Four matches are scheduled to take place in the PRO14 on Saturday with Ulster facing the Scarlets at Kingspan Stadium the pick of the games.
Connacht vs Glasgow Warriors
New Connacht signing Kyle Godwin is set to make his debut as Andy Friend’s side take on Glasgow Warriors in the Sportsground in the opening game of their PRO14 campaign.
Godwin forms a midfield partnership with last season’s Connacht Fans’ Player of the Season, Tom Farrell.
The backline also includes the ever present Tiernan O’Halloran at full-back with Connacht’s record try scorer Matt Healy and Cian Kelleher on the wings.
In the front-row, Denis Buckley and Finlay Bealham start at loosehead and tighthead respectively with Mayo native Dave Heffernan given the nod at hooker.
Newly appointed captain Jarrad Butler is selected at openside with Academy player Paul Boyle named at blindside after impressive performances in the pre-season fixtures.
Meanwhile, Stuart Hogg and Peter Horne both start for Glasgow Warriors as they begin their 2018/19 PRO14 campaign in Galway.
It is the third consecutive year that the Warriors have kicked off their season at the Sportsground, winning both matches in 2016 and 2017.
Hogg and Horne start at full-back and inside centre respectively, both having represented Scotland on this year’s June tour, with Hogg captaining his country for the first time against the USA.
DTH van der Merwe and Tommy Seymour start on either wing and Nick Grigg joins Horne in midfield.
Adam Hastings and George Horne made their international debuts this summer and combine for their club once more this weekend.
Zander Fagerson returns to the front-row, starting alongside George Turner and Oli Kebble with Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray providing the weight behind them.
Rob Harley joins co-captains Callum Gibbins and Ryan Wilson in the back-row to complete the starting XV.
On the bench Australia international Nick Frisby is in line to make his competitive Warriors debut.
Niko Matawalu is also among the replacements having scored three tries in Glasgow’s two pre-season fixtures.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Paul Boyle, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Cillian Gallagher, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Niyi Adeolokun
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Ryan Wilson (cc), 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Adam Ashe, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Alex Dunbar, 23 Niko Matawalu
Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Eddie Hogan-O’Connell
Television match official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Ulster vs Scarlets
New signings Will Addison, Billy Burns and Henry Speight will all make their PRO14 debuts after being named in Ulster’s starting backline.
Ireland internationals John Cooney and Iain Henderson will also start after missing the two pre-season fixtures.
Cooney and Burns are paired in the half-back positions for the first time, while Stuart McCloskey and Darren Cave will provide a familiar look to the midfield.
Addison and Speight are joined in the back three by Craig Gilroy, who scored 10 tries in as many PRO14 matches last season.
Academy graduate Tom O’Toole, who signed his first senior contract earlier this week, will start at tighthead prop, earning his sixth cap. He will be joined in the front-row by Andy Warwick and John Andrew.
Alan O’Connor will captain the side from the second-row, where he will be partnered by Henderson. Marcell Coetzee, who made a welcome return to action last weekend in the game against Wasps, will combine in the back-row with Sean Reidy and Nick Timoney.
Meanwhile, club captain Ken Owens makes a return to the starting line-up to lead the Scarlets in the opening round of the PRO14.
Head coach Wayne Pivac has named a strong side for the opening round despite the long injury list that includes some of the region’s frontline players.
Ulster have a strong record at their Kingspan Stadium home with Scarlets the only Welsh region to emerge victorious from the Belfast base since February 2013, doing so with a single point victory in February 2016.
The last four fixtures between the two sides were all been won by the home side, whilst Ulster were unbeaten in their last five matches last season losing only twice at the Kingspan Stadium.
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Angus Kernohan
Scarlets: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Kieron Fonotia, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Josh Macleod, 7 James Davies, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 David Bulbring, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements; 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Ed Kennedy, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ioan Nicholas
Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), John Carvill (Ireland)
Television match official: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Munster vs Cheetahs
New signings Arno Botha, Mike Haley and Neil Cronin will make their PRO14 starting debuts for Munster, while Joey Carbery is set to make his debut in red if sprung off the bench.
Academy and Ireland 7s player Shane Daly is another making his debut as he joins Haley and Darren Sweetnam in the back three.
The pre-season centre combination of Rory Scannell and Dan Goggin remains unchanged for the tournament opener.
Neil Cronin, who last featured in the competition as a replacement in March 2015, partners up with JJ Hanrahan in the half backs.
In the front-row returning international prop John Ryan makes his first appearance of the season as he scrums down next to Mike Sherry and Dave Kilcoyne.
Captain Billy Holland and Jean Kleyn continue their partnership in the second-row with Dave O’Callaghan, Tommy O’Donnell and Botha forming the back-row.
Included in the replacements are Rhys Marshall and Stephen Archer who are in line to make first appearances of the season, with Archer overcoming the pec injury he sustained against Edinburgh in May.
After impressing in the pre-season campaign Academy back-row Gavin Coombes is included in his first Guinness PRO14 squad.
Meanwhile, the Cheetahs will be led by flanker Oupa Mohoje on Saturday.
Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Tian Schoeman, Luan de Bruin, JP du Preez, Walt Steenkamp, Aidon Davis and Ryno Eksteen will all make their PRO14 debuts.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 James Hart, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Sammy Arnold
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Oupa Mohoje (c), 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ernst Stapelberg, 23 Ryno Eksteen
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Mark Patton (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Dragons vs Benetton Rugby
Lewis Evans will make his 150th PRO14 appearance as the Dragons open the season with a home clash against Benetton Rugby at Rodney Parade.
Back-row Evans – who made his league debut for Dragons in 2006 – will hit the major milestone as the Men of Gwent look to make a winning start to the new campaign on home soil.
Head coach Bernard Jackman hands full six PRO14 debuts in Dragons colours to Jordan Williams, Dafydd Howells, Rhodri Williams, Ryan Bevington, Richard Hibbard and Brandon Nansen.
Gavin Henson is named at fly-half for the encounter while there is also a call-up for Ollie Griffiths who slots in at number eight.
Centre Jack Dixon has recovered from illness to return in the backline while lock Cory Hill will captain the team.
Summer signings Josh Lewis and Huw Taylor are named among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Benetton name Jayden Hayward at full-back while Ratuva Tavuyara and Monty Ioane are on the wings this weekend.
Tommaso Benvenuti and Alberto Sgarbi are in the midfield while the half-backs are Tito Tebaldi and Tommaso Allan.
Dean Budd leads the side from lock alongside Alessandro Zanni while Abraham Steyn, Sebastian Negri and Marco Barbini form a strong back-row.
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Aaron Wainwright, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Huw Taylor, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Adam Warren
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Marco Lazzaroni, 22 Giorgio Bronzini, 23 Tommaso Iannone
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy, Simon Rees (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)