Tag: Rugby

Calum Green becomes a Newcastle Falcons centurion when he plays his 100th game for the club during Friday’s Premiership visit of Exeter Chiefs.

The lock leads the league for line-out takes once again this season and packs down in a side showing four changes from the one which won 23-20 at Worcester last weekend, Tom Arscott making his competitive debut for the Falcons.

The experienced winger joined the Falcons in the summer and partners Alex Tait out wide – the other two changes coming in the forward pack.

Adam Brocklebank makes his first Premiership start, the 23-year-old England Students loosehead having impressed from the bench in all three of the Falcons’ games this season, while Gary Graham comes into a reshuffled back-row in place of Callum Chick.

Newcastle were 28-20 winners on Exeter’s last visit to Kingston Park Stadium, director of rugby Dean Richards saying ahead of Friday’s game: “It’s a big challenge for us, and that’s exciting. We’re at home, we want to get our home account underway for the season and everyone’s looking forward to it.”

Respectful of a Chiefs side who top the Premiership table with a perfect 15 points from 15, the Falcons boss added: “Exeter are incredibly well-drilled, they’ve been together a long time and they have very little player turnover. That means they know their roles inside out, they execute it every week and that’s why they are where they are a consistent top-two side over a number of years.

“They have a superb understanding of how they want to play, they’re ruthless in executing it and that makes them very difficult to play against, but as we showed last season up here they are beatable. They’ve got a lot of quality and they all sing off the same hymn sheet, but we’ve also got a lot of threat within our own side and they’ll know they’re not in for an easy game against us.”

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have again made tweaks to their line-up for the game at Kingston Park.

Both Matt Kvesic and Sam Simmonds return to the starting line-up having missed out last week, Ian Whitten gets the nod over Ollie Devoto in the centre, while summer signing Alex Cuthbert gets his first start on the wing with Jack Nowell not risked on the 4G surface.

On the bench, there are welcome returns also for powerhouse forwards Dave Ewers and the fit-again Sam Hill.

Form: Newcastle Falcons ended a four-game losing run in Gallagher Premiership Rugby with their 23-10 win at Worcester last weekend. The Falcons have lost their last two home games at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby but have not lost three in a row at the venue since December 2015. Exeter Chiefs have maximum points after three rounds whilst their only defeat in the tournament since February was in last season’s final. The Chiefs most recent away loss in Premiership Rugby was to Wasps at the Ricoh Arena in round 15 last season. Exeter’s only defeat in their last eight matches against Newcastle in Premiership Rugby was 20-28 at Kingston Park in round 13 last year.

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Gary Graham, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Sami Mavinga, 18 Jack Payne, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Tom Penny

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand (c), 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Sam Hill

Date: Friday, September 21
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, John Meredith
Television match official: Graham Hughes

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The Sharks side will be bolstered by the inclusion of two Springbok front-rowers for Saturday’s Currie Cup clash with the Golden Lions at Kings Park.

The return to action of Thomas du Toit and Coenie Oosthuizen (the latter off the bench) should play some part in calming a young side and their inclusion couldn’t come at a better side as the Sharks look to finish off the pool stages of the competition in winning style.

The Sharks see just two changes to the team that defeated the Pumas in their last match. In the front-row, Du Toit comes in for John-Hubert Meyer at tighthead prop while Curwin Bosch returns to the full-back position, rotating once more with Aphelele Fassi who made his run-on debut against the Pumas.

Oosthuizen makes his much-awaited return in the number 17 jersey after a long-term injury while Ruben van Heerden, the newly-signed 20-year-old Bulls and SA U20 lock who has joined the Sharks on a three-year contract will look to earn his debut off the bench.

Sharks: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle (c), 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Ruben van Heerden, 19 Jacques Vermeulen, 20 Cameron Wright, 21 Sibusiso Nkosi, 22 Aphelele Fassi

Date: Saturday, September 22
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 17:15 local (16:15 BST, 15:15 GMT)
Referee: Egon Seconds
Assistant referees: Archie Sehlako, Blake Beattie
TMO: Shaun Veldsman

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Two matches take place in the PRO14 on Friday as the Cheetahs welcome Ulster while Munster travel to face Cardiff Blues in the Welsh capital.

Cheetahs v Ulster

Cheetahs head coach Franco Smith has announced his team for their PRO14 match against Ulster in Bloemfontein on Friday.

Ox Nche and Charles Marais switch places at loosehead prop, with Nche coming into the starting line-up and Marais providing cover on the bench.

Neill Jordaan replaces Aidon Davis at number eight, with Stephan Malan amongst the replacements. Malan will be making his PRO14 debut when he comes onto the field.

Elsewhere, Justin Basson returns to the bench, replacing Dennis Visser, while Louis Fouche could make his PRO14 debut if he gets the nod.

Meanwhile, Ulster Academy players Eric O’Sullivan and Angus Kernohan are set to make their first starts after producing impressive performances off the bench in recent weeks, including in Sunday’s 28-7 win versus Southern Kings.

