There are three games scheduled in the PRO14 on Saturday with Munster hosting Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park the pick of the action.
Benetton v Leinster
Benetton Rugby will return to Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Treviso to host the defending champions, Leinster.
Jayden Hayward starts at full-back for the homeside alongside Ratuva Tavuyara and Monty Ioane, who are the wings. Ignacio Brex and captain Alberto Sgarbi will be outside and inside centre respectively.
The half backs are Dewaldt Duvenage at scrum-half and Antonio Rizzi at fly-half.
The front-row will consist of Derrick Appiah and Marco Riccioni, who are two props while Hame Faiva starts at hooker.
Irné Herbst and Federico Ruzza will pack down in the second-row. Finally, the back-row sees Giovanni Pettinelli, Michele Lamaro starting on the flanks and Marco Barbini is at number eight, completing the XV chosen by head coach Kieran Crowley.
Meanwhile Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named a strong matchday squad for this fixture.
Rob Kearney comes in at full-back having recovered from the tightness in his quad that forced him to miss last weekend’s Champions Cup trip to Toulouse.
Adam Byrne comes on to the right wing having played for the Leinster ‘A’ team last weekend in the final of the Celtic Cup. With Byrne coming on to the right wing, Joe Tomane moves across to the left wing.
Robbie Henshaw and Rory O’Loughlin are in the centre with Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne in the half backs.
Jack McGrath, James Tracy and Tadhg Furlong are in the front-row, with Scott Fardy and James Ryan behind them in the engine room.
Seán O’Brien captains the side for the first time this season from blindside flanker, with Dan Leavy back from a calf injury at openside and Max Deegan completing the pack at number eight.
On the bench, Academy player Conor O’Brien is due to make his first senior appearance of the season. The Westmeath man has three caps already to his name in the PRO14.
The teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Derrick Appiah
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Tommaso Iannone, 23 Angelo Esposito
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Seán O’Brien (c), 5 James Ryan, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Conor O’Brien
Date: Saturday, October 27
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: TBC
TMO: TBC
Munster v Glasgow
Nine of the 11 Munster players called up to the Ireland squad earlier this week are included in the Munster matchday 23 to face Gloucester at Thomond Park on Saturday.
Peter O’Mahony captains the team and Keith Earls, fresh from signing a contract extension, returns as one of seven changes to the side that secured a bonus-point win against Gloucester in the Champions Cup last week.
Sammy Arnold is included having been named in an Ireland squad for the first time this week with Alby Mathewson and JJ Hanrahan also coming in to form a new half-back partnership.
The three final changes are in the pack with hooker Niall Scannell returning from a knock as Billy Holland and Chris Cloete are also included.
Mike Haley starts at full-back with Andrew Conway and Earls on either flank.
Rory Scannell and Arnold pair up in the centre with Mathewson and Hanrahan at scrum-half and out-half respectively.
James Cronin and John Ryan pack down on either side of Niall Scannell with Jean Kleyn and Holland resuming their partnership in the engine room.
Meanwhile, Chris Fusaro will play is 150th game for Glasgow Warriors when he comes off the bench.
The 29-year-old is in his ninth season with the Warriors and will become just the ninth player to reach that milestone in the club’s history.
Rob Harley, Graeme Morrison, Pat MacArthur, Al Kellock, Jonny Petrie, Dougie Hall, John Barclay and Moray Low are the only players to have played more games for Glasgow than Fusaro.
In the starting XV, five of the sixteen players named in Scotland’s 2018 Autumn International squad return, notably at half-back where brothers George and Pete Horne start beside each other.
Sam Johnson returns from St. Andrews to start at inside centre, while in the pack Rob Harley and Matt Fagerson are both included.
Nick Grigg partners Johnson in midfield and behind them Rory Hughes, DTH van der Merwe and Ruaridh Jackson make up the back three.
Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy Hooker Grant Stewart starts for the Warriors for this first time. Oli Kebble and D’Arcy Rae pack down either side of him.
Scott Cummings starts in the engine room alongside Harley and captain Callum Gibbins and Adam Ashe complete the pack.
Fusaro is one of six internationals on the bench. Kevin Bryce, Jamie Bhatti, Greg Peterson, Nick Frisby and Niko Matawalu will also look to bring their experience to the game when called upon.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Darren Sweetnam
Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Pete Horne, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Niko Matawalu
Date: Saturday, October 27
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:15 local (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), TBC
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Cheetahs v Cardiff Blues
William Small-Smith will earn his 50th cap for the Cheetahs on Saturday. Rhyno Smith, Reinach Venter and Sintu Manjezi will be making their PRO14 debuts when they set foot to the field.
Injuries and international duties have forced some changes but Cardiff Blues head coach John Mulvihill has picked a mobile side to combat the South African outfit’s running threat.
In the pack, Brad Thyer, Ethan Lewis and Scott Andrews form a new-look front-row, Rory Thornton comes into the second-row and Seb Davies makes his long-awaited return to action at number eight.
Steve Shingler makes his first appearance of the season, partnering Lloyd Williams at scrum-half, while Garyn Smith and Matthew Morgan return to the starting line-up.
Liam Belcher, who returned to Cardiff Blues in the summer following a season-long stint at the Dragons, Lewis Jones and Dan Fish are all in line for their first appearances of the campaign from the bench.
The teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (c), 8 Neil Jordaan, 7 Junior Pokamela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Sinthu Manjezi, 20 Abongile Nonkontwana, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 Nico Lee
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Steve Shingler, 9 Lloyd Williams (c), 8 Seb Davies, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 George Earle, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ethan Lewis, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Dan Fish, 23 Willis Halaholo
Date: Saturday, October 27
Venue: Free State Stadium
Kick-off: 18:15 local (17:15 GMT)
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: TBC
TMO: TBC