Three games take place on Friday in the opening round of the 2018/19 PRO14 season with champions Leinster starting their campaign away at Cardiff Blues.
Cardiff Blues v Leinster
Ellis Jenkins returns to captain Cardiff Blues as they kick off their PRO14 campaign against the reigning champions Leinster at Cardiff Arms Park.
Jenkins, who was named club captain last month, is one of four players to come straight back into competitive action with Rey Lee-Lo, Kristian Dacey and Nick Williams also handing the Blues a boost with their first appearances of the season.
Jason Harries, Rory Thornton and Dmitri Arhip all make their PRO14 debuts for the region following their summer moves to Cardiff Arms Park.
Blues head coach John Mulvihill admits Leinster – the PRO14 and European champions – present a formidable challenge but it is one Wales’ capital region are relishing and he is counting down the minutes until the mouth-watering clash.
“It is a great way for us to kick-off the season – the European Challenge Cup champions against the PRO14 and Champions Cup winners. It promises to be an awesome occasion in Cardiff and we cannot wait to get started,” he said.
Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named a strong matchday squad to start the defence of their title.
There is a debut for new signing Joe Tomane, while Caelan Doris will make his first start in blue having made his debut away to Connacht last season off the bench.
Elsewhere the back three consists of Dave Kearney, Adam Byrne and last season’s PRO14 top try scorer Barry Daly. The 17-times capped Australian international Tomane is joined in the centre by Irish international Rory O’Loughlin.
In the half-backs, Luke McGrath is partnered by Ross Byrne who wins his 50th cap for the province. The front-row consists of Peter Dooley, James Tracy and Michael Bent, with Ross Molony and Scott Fardy in behind.
In the back-row, Josh Murphy and captain Rhys Ruddock start on the flanks with Doris at number eight.
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Willis Halaholo, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Owen Lane, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Rhys Gill, 17 Ethan Lewis, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 George Earle, 20 O Robinson, 21 Tom Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Garyn Smith
Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Rhys Ruddock (c), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Fergus McFadden
Date: Friday, August 31
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 BST
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Ospreys v Edinburgh
Tom Botha, Aled Davies, Scott Williams and George North make their Ospreys debuts, while Dan Baker, Olly Cracknell, Ma’afu Fia, Gheorghe Gajion, Keelan Giles, Paul James, Lesley Klim, Rob McCusker, Sam Parry and Gareth Thomas are all unavailable through injury.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has named four debutants in the starting XV.
Summer recruits Henry Pyrgos and Simon Hickey are selected at half-back, whilst recent signings Pierre Schoeman and Luke Hamilton are named at loosehead prop and blindside flanker respectively.
Elsewhere, Matt Scott – who this summer re-joined the club from Gloucester following two seasons in the English Premiership – gets the nod at inside centre and anchors a backline featuring 101 Scotland caps.
On his selection, Cockerill, said: “We’ve named an experienced outfit, which we believe has the mentality and toughness to compete against a combative Ospreys side.
“It’s imperative that we lay down an early marker in the championship. We are prepared as we possibly can and will travel to Wales with confidence.”
Blair Kinghorn returns to action at full-back following a breakout June tour in the dark blue of Scotland. The 21-year-old starts alongside Dougie Fife and last season’s top try scorer, Duhan van der Merwe.
Mark Bennett is named at outside centre alongside the aforementioned Scott.
Club captain Stuart McInally is named at hooker and packs down alongside Schoeman and Simon Berghan – who makes his 50th appearance for the club. Locks Grant Gilchrist and Ben Toolis are selected in the boiler room.
Scotland star Hamish Watson is named at openside flanker and makes his first league appearance since undergoing season-ending surgery in April. Hamilton and Fijian international Bill Mata complete the back-row.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Luke Price, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Joe Thomas
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Scott Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alan Dell, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Johnstone
Date: Friday, August 31
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Zebre v Southern Kings
Zebre have named eight Italian internationals in their line-up to face the Kings in their PRO14 opener at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Friday.
Tommaso Castello captains the team from midfield alongside Giulio Bisegni with Marcello Violi and Carlo Canna the half-back combination.
Hooker Massimo Ceciliani, prop Giosué Zilocchi, lock Apisai Tauyavuca and fly-half Francois Brummer could make their debut from the bench.
Meanwhile, Kings coach Deon Davids has included six debutants in his matchday squad for their opening PRO14 game against the Italian side.
Full-back Michael Botha, second-row Schalk Oelofse and flanker Henry Brown make first starts for the Port Elizabeth side while second-row JC Astle, centre Ulrich Beyers and prop Lupumlo Mguca are on the bench.
In a surprise move Masixole Banda starts in the number 10 jersey and joins Rudi van Rooyen as the half-back combination.
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 David Sisi, 5 George Biagi, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Edoardo Padovani
Kings: 15 Michael Botha, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Masixole Banda, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Henry Brown, 5 Bobby de Wee, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Luphumlo Mguca, 19 JC Astle, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Martin du Toit, 23 Ulrich Beyers
Date: Friday, August 31
Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 20:35 local (19:35 BST)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Keith Allen (Scotland), Manuel Bottini (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)