The other newcomers to the team include tighthead prop Wiehahn Herbst, blindside flanker Matthew Rea, scrum-half Dave Shanahan and full-back Will Addison, a late withdrawal from the team to face the Kings due to illness.

O’Sullivan and Herbst will pack down in the front-row alongside skipper Rob Herring, while Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell are retained in the second-row.

The selection of Rea sees a slight re-shuffle in the back-row, with Marcell Coetzee moving to number eight, while Sean Reidy stays in the number seven jersey.

Shanahan comes in at scrum-half for John Cooney, who sustained a head injury in the win last week, and he will partner fly-half Billy Burns.

Henry Speight shifts from the wing to centre to play alongside Stuart McCloskey, so Kernohan, who scored his first senior try last week, gets an opportunity from the start. Addison and Craig Gilroy complete the starting side.

The teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (c), 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Jospeh Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Günther Janse van Vuuren, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Stephan Malan, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 Ryno Eksteen

Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Henry Speight, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Angus Kernohan, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Dave Shanahan, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Matt Rea, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Darren Cave

Date: Friday, September 21
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 19:15 local (18:15 BST, 17:15 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Ben Crouse (South Africa)
Television match official: Johan Greeff (South Africa)

Cardiff Blues v Munster

Ellis Jenkins will make his 100th appearance as Cardiff Blues take on Munster at Cardiff Arms Park in the PRO14 on Friday.

The Wales flanker sat out last week’s last-gasp loss to Zebre in Italy but is one of seven changes for the Arms Park encounter.

Three of those changes come in the backs with Jarrod Evans starting at fly-half and Gareth Anscombe switching to full-back. Willis Halaholo returns to partner Rey Lee-Lo in the centre and Blaine Scully makes his comeback from ankle surgery.

In the pack, Jenkins forms a familiar back-row with Nick Williams also returning alongside Josh Navidi.

That sees Josh Turnbull slot in at second-row, while Rhys Gill and Dmitri Arhip are back to pack down either side of Kristian Dacey.

Macauley Cook is also in line to make his 150th Cardiff Blues appearance should he be called into action from the bench.

There are six changes to the Munster side that beat Ospreys last week as CJ Stander makes his first appearance of the season in a back-row that also includes captain Peter O’Mahony and Chris Cloete.

JJ Hanrahan comes into the side at full-back and there is an all-changed centre partnership with Jaco Taute making his first start since returning from injury alongside Rory Scannell.

Hooker Mike Sherry and second-row Jean Kleyn are the only two alterations to the pack.

Hanrahan joins Andrew Conway and Darren Sweetnam in the back three as Duncan Williams and Joey Carbery continue their half-back partnership.

James Cronin and Stephen Archer pack down in the front-row with Sherry and Kleyn joins Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Willis Halaholo, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan

Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Brian Scott, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Jack Stafford, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Shane Daly

Date: Friday, September 21
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Gareth John (Wales)
Television match official: Ian Davies (Wales)

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The All Blacks squad to take on the Pumas and Springboks has been announced, with captain Kieran Read sitting out the trip to Argentina.

Loose forward Vaea Fifita will travel with the All Blacks to Argentina in his place and return to New Zealand following the Test against the Pumas.

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen said: “We always had a plan to manage Kieran’s long-haul travel this year, following his return to rugby after back surgery, so he’ll miss the trip to Argentina and re-join the squad in South Africa for the Test against the Springboks.”

Midfielder Ngani Laumape, who was called in as injury cover earlier in the Rugby Championship, will also stay in New Zealand. Dane Coles, Joe Moody, Brodie Retallick and Liam Squire meanwhile will continue their injury rehabilitation programmes in New Zealand.

All Blacks squad for Argentina and South Africa is:

Forwards: Liam Coltman, Nathan Harris, Codie Taylor, Owen Franks, Tim Perry, Angus Ta’avao, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Ofa Tuungafasi, Scott Barrett, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samuel Whitelock, Sam Cane, Vaea Fifita, Shannon Frizell, Jackson Hemopo, Kieran Read (South Africa only), Ardie Savea, Luke Whitelock

Backs: TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie, Richie Mo’unga, Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Waisake Naholo, Ben Smith

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With the Rugby Championship taking a week’s break before the final two rounds, we look at the best bets from the Premiership, PRO14 and Top 14.

Newcastle v Exeter Chiefs

These sides have endured contrasting fortunes at the start of this campaign, which is probably the reason why the odds heavily favour the Chiefs, but an away victory should not be taken for granted.

Dean Richards’ men succumbed to Saracens and Leicester in their opening two games, but responded well to defeat Worcester Warriors at Sixways and claim their first win of the campaign.

It displayed an improvement from the Falcons and, back on home soil, they will be far more assured when Exeter visit on Friday. The Tynesiders, after finishing 2017/18 in an impressive fourth position, did not lose any of their star players over the off-season and should be a significant test for Rob Baxter’s outfit.

Newcastle also defeated the Devonians in the corresponding fixture last year and 10/3 with Black Type therefore seems quite generous, while 2/7 (Bet365 and William Hill) for Exeter to overcome the hosts at Kingston Park looks a bit too short.

