URC, Round Six - Teams and Predictions
FRIDAY PREVIEW: Juarno Augustus will be out to prove his worth once again when Ulster face Benetton in Belfast on Friday.
The South African powerhouse returns to the No.8 position following an injury.
Ulster will also welcome back Ireland internationals into the starting XV, with Iain Henderson, Nick Timoney and Jacob Stockdale all back following the Nations Series.
Long-serving scrumhalf, Dave Shanahan, is in line for a milestone 100th appearance in an Ulster jersey with an appearance from the bench.
Henderson captains the side alongside Harry Sheridan in the second row.
In the front row, Tom Stewart starts at hooker after captaining Ireland XV to an impressive victory over Spain earlier this month.
Sam Crean starts at loosehead prop, and Scott Wilson gets the nod at tighthead prop.
In the back row, David McCann starts at blindside flank, with Timoney returning at openside flank.
Scrumhalf Nathan Doak and flyhalf Jack Murphy continue their halfback partnership.
Jude Postlethwaite starts at inside centre and James Hume starts at outside centre.
In the back three, Werner Kok is named on the left wing with Rob Baloucoune hoping to continue his scoring form on the right wing. The lethal wing scored a hat trick in the Round Five defeat against the Lions and scored two tries for Ireland XV earlier this month.
Jacob Stockdale returns from international duty at fullback.
Meanwhile, Onisi Ratave starts for the first time on the wing for Benetton.
In Friday’s other match, the Dragons are at home against Leinster.
RG Snyman returns after earning his 50th international cap in South Africa’s win over Ireland last weekend, and he has been included on the bench.
Josh Ericson, who was added to the Leinster Academy earlier this month, is in line to make his debut after being named on the bench. Max Deegan captains the side from No.8, with Alex Soroka and Scott Penny joining him on the flanks.
Brian Deeny partners Diarmuid Mangan in the second row, with Jack Boyle and Thomas Clarkson scrummaging down on either side of Gus McCarthy at hooker.
Fintan Gunne has been named at scrumhalf with Harry Byrne outside him at flyhalf, while Ciarán Frawley partners Hugh Cooney in the centre.
Joshua Kenny is named on the wing once more after scoring two tries against Zebre Parma in our last outing, with Jordan Larmour on the opposite side and Jimmy O’Brien at fullback.
“A lot of the lads are raring to go for the next block of games, especially the ones that didn’t play last week, and there are loads of young lads itching to play on the flip side that haven’t played for the last number of weeks,” said Leinster head coach Leo Cullen.
“That’s what we want, guys that are hungry and wanting to play for Leinster and making sure they want to give everything of themselves every opportunity they get to put on a Leinster jersey, because it has to mean something, it has to be special.
“That’s the beauty of that last game against Zebre, and you can see how cool it was for the group, because the wider group wants to make it special for all those players making their debut.
“I’d love to be picking guys making a debut every week, you know, because you can see how everyone rallies around that.”
For the home side, new loan signing Will Austin will be on the bench.
See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!
Friday, November 28:
Ulster v Benetton
(Affidea Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 19.45; 20.45 Italy time; 19.45 GMT)
Prediction
Rugby365: Ulster by 14 points.
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 David McCann, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Sam Crean.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Stewart Moore.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Onisi Ratave, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Filippo Drago, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Jadin Kingi, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Destiny Aminu.
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Marcos Gallorini, 19 Giulio Marini, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 John Bryant, 22 Louis Werchon, 23 Leonardo Marin.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland) and Max Weston (Ireland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)
Dragons v Leinster
(Rodney Parade, Newport – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Prediction
Rugby365: Leinster by 21 points.
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (captain), 14 Cai Evans, 13 David Richards, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Huw Anderson, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Oli Burrows, 1 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths.
Replacements: 16 Will Austin, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Owain James, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Joe Westwood, 23 Ewan Rosser.
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Joshua Kenny, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Fintan Gunne, 8 Max Deegan (captain), 7 Scott Penny, 6 Alex Soroka, 5 Diarmuid Mangan, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Jerry Cahir, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Josh Ericson, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ruben Moloney.
Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales) and Lucas Yendle (Wales)
TMO: Chris Allison (South Africa)
Sources: URC, Leinster, Ulster
