With the Six Nations over the club tournament of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy takes centre stage once again as round 17 kicks off this Friday.
Having led Leinster to the Pro12 title last season, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt took the 6 Nations crown at the first time of asking in a tense finish to the Championship last weekend. Following on Ireland’s success it is perhaps appropriate that as the Pro12 returns to centre stage three of the top four teams are Irish Provinces.
Schmidt’s former team, Leinster are in action in Dublin on Friday night, they and Munster both host Italian opposition in round 17 and whilst the records seem to point in favour of two home wins, neither side can afford to slip up as they chase a top two finish.
Third placed Ulster are also in action on Friday night, their bonus point win over Scarlets in their rearranged game last week has pulled them closer to the leaders as the battle for home advantage in the play-offs intensifies.
Ospreys, the only non-Irish side currently in the Play-Off Zone, know they have a fight on their hands to maintain that position as Glasgow Warriors are just three points behind them but still have two games in hand. Ospreys face fellow Welsh Region Cardiff Blues on Friday night, whereas Glasgow Warriors welcome Scarlets on Saturday, the Welshmen did not make up any ground on the top four in their rearranged fixture last week.
The next two weeks could be critical in any team’s aspirations of making the end of season play-offs as the pressure starts to build towards the season finale.
We look at all the Round 17 matches!
Friday, March 21:
Ospreys have won their last twelve contests with fellow Welsh regions in the Pro12 and have not lost at home to a Welsh opponent since Newport Gwent Dragons visited Liberty Stadium in October 2010.
Cardiff Blues have secured only one victory in their last nine Pro12 fixtures: 21-13 at home to Dragons on New Year’s Day. The Blues are one of three sides still without an away win in the Pro12 this season and have not been victorious on their travels since defeating Edinburgh at Murrayfield on 15th February 2013. The Blues last two wins away from home at a fellow Welsh Region in the Pro12 were both against Dragons, in 2010 and 2012.
Ospreys have won their last five encounters with the Blues in the Pro12 since their 21-all draw at Liberty Stadium in 2011, the Capital side have however already beaten Ospreys at Liberty Stadium this season, but that victory was in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in November.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Adam Jones, 19 James King, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Morgan Allen, 22 Tom Habberfield, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Simon Humberstone, 23 Isaia Tuifua.
Final Score: Ospreys 34/9 Cardiff Blues
Leinster v Zebre
The Leinstermen are unbeaten at the Royal Dublin Society stadium in any competition since Ulster were the visitors in the Pro12 on 30th March 2013.
Zebre achieved their third victory of the season in their last contest at home to Cardiff Blues and are now attempting to record back to back victories for the first time.
Leinster have won all three previous contests between the two sides.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Darragh Fanning, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Issac Boss, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Leo Cullen (captain), 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Michael Bent
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Brendan Macken
Zebre: 15 David Odiete, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Giovanbattista Venditti, 12 Kameli Ratuvou, 11 Dion Berryman, 10 Tommaso Iannone, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Andries van Schalkwyk, 6 Filippo Ferrarini, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 George Biagi, 3 David Ryan, 2 Tommaso D’Apice, 1 Salvatore Perugini
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea de Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Michael van Vuuren, 20 Guglielmo Palazzani, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Emiliano Caffini, 23 Fillipo Cristiano.
TMO: Kevin Beggs
Final Score: Leinster 27/0 Zebre
Edinburgh have won four of their last five Pro12 fixtures at Murrayfield. The Scotsmen have won their last three home games against Irish provinces in all competitions.
Ulster Rugby have won their last seven matches in all tournaments since their loss to Leinster at the Royal Dublin Society stadium in round 11 of the Pro12. Ulster have secured bonus point victories in their last two Pro12 games, over Dragons and Scarlets.
The last four matches between the two sides in the Pro12 have all been won by the home side on the day whilst the Ulstermen’s most recent victory at Edinburgh came in January 2012.
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Carl Bezuidenhout, 9 Grayson Hart, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Wicus Blauw.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Ewan McQuillin, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Harry Leonard, 23 Nick De Luca.
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Michael Heaney, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Sean Doyle, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Ricky Lutton 19 Dan Tuohy, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Robbie Diack, 22 Paul Marshall, 23 Stuart McCloskey.
Final Score: Edinburgh 3/9 Ulster
Saturday, March 22:
The Warriors 8-6 victory at home to Connacht in their most recent match at Scotstoun on 9 February ended a four game losing run in all competitions at the venue.
Scarlets were defeated 13-26 at Ulster in their rearranged game on 14th March to end a three game winning run in the Pro12. Scarlets have been victorious their last three visits to Scotland.