Either way it should be a tight game and Richards’ side are evens with Betfred on a handicap of +9, which seems like a prudent option.

Dragons v Zebre

Zebre will be looking for a win over the Dragons at Rodney Parade that would see them keep pace with Glasgow and Munster in PRO14, Conference A.

Both the Italian sides have impressed so far in 2018/19 and Zebre come into this game on the back of a narrow victory over Cardiff Blues. Dragons meanwhile were comprehensively beaten at Leinster which was their second loss of the campaign, their only win coming against the Kings.

The Welsh region are best priced 27/50 (Marathon Bet) but it’s the Zebre price of 11/5 with William Hill which looks to be a shrewd punt. For a Zebre half-time/full-time win that can be found at 10/3 with Bet Victor while those who aren’t overly confident in the upset win – according to the bookmakers – then the handicap line is five points.

The pressure is very much on Dragons and their head coach Bernard Jackman after a disappointing start and with confidence high at Zebre, this seems the best value bet in the PRO14 this round. Interestingly Benetton at 19/5 with 888 Sport is also a price that caught our eye.

Racing 92 v Castres

One of the big games of the weekend in the Top 14 sees the defending champions head to the capital to take on Racing, who finished the previous season in second position.

Castres actually ousted Saturday’s opponents in the semi-finals in 2017/18 and no doubt the hosts will be looking for revenge. However, Christophe Urios’ men have started the campaign strongly, winning three of their four games, with the only defeat coming at Toulon.

They narrowly succumbed 28-27 to Patrice Collazo’s outfit but Urios’ charges were unfortunate not to come away with the victory. Having duly shown themselves to be strong on the road, following that performance and their triumph over Montpellier at Altrad Stadium in Round One, it will be a tough encounter for Racing.

The Parisians are one of the favourites for the title and recruited well in the off-season but, after losses to Clermont Auvergne and Toulouse, they have yet to find their rhythm. With William Hill offering odds of 3/1 for Castres to pick up the win, it is a decent price for those who fancy a punt.

It is worth remembering that Racing have only lost once at home at their new stadium, which is why Sky Bet have them down at 2/7, but that defeat did occur recently and Castres have no fear when it comes to facing the big teams in France.

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New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have announced they have secured the key signatures of All Blacks, Blues and Auckland brothers, Rieko and Akira Ioane, who have both signed long-term contracts.

21-year-old Rieko, the current World Breakthrough Player of the Year and nominee for Player of the Year, has signed a four-year deal through to the end of the 2022 season, while 23-year-old Akira has signed on through to 2021.

Rieko said he was “hugely excited” to be recommitting to New Zealand.

“I feel incredibly privileged to get the opportunity to play my rugby here for another four years. I want to give it my best shot at serving the black jersey and, hopefully, I’ll get the chance to play at the Rugby World Cup in the future. That’s a huge motivator for me,” he revealed.

“It was obviously tough this year for the Blues, but I feel we’re on the verge of something special and I want to be a part of that journey. Auckland is my home, it’s where I grew up and it’s the city that made me as a rugby player, so I want to do my bit to help it move forward.”

Akira said: “It was important for me to stay in Auckland and at the Blues because it’s my home and I want to help the teams in this city succeed. I also want to keep playing my best rugby and try and make it back into the All Blacks again.

“It will also be special sharing the next few years with my brother and representing our family out on the footy field.”

Rieko became the eighth youngest All Blacks Test debutant when he came off the bench against Italy at the age of 19 years and 239 days in November 2016. He has now started 16 of his 18 Tests and scored 18 tries to date, as well as 20 tries in 35 appearances for the Blues.

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen said: “This is fantastic news for New Zealand Rugby. Rieko is a young player with undoubted talent who has already achieved wonderful things on the international stage. With his growing maturity and growth in his game understanding, I’m sure we’ll see his game go to even greater heights.

“Akira is also an immense talent who has a bright future in our national game and we congratulate him on his decision as well.”

Blues coach Tana Umaga added: “Rieko is an outstanding talent who works very hard at the game and is also willing to learn. He shows a level of maturity that belies his young age and this, as well as his passion for the club and region, makes him a leader of our young group.”

Loose forward Akira had a breakout year in 2015, making his Blues debut, and also debuted alongside Rieko in the Maori All Blacks and for Auckland. He played for the All Blacks against a French XV last year and started every Super Rugby game for the Blues this season.

“Akira was our ‘go to’ player in the forwards this year and yet he is still so young,” said Umaga. “He’s working hard to improve his game and will become a key leader in the years to come. He has such passion for our club and for Auckland – with our players this year selecting him as the Player of the Year.”

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There’s three Premiership games on Saturday before two take place on Sunday, with Saracens versus Gloucester the round’s standout match.

Bath v Northampton Saints

Dave Attwood, Taulupe Faletau, Aled Brew and Darren Atkins come into the starting line-up for Saturday’s Premiership clash against Northampton Saints at the Rec.

