Preview this week’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches involving SA sides with a round-up of all the matchday squads, coaches’ predictions and fixture details.
Friday, 6 January
Munster vs Emirates Lions, Musgrave Park, Cork, 9:35pm
Referee: Hollie Davidson
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Alex Kendellen, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Gavin Coombes, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Roman Salanoa, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Subs: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Cian Hurley, 20 Jack O’Sullivan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Dan Goggin, 23 Patrick Campbell.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Emile van Heerden, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Subs: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Manuel Rass.
Dragons vs Vodacom Bulls, Rodney Parade, Newport, 9:35pm
Referee: Mike Adamson
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Max Clark, 11 Sio Tomkinson, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Aki Seiuli.
Subs: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Ben Fry, 22 Gonzalo Bertranou, 23 Will Reed.
Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 David Kriel, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Cornal Hendricks.
Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan said: “We’re really looking forward to the challenge of facing the Bulls on home soil. Their performances have been good in recent weeks; they will just be disappointed with the outcome of games. They are coming here fully loaded because they need results like we need results. They have such talent in their squad. They are physical, they won’t take a step back, so we must match that. You look at the back three too, they can light up if we are not on our game and we don’t manage the game. They are made of tough stuff. We know what’s coming in and we’ve got to be prepared. It’s home, it’s Friday night in Newport and it’s Rodney Parade. It’s a big test and one we need to meet head-on.”
URC PICKS: Bulls to rumble, Stormers to stumble
Saturday, 7 January
Connacht vs Cell C Sharks, The Sportsground, Galway, 7:15pm
Referee: Adam Jones
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (c), 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Oisín Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Subs: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Leva Fifita, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Byron Ralston.
Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Murray Koster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Nevaldo Fleurs, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Henco Venter, 6 James Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo (c), 4 Thembelani Bholi, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Fezo Mbatha, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Subs: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Ockie Barnard, 20 Corne Rahl, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Ethan Hooker.
Connacht director of rugby Andy Friend said: “It doesn’t need repeating how important tomorrow’s fixture is. We’ve put ourselves in a position where every point is crucial in these last seven games, so four or five points tomorrow is a must. We know what to expect from the Sharks. They bring the physicality that you come to expect from a South African side but they also like to throw the ball around, so it should be an exciting one for the fans.”
PLUS: Five URC stars to watch in Round 12
Sunday, 8 January
Glasgow Warriors vs DHL Stormers, Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, 5pm
Referee: Andrew Brace
Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Subs: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Cameron Neild, 22 Ali Price, 23 Domingo Miotti.
Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c).
Subs: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Angelo Davids.
Stormers head coach John Dobson said: “This is going to take a significant adjustment on a number of fronts for our team and this challenge comes at a crucial point in our season. We have seen some good growth from a lot of these combinations in recent weeks and would like to see if they can step-up while outside of their comfort zone. While we haven’t been here long as it took a while to travel, our focus is on taking the next step as a group in these sorts of conditions.”
Photo: Steve Haag/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
