There are four games scheduled in the PRO14 on Saturday with the derby between Leinster and Munster at the Aviva Stadium the standout match.
Scarlets v Ospreys
Scarlets club captain Ken Owens returns to action this weekend against regional rivals Ospreys in the first Welsh derby of the season.
Owens will lead the Scarlets out at Parc y Scarlets as the West Wales sides go head-to-head for the first time this season.
Both Scarlets and Ospreys are second in their respective Conferences with both vying for a victory to finish off the opening block of PRO14 fixtures on a positive note ahead of the opening rounds of the European campaign.
Head coach Wayne Pivac has named a strong side for the derby clash with a nearly all-international backline, including a welcome return to action for Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Prydie, Hadleigh Parkes and Gareth Davies who were rested for last weekend’s clash against Southern Kings.
Owens is joined by fellow internationals Wyn Jones and Samson Lee in the front-row with Will Boyde making a long awaited return from injury in the back-row.
Meanwhile, Alun Wyn Jones makes his 232nd appearance for the Ospreys on Saturday, equaling the all-time record currently held by Paul James.
He is joined in the second-row by Bradley Davies while Sam Cross, Justin Tipuric and James King pack down behind them in the back-row. Scott Baldwin returns at hooker in place of Scott Otten.
There are two changes to the backline as James Hook replaces Dan Evans at full-back while Cory Allen comes in for Joe Thomas at outside centre.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tom Price, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Paul Asquith
Ospreys: 15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Sam Cross, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Joe Thomas, 23 Hanno Dirksen
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Rees (Wales)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Dragons v Cardiff Blues
Dragons captain Cory Hill and back-row duo Ollie Griffiths and Ross Moriarty return to the starting line-up to face Cardiff Blues.
The trio missed last weekend’s game in Glasgow, but all three now return as head coach Bernard Jackman makes a total of eight changes to his team.
A new-look front-row will see Leon Brown return at tighthead prop and pack down with hooker Elliot Dee and loosehead prop Brok Harris.
The final changes are at half-back, where fly-half Josh Lewis and scrum-half Rhodri Williams will join forces.
Centre Tyler Morgan also makes a welcome return among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues have made four changes for Saturday’s Welsh derby at Rodney Parade.
Following back-to-back victories over Munster and the Cheetahs, Wales’ Capital Region are aiming to stretch their winning streak over the Dragons to seven in the competition.
John Mulvihill has been boosted by the return of powerful duo Nick Williams and Josh Navidi, who both come into the back-row with Ellis Jenkins.
Elsewhere in the pack Brad Thyer starts at loosehead while in the backs, Lloyd Williams gets the nod at scrum-half.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Tyler Morgan, 23 Will Talbot-Davies
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harris, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Garyn Smith
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Gareth Newman (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Leinster v Munster
Saturday’s game at the Aviva Stadium will be a memorable one for Rob Kearney as he gets set to win his 200th cap for Leinster.
Since his debut he has become one of the most decorated players in Irish rugby with 199 Leinster caps, 86 Ireland caps and eight caps for the British & Irish Lions.
It could also be a very special day for Luke McGrath who has been named amongst the replacements and is due to win cap 100 if introduced.
With Kearney in the number 15 jersey, Fergus McFadden is on the right wing with James Lowe on the left.
Robbie Henshaw and Rory O’Loughlin are selected in the centre with Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne in the half-backs.
Jack McGrath makes his first appearance of the season at loosehead prop having recovered from a knee injury. James Tracy and Michael Bent complete the front-row.
Devin Toner becomes the third highest capped Leinster player of all time as he wins cap 222 in the second-row with James Ryan beside him.
Rhys Ruddock captain the side from the back-row with Dan Leavy and Seán O’Brien completing the pack.
Meanwhile, there are three changes to the Munster side that secured a record PRO14 win over Ulster last weekend at Thomond Park.
Jean Kleyn comes into the second-row in the only change to the pack with Darren Sweetnam and Sammy Arnold joining the backline.
Andrew Conway is set to make his 100th Munster appearance in the clash. Conway starts at full-back with Sweetnam and Keith Earls on either flank.
Peter O’Mahony captains the side in an unchanged back-row with two-try Tommy O’Donnell and CJ Stander keeping their places.
Dan Goggin, a standout in the Ulster win with a two-try performance, is joined by Arnold in the centres.
The half-back pairing is unchanged as Joey Carbery is partnered by Alby Mathewson.
Front-row trio Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and Stephen Archer are also retained with Kleyn coming in to partner Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Seán O’Brien, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Dave Kearney
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Rory Scannell
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 18:00 BST (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Mike English (Wales)
Television match official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Benetton Rugby v Southern Kings
Benetton head coach Kieran Crowley has made two changes to his backline and five to his pack for their clash with the Kings on Saturday.
Ignacio Brex and Monty Ioane replace Tommaso Iannone and Luca Sperandio at outside centre and left wing respectively for the PRO14 game.
Up front, there are starts at prop for Nicola Quaglio and Tiziano Pasquali while Alessandro Zanni and Federico Ruzza form a new lock pairing.
Finally Abraham Steyn replaces Marco Barbini on the flank as Benetton look to bounce back from last week’s narrow 31-30 loss at Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, Kings head coach Deon Davids has made three changes to his starting XV that will be taking on Benetton.
While the backline remains unchanged from the one that faced Scarlets in Llanelli last week, the forward pack will see two injury-enforced changes and one rotational switch.
Loosehead prop Justin Forwood will get a start following the departure of Schalk Ferreira from the tour, after the experienced 34-year-old sustained a fractured nose in last weekend’s clash.
Ferreira returned home to Port Elizabeth earlier in the week, together with scrum-half Rudi van Rooyen and flanker Henry Brown, who had both sustained ankle injuries.
Brown’s injury opens up an opportunity for a first starting berth in over two years for CJ Velleman, who had been on the bench for the Kings’ previous two matches.
Velleman made his PRO14 debut in the Kings’ 38-28 victory over Glasgow Warriors a fortnight ago having nursed two serious knee injuries for the past couple of years.
In a rotational change in the second-row, Schalk Oelofse also returns to the starting XV where he will replace Bobby de Wee and partner up with JC Astle at lock. De Wee moves to the bench.
The teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Robert Barbieri (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Alberto De Marchi, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Irné Herbst, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Alberto Sgarbi
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Lupumlo Mguca, 18 Rossouw De Klerk, 19 Bobby De Wee , 20 Marthinus Burger, 21 Ruan Van Rensburg, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tristan Blewett
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 20:00 local (19:00 BST, 18:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
Television match official: Alan Falzone (Italy)