A reshuffle in the backline sees Jackson Willison moving to inside centre with Brew partnering the Kiwi in the midfield. Max Green and Freddie Burns continue in the half-back pairing, as Bath look to build on last weekend’s bonus-point victory over Harlequins.

Fresh from scoring twice at The Stoop, Joe Cokanasiga continues on the left wing, with the talismanic Semesa Rokoduguni on the opposite flank. Atkins completes the back three, with the 21-year-old coming into the side at full-back.

Nathan Catt, Tom Dunn and Henry Thomas complete an unchanged front-row trio, whilst Attwood returns to the side to feature alongside captain Luke Charteris in the second-row.

Tom Ellis and Sam Underhill remain at blindside and openside flanker respectively, with Faletau coming in at number eight to complete the pack.

Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd has made four changes to his starting XV to take on Bath in the Premiership.

Dylan Hartley and Alex Waller once again jointly lead the side from Saints’ front-row, with Ben Franks – who came off the bench last week to score against Sarries – recalled at tighthead prop alongside them.

The second-row is unchanged as David Ribbans and Courtney Lawes start for the fourth straight game this season, but flankers Jamie Gibson and Lewis Ludlam both come into the base of the scrum to join Teimana Harrison.

Andrew Symons makes his first competitive start for Saints at outside centre as he is selected in the midfield alongside Piers Francis, who has two tries to his name in three matches this term.

The back three remains unchanged with Ahsee Tuala, Tom Collins and Taqele Naiyaravoro keeping their spots in the side, while Dan Biggar and Cobus Reinach continue in the half-back positions.

On the bench, Andrew Kellaway is named in a Saints squad for the first time amongst the replacements, with the versatile Australian import fit to make his Premiership debut.

Form: Bath’s only defeat in their last five Premiership Rugby matches was 10-17 at Bristol on the opening day of the new season. Bath have won only once at home in the tournament since February – 63-19 against London Irish in Round 22 last season. Northampton Saints have lost three of their last five Premiership Rugby encounters, whilst their only win away from home in the tournament since September 2017 was at Leicester in April. Bath have lost only one of their last four fixtures with the Saints – 6-24 at Franklin’s Gardens in round 3 last year whilst the Saints most recent victory at the Recreation Ground was December 2015.

The teams:

Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Aled Brew, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Max Green, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Luke Charteris (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Max Wright

Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Andrew Symons, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Dylan Hartley (cc), 1 Alex Waller (cc)
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Andrew Kellaway, 23 Harry Mallinder

Date: Saturday, September 22
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Tom Foley, Simon McConnell
Television match official: David Grashoff

Bristol v Harlequins

Bristol boss Pat Lam makes six changes from the side that suffered defeat to Gloucester as Alapati Leiua recovers from a back injury to start in the backline.

Will Hurrell also earns a start in the midfield, while Bristol-born Academy product Andy Uren comes in at scrum-half.

In the pack, Harry Thacker starts in the front-row, while Ed Holmes and Jordan Crane are also listed.

Nick Fenton-Wells is named among the replacements and could make his first competitive outing of the 2018/19 campaign on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kyle Sinckler returns to action for Harlequins on Saturday.

Sinckler joins Joe Marler and Max Crumpton in a new-look front-row from the one that started against Bath last week.

James Lang at fly-half and Ross Chisholm on the wing are the only changes in the backs as Quins look to get back to winning ways at Ashton Gate.

Having enjoyed an excellent start to the season at The Stoop with a 51-23 victory over Sale, Paul Gustard’s side have suffered narrow defeats in their last two matches at Northampton and against Bath at home.

Form: Bristol Bears have lost their last two Premiership Rugby matches, but both games were played away from home. The Bears have won their last three matches in all competitions at Ashton Gate since Jersey Reds beat them there in the Championship in March. Harlequins only victory in their last eight Premiership Rugby encounters was 51-23 at home to Sale on the opening week of the new campaign. The Londoners have not won away from home in any tournament since visiting Saracens in the Anglo-Welsh Cup last November. Bristol have not beaten Harlequins in Premiership Rugby since a contest at Memorial Stadium in October 2006, however they did win both encounters in the European Champions Cup in season 2007/08. Harlequins only previous visit to Ashton Gate ended with a 42-8 victory in February 2017.

The teams:

Bristol: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 George Smith, 6 Steve Luatua (c), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Nick Fenton-Wells, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Jack Lam, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Zane Kirchner

Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Ross Chisholm, 10 James Lang, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Luke Wallace, 5 Ben Glynn, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Max Crumpton, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Stan South, 20 Renaldo Bothma, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Paul Lasike

Date: Saturday, September 22
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Jonathan Healy
Television match official: David Rose

Sale Sharks v Wasps

Steve Diamond has made one to one change to his Sale side for the Premiership Round 4 match against Wasps at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The only alteration which succumbed to Exeter Chiefs sees Ben Curry coming in for Josh Beaumont, with Jono Ross moving to number eight.

Arron Reed, who has been in prolific try scoring form for National One side Sale FC, is named on the bench. 19-year-old Reed started against Worcester and Saracens in the Anglo-Welsh Cup last November but has yet to play in the Premiership.

