuel Pitinari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 David Odiase, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Giulio Bertaccini, 23 Bautista Stavile.
Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Michele Lamaro (captain), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Riccardo Favretto, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo.
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 21 Federico Ruzza, 22 Louis Werchon, 23 Rhyno Smith.
Referee: Clara Munarini (Italy)
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy); Lorenzo Pedezzi (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors
(Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK; 16.00 CET; 17.00 SAST)
Prediction
Rugby365: Glasgow by five points.
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Cammy Scott, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Harri Morris, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Jack Brown.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Adam Hastings,9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Angus Fraser, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling.
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Rory Darge, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Dan Lancaster.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Rob McDowell (Scotland); Jonny Mackenzie (Scotland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)
Connacht v Ulster
(Dexcom Stadium, Galway – Kick-off: 17.30 IRE & UK; 18.30 CET; 19.30 SAST)
Prediction
Rugby365: Connacht by two points.
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Daniel Ryan, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Ali, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Joe Joyce, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Hugh Gavin.
Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney (captain), 6 David McCann, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Sam Crean.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Jude Postlethwaite.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland); Max Weston (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Munster v Leinster
(Thomond Park, Limerick – Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK; 20.45 CET; 21.45 SAST)
Prediction
Rugby365: Leinster by six points.
Teams:
Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Michael Milne.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 John Ryan, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Fineen Wycherley, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Dan Kelly, 23 John Hodnett.
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Andrew Osborne.
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland); Andrew Fogarty (Ireland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)
Additional reporting and info by: URC