For Wasps, director of rugby Dai Young hands a first start of the season to Willie le Roux.

There are six changes to the starting XV from Sunday’s win against Leicester Tigers.

Le Roux returns from international duty with South Africa to take his place at full-back, moving captain Elliot Daly to outside centre. Daly joins Wasps debutant from last week Michael Le Bourgeois in the midfield.

Club captain Joe Launchbury, who has a short-term knee injury, is replaced by Will Rowlands. Rowlands starts in the second-row alongside James Gaskell.

Zurabi Zhvania gets a first start for Wasps, moving from the bench to starting at loosehead prop in the absence of the injured Ben Harris. Zhvania is alongside Tommy Taylor and Will Stuart in the front-row, as Stuart swaps places with Kieran Brookes.

Marcus Watson makes his first start of the season, replacing the rested Christian Wade, to join Josh Bassett and Le Roux in the back three.

Ashley Johnson, Nizaam Carr and Nathan Hughes form an unchanged back-row.

Tom West and Kearnan Myall could make their first appearances of the season from the replacements and are joined on an impactful bench by Tom Cruse, Brookes, Ben Morris, Joe Simpson, Billy Searle and Rob Miller.

Form: Sale Sharks’ only victory in the last six rounds of Premiership Rugby was 21-15 at home to Worcester on 9 September. The Sharks have lost just once at AJ Bell Stadium since February – 13-35 to Leicester in Round 22 last season. Wasps’ only regular season defeat since Round 19 of Premiership Rugby last season was 31-42 at home to Exeter on 8 September. Wasps record away from home in Premiership Rugby in 2018 is an even won three, drawn one, lost three. The last eight meetings between the two clubs in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst the only time that Wasps have won on Sale’s soil since 2005 was by a single point at Edgeley Park in October 2010.

The teams:

Sale: 15 Byron McGuigan, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Jono Ross (c), 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 James Phillips, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Cameron Neild, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Alexandru Tarus, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Luke James, 23 Arron Reed

Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Elliot Daly (c), 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Nizaam Carr, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom West, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Rob Miller

Date: Saturday, September 22
Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Philip Watters, Steve Lee
Television match official: Rowan Kitt

Sunday

Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors

Graham Kitchener returns from injury to make his first appearance of the season for Leicester Tigers in Sunday’s home game against Worcester Warriors.

The 28-year-old lock has recovered from a hip injury to join the line-up, replacing the suspended Will Spencer in the only change to the pack from last week’s match against Wasps.

There are two changes in the backline where Jordan Olowofela and Jonah Holmes come in for Telusa Veainu and Adam Thompstone.

Kyle Eastmond is named among the replacements after missing the Round 3 trip to Wasps, and prop Gaston Cortes returns from international duty with Argentina to join the matchday squad as Tigers return to home turf.

Meanwhile, Worcester’s director of rugby Alan Solomons has made three changes to Warriors’ starting line-up.

Jack Singleton, Nick Schonert and Anton Bresler all start as Warriors look to replicate last season’s performance at Tigers in which they came away with a bonus-point, 31-27 win.

Singleton will get his first start of the season while Schonert recovers from concussion to line up alongside Callum Black in the front-row.

Bresler partners Pierce Phillips in the second-row to make his first start of the season. GJ van Velze leads the side from the back-row next to Sam Lewis and Marco Mama.

The Warriors backline remains unchanged from the last outing against Newcastle Falcons while in the replacements, 19-year-old Academy forward Ted Hill could make his Premiership debut from the bench.

Form: All three of Leicester Tigers’ matches this season have been won by the home side on the day. Tigers have scored a try bonus point in their last two matches and have not achieved that in three successive Premiership Rugby games since April 2012. Worcester were one of five clubs to beat Leicester at Welford Road in Premiership Rugby last season. Worcester Warriors have lost their last four Premiership Rugby matches since beating Harlequins at Sixways in April, whilst their two away victories in any competition last season were both in Premiership Rugby, at Leicester and at Exeter. The last three matches between the two clubs have all been won by the away side on the day.

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Jordan Olowofela, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 David Denton, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 David Feao, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Ben White, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Kyle Eastmond

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Marco Mama, 5 Pierce Phillips, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Ashley Beck

Date: Sunday, September 23
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Wayne Falla
Television match official: John Byett

Saracens v Gloucester

Jamie George and Richard Wigglesworth will achieve their landmark moments from the start against Gloucester at Allianz Park on Sunday.

England hooker George makes his 200th Saracens appearance, aged just 27, while scrum-half Wigglesworth overtakes his former captain Steve Borthwick as the all-time Premiership appearance holder with outing 266 in the competition.

The latter is one of five changes to the side that began the win over Northampton Saints last weekend.

Owen Farrell returns from a minor strain while Sean Maitland is back on the wing after coming back from a dislocated finger at Franklin’s Gardens.

George Kruis makes his first start of the season with Maro Itoje switching to blindside flanker. Ben Earl is selected at number eight.

Meanwhile, Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann keeps faith with the same starting line-up that defeated Bristol Bears last weekend.

There is just the one change to the squad that took on Bristol at Kingsholm last Friday, prop Val Rapava Ruskin returning to be named amongst the replacements.

It’s a meeting between two of the three unbeaten sides to date in the Premiership, so something has to give and Ackermann is looking for his side to go better at Allianz Park than they did last season.

Form: Saracens have won their last ten Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches, scoring four or more tries in each of the last nine, since Exeter beat them at Sandy Park in March. Saracens most recent defeat at Allianz Park in Premiership Rugby was at home to Leicester Tigers in February. Gloucester are unbeaten after the first three rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby, their best start to a campaign since 2007/08. Gloucester’s only victory on the road since November in Premiership Rugby was 33-29 at London Irish in March. The last five encounters between the two clubs have all been won by the home side on the day whilst Gloucester’s most recent victory on Saracens turf was at Vicarage Road in November 2008.

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Liam Williams, 14 David Strettle, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Mike Rhodes, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Will Skelton, 4 George Kruis, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Nick Isiewke, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Alex Goode

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater (c), 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 Franco Marais, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Tom Hudson

Date: Sunday, September 23
Venue: Allianz Park
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Christopher Ridley
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Rob Warburton
Television match official: Trevor Fisher

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Click:block making machine

John Nicholson returns to Planet Rugby and is discussing the hot topic over whether Leicester lock Will Spencer was right to be sent off.

The Wasps versus Leicester Tigers Premiership game last weekend was a great, free scoring affair which the home side ran out 41-35 winners. However, Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy wasn’t happy that Spencer was sent off for a supposedly high and dangerous tackle.

If you watched the match you might have thought it was a harsh decision too. While the rules of the game have been changed in recent years to outlaw some types of tackles which genuinely threatened the welfare of players, the fact is, rugby is a very, very physical sport. A very, very physical sport that, if you play it long enough will result in your getting hurt more than once. This is what happens when large men crash into other large men and while the laws of the game can seek to minimise the chances of this happening, it’s impossible to prevent completely. If we don’t accept that, then we might as well stop playing the game.

The ‘tackle’ that Spencer put in on Wasps hooker Tommy Taylor in the first-half was deemed high. And let’s be clear, it was high. His left shoulder definitely comes into contact with Taylor’s head but Taylor had laid the ball off, travelling at some speed as he did so and as much crashed into Spencer as was tackled by him. I’m not sure where Spencer was supposed to go, or what he was supposed to do. He was covering Taylor’s run, there was little more than a second between the ball being passed and the collision. Spencer could hardly have got out of the way and was hardly moving when the collision occurred. And he only connected with Taylor’s head because Taylor ducked down. Is it fair to punish someone for a high tackle on a player, when that player is low?

It was more a case of him being too tall and too close to the hooker to get out of the way. He just couldn’t have got down low enough quick enough. So what was he supposed to do? He’d have had to drop down by a couple of feet in a single second. Spencer is over six feet six inches tall, about six or seven inches taller than Taylor, and in such match-ups it makes it inevitable that occasional head collisions are going to occasionally happen. Trying to prevent these is an important and welcome change in rugby, but that doesn’t mean collisions involving the head won’t still accidentally happen. And that’s what this was; an accident, or at worst, an unavoidable collision.

This absolutely wasn’t the sort of red card tackle that the legislation was designed to prevent. At most it was a yellow card.

After the game, in relation to the tackle, Murphy said that “the game has gone too PC”. Quite what political correctness has got to do with tackling people on a rugby field, I don’t know. It seems to be used by some people as a catch-all term for not being able to do what you once did. So while his choice of words was something of a nonsense, he had every right to feel aggrieved at losing player early in the match for this particular infringement.

You don’t have to be some sort of conservative reactionary to worry that if such mano-a-mano conflicts are to be punished by red cards, the game is going to lose some of the physicality that both fans and players enjoy. It isn’t an argument for a return to the old neck-breaking days to say that there will always be circumstances when unintentional head collisions occur and that is what Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill said after this incident. “It’s a game of rough and tumble. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t play the sport. It’s one of those things. You want the game to be safe but you just have to go and play and accept that there are risks in playing.”

Certainly Wasps hooker Taylor didn’t seem upset by the challenge and neither did any of his team-mates.

We all know what type of head tackle the legislation is trying to outlaw, but there has to be flexibility in how that law is applied, because Spencer’s wasn’t one of those tackles. It was especially disappointing that the TMO and referee had time to stop and review it and still came to that decision.

We need to make sure that in making rugby safer, and it absolutely needed to be safer, we must also accept that there will always be limits to how safe it ever can be and that there is little to be gained by ever more officious applications of the law, but understand that there is much to lose in doing so.

by John Nicholson

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There are five games scheduled to take place on Saturday in the PRO14 with Connacht versus Scarlets and Leinster versus Edinburgh the pick of them.

Kings vs Glasgow Warriors

The Kings are boosted by the return to fitness of flanker CJ Velleman, who will start from the bench against Glasgow Warriors in Port Elizabeth.

There are five changes in personnel changes and two positional switches, with Martin du Toit joining Rudi van Rooyen in the half-backs while Masixole Banda moves to full-back.

The back-row sees Ruaan Lerm and Henry Brown come in for Martinus van Schalkwyk and Steph de Wit, while Bobby de Wee comes in at lock for Schalk Oelofse.

Having made his return from injury off the bench against the Cheetahs last weekend, Huw Jones starts for Glasgow Warriors.

Jones is one of nine changes to the starting XV that won 52-24 in Bloemfontein and he is joined in midfield by Nick Grigg who has recovered from illness to start.

It is an unchanged back-three, with DTH van der Merwe and Tommy Seymour, who both scored against the Cheetahs, starting either side of Ruairdh Jackson.

Pete Horne moves inside to fly-half and is partnered by Nick Frisby who makes his first competitive start for the club.

It is a brand new front-row as Jamie Bhatti and D’Arcy Rae pack down either side of George Turner.

Greg Peterson comes into the second-row to partner Scott Cummings while behind them Ryan Wilson captains the side wearing number six. Chris Fusaro and Adam Ashe are his loose forward partners.

The teams:

Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klassen, 12 Berton Klassen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Henry Brown, 5 JC Astle, 4 Bobby de Wee, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Justin Forwood, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 Stephan Greeff, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Michael Botha

Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Nick Grigg, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Ryan Wilson (c), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Kevin Bryce, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Robbie Nairn

Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 BST, 13:00 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Paul Mente (South Africa)
Television match official: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Connacht vs Scarlets

Back-row Robin Copeland is set to make his Connacht debut as Andy Friend’s side take on Scarlets in the PRO14 in the Sportsground on Saturday.

Copeland’s inclusion is one of six changes to the Connacht side that took on Edinburgh last weekend. Irish international Bundee Aki is also included in the starting XV having come off the bench in Murrayfield to make his first appearance of the season. Aki forms a midfield partnership with Tom Farrell who returns after recovering from a stomach bug that ruled him out last weekend.

Winger Cian Kelleher is named on the wing and is part of a back three that includes Matt Healy on the opposite wing and Tiernan O’Halloran at full-back.

Prop Denis Buckley is back in at loosehead to make his third start of the season while Gavin Thornbury is named alongside Quinn Roux in the second-row.

Copeland’s inclusion at number eight sees him named in a back row that also features team captain Jarrad Butler at openside and blindside Sean O’Brien.

Meanwhile, Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has been able to call on the expertise of fly-half Rhys Patchell as he makes a return to the field, having suffered a concussion in the clash against Leinster at Parc y Scarlets in Round 2.

Patchell is in the only change to the backline that faced Benetton at the Parc last weekend. He has been forced to make one change to the pack with James Davies unavailable after sustaining a knee injury last weekend.

Loose forward Lewis Rawlins comes in to the forwards pack alongside Ed Kennedy and Blade Thomson in the back-row.

South African import Uzair Cassiem makes a return from a calf injury, sustained during the pre-season friendly against Bath, and takes his place on the replacements bench looking to make his competitive debut for the Scarlets.

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Colby Fainga’a, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Niyi Adeolokun

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 Lewis Rawlins, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Paul Asquith

Venue: Sportsground
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
Television match official: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Dragons vs Zebre

Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman makes a total of four changes to the side that were defeated at Leinster for this home encounter.

Robson takes the 10 jersey for the visit of the Italians, to form a new-look half-back pairing with scrum-half Rhodri Williams.

Jared Rosser – fresh from his five-try heroics against Connacht Eagles in the Celtic Cup – will also make his first appearance of the season, replacing the injured Hallam Amos.

Two changes in the pack see a call-up for lock Rynard Landman – who partners captain Cory Hill in the second-row – while Ollie Griffiths returns in the back-row.

Prop Aaron Jarvis could also make his first appearance for the Dragons after recovering from a bicep injury to take his place among the replacements.

Meanwhile, Zebre have named a starting XV that includes nine Italian internationals who were part of the June tour to Japan.

There are four changes in all to the side as, after making a great impact from the bench last week, captain Tommaso Castello, flanker Giovanni Licata and hooker Oliviero Fabiani are back as starters.

South African Francois Brummer will earn his first start in his third PRO14 game, playing at full-back.

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Arwel Robson, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Jarryd Sage

Zebre: 15 Francois Brummer, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Edoardo Padovani, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 George Biagi (c), 4 David Sisi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Matu Tevi, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Boni, 23 Gabriele Di Giulio

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 17:15 BST (16:15 GMT)
Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Simon Mills (Wales)
Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Leinster vs Edinburgh

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made one positional change from last week as well as bringing in a number of fresh faces to his 23.

Jordan Larmour wins his 25th cap for Leinster and moves from the right wing to full-back, with Fergus McFadden coming in at 14 and James Lowe also coming in on the left wing.

It’s as you were in the centre with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose again selected as 12 and 13.

Captain Johnny Sexton leads the team on the occasion of his 150th cap for the province, with Luke McGrath in the number nine jersey.

In the pack Cian Healy again starts at loosehead prop with James Tracy and Michael Bent coming in to complete the front-row.

Devin Toner comes into the second-row to partner James Ryan.

In the back-row like Larmour, Max Deegan will also win his 25th cap in the RDS and he is the only change there with Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan again in the seven and eight jerseys.

On the replacements bench Dan Leavy is in line to make his first appearance of the season having returned from injury.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has made nine changes to his team.

As several internationalists – including Ross Ford, Allan Dell and Magnus Bradbury – are rotated into the match-day squad, the starting XV includes just six players that started in the 17-10 victory over Connacht last weekend.

Dougie Fife, Duhan van der Merwe, Jaco van der Walt, Ben Toolis, Luke Hamilton and Jamie Ritchie are all once again selected as Edinburgh look to secure their first away victory of the season.

Full-back, Fife, completes the back-three alongside wingers Van der Merwe and Jamie Farndale. The Scotland Sevens star makes his first appearance for Edinburgh since his debut as a replacement against Cardiff Blues in April 2012.

In the midfield, Chris Dean returns from injury to partner summer recruit Juan Pablo Socino, who makes his first competitive start for the club. Van der Walt continues at stand-off, while Sean Kennedy makes his first start of the campaign at scrum-half.

A new look front-row sees 110-times capped Scotland international hooker Ford pack down alongside Allan Dell and Simon Berghan, while Fraser McKenzie – named as captain – and Toolis form the second-row.

After a replacement appearance from the bench against Connacht last weekend, Bradbury is named at number eight, with Ritchie and Hamilton completing a combative back-row.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Joe Tomane

Edinburgh:15 Dougie Fife, 14 Jamie Farndale, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Fraser McKenzie (c), 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 James Johnstone

Venue: RDS
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Chris Busby (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ospreys vs Benetton Rugby

Ospreys have made 11 changes for the visit of Benetton, with Joe Thomas, Luke Morgan, Sam Davies and Tom Botha the only players remaining from the side that played Munster.

Internationals George North, Aled Davies, Justin Tipuric, Dan Lydiate and Alun Wyn Jones all return to the XV as the Welsh region attempt to secure their third victory of the season.

Allen Clarke’s men began the campaign with successive triumphs but that run was ended by the Irish province last weekend.

Meanwhile, Benetton have named Luca Sperandio at full-back, with Tommaso Benvenuti and Monty Ioane taking their place on the wings. Marco Zanon and captain Alberto Sgarbi will be the centres.

The half-backs are Dewaldt Duvenage and Antonio Rizzi, while the front-row will consist of Cherif Traore, Luca Bigi and Simone Ferrari.

At lock will be Alessandro Zanni and Federico Ruzza, with the back-row seeing Sebastian Negri, Abraham Steyn and Marco Barbini completing the XV.

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 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 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 James Hook, 23 Cory Allen

Benetton Rugby: 15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Cherif Traore
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Giuseppe Di Stefano, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Iannone

Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Fin Brown (Scotland), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)

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Rebels flanker Angus Cottrell is in line for a Test debut after being named in the Wallabies squad to tour South Africa and Argentina.

The 28-year-old has been called into the squad in place of Pete Samu who is out for a month with a knee injury suffered in the loss to the Pumas on the Gold Coast.

Cottrell has a good chance of making his debut in Samu’s absence as Lukhan Tui is also unavailable due to the sudden passing of his stepfather.

Cottrell, Caleb Timu and Ned Hanigan shape as coach Michael Cheika’s only options to partner David Pocock and Michael Hooper in the back-row.

Jake Gordon is the other fresh face in Cheika’s squad.

He has leapfrogged Brumbies scrum-half Joe Powell in the pecking order after some stellar showings for the New South Wales Country Eagles.

There has been a similar swap in the depth chart at hooker with Tolu Latu left out of the squad. Brandon Paenga-Amosa will travel to Port Elizabeth in his place.

That is where the changes end, Cheika retaining all of the available players from the 23 which fell to Argentina on home soil for the first time in 35 years.

That loss eliminated the Wallabies from Rugby Championship contention but Cheika said there is still plenty to play for overseas.

“There’s an opportunity presented to us now to get some good victories overseas and that’s going to come from consistency in the way that we play,” he said.

“We have got some news additions to the squad and these guys have shown plenty of grit and determination to get an opportunity at a higher level so now we’re looking for them to add that to the mix.

“We’re very determined to make sure that we repay the faith and show people what we’re about in the way we play.”

Wallabies squad to tour South Africa, Argentina:

Forwards: Allan Alaalatoa, Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, Angus Cottrell, Folau Fainga’a, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (c), Sekope Kepu, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, David Pocock, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson, Izack Rodda, Rob Simmons, Scott Sio, Caleb Timu, Taniela Tupou

Backs: Tom Banks, Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Jake Gordon, Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete, Jack Maddocks, Sefa Naivalu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua

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