Glasgow beat Scarlets 17-12 at Parc y Scarlets in round 5 and are going for a first season’s double over the Welshmen since season 2009/10.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Moray Low, 19 Al Kellock, 20 Leone Nakarawa, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Sean Maitland.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Jonathan Davies (captain), 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Jordan Williams, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Timani, 7 John Barclay, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 George Earle, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Richard Kelly, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Gareth Maule.
Referee: Alain Rolland
Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton , David Changleng
TMO: Jim Yuille
The Munstermen are the only side left in the Pro12 with a 100% home winning record this season.
Benetton Treviso have slipped to seven straight defeats in all tournaments since beating Zebre 20-15 at Stadio Monigo over Christmas. Treviso’s only away victory in any tournaments since December 2012 was when they visited Scarlets in round 22 of the Pro12 last season.
Treviso have won their last two matches against Munster, but both games were played at Stadio Monigo.
No Italian side has ever beaten Munster on their own soil.
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Paddy Butler, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Billy Holland, 3 John Ryan, 2 Damien Varley (captain), 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O’Callaghan, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Gerry Hurley, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Simon Zebo.
Treviso:15 Angelo Esposito, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Mat Berquist, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Marco Filippucci, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Giovanni Maistri, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Corniel Van Zyl, 21 Luke McLean, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 James Ambrosini
Referee: Leighton Hodges
Assistant Referees: Nigel Correll, David Connolly
TMO: Dermot Moloney
Sunday, March 23:
The Dragons have not been defeated at Rodney Parade in the competition since Munster were the visitors in round 9.
The Welshmen have lost their last six matches against Irish provinces.
Connacht have won their last three Pro12 fixtures but have not won four in a row in the competition since season 2002/03. Connacht have not won successive away games in the competition since March 2005. The Men from Gwent have won only one of their last five contests with Connacht: 14-3 at Rodney Parade in November 2012.
Dragons: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Ross Wardle, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Will Harries, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Andrew Coombs (captain), 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Hugh Gustafson, 1 Owen Evans.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Phil Price, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Wayne Evans, 22 Ashley Smith, 23 Matthew Pewtner.
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O’Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Eoghan Masterson, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Aly Muldowney, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Jason Harris-Wright, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Nathan White, 19 Michael Swift, 20 Andrew Browne, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Darragh Leader.
Referee: George Clancy
Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Simon Rees
TMO: Gareth Simmonds
Have updated this PRO12 preview with all the teams now there and also indicated in green all the players I can think of who have South African connections, would be good if anyone spots any I’ve missed out to mention them. There are quite a lot.
I see Derek Bevan is TMO in the Ospreys v Cardif game.
Is this the same Bevan who used to ref in those tight shorts and received a gold watch?
Tonight’s game between Edinburgh and Ulster is the last game that will be played at Murrayfield before they rip the pitch up and start work on the new hybrid pitch :
Edinburgh Rugby have pleaded with fans not to take away souvenirs of the turf despite being welcomed on to the Murrayfield pitch on Friday evening.
It is the last game before the pitch is replaced with a new semi-synthetic surface in time for the summer.
Managing director David Davies said: “As the pitch is infected with a parasitic worm, we ask that fans do not try and take any of the surface home.”
Edinburgh say fans can “pass, sidestep, score tries and kick goals” instead.
“Very few have the honour of running out at Murrayfield and we thought that this was the ideal opportunity to offer that experience to our fans, who will hopefully bring a ball and have a bit of fun after the game,” added Davies.
Friday’s visitors are Ulster, who sit third in the Pro12 table and are chasing a place in the title play-offs.
Edinburgh, who sit eighth in the Pro12 table, will play their next home game, against Cardiff Blues on 11 April, at Boroughmuir’s Meggetland.
Murrayfield’s surface has proved troublesome this season.
The pitch was sprayed with garlic in November in a bid to eradicate nematodes, roundworms that cause damage to grass root structure.
2 @ nortierd:
Yes think it is THE Derek Bevan former Wales ref nortierd, he retired a while ago from reffing on the field. Don’t what he got and definitely can’t tell you about his shorts
2 @ nortierd:
Another high profile ref Nigel Owens is the ref for the Cardiff Ospreys game – Owens overtook Bevan last year as the ref who has blown the whistle in the most internationals.
Half time: Ospreys 17/9 Cardiff Blues
3 tries already in first half for Ospreys
Latest score: Leinster 8/0 Zebre, Edinburgh 0/0 Ulster
Latest: Ospreys 24/9 Cardiff – Ospreys have the bonus point try, game sitting around 50th minute now.
Latest scores: Leinster 8/0 Zebre, Edinburgh 3/3 Ulster
Latest score: Ospreys 27/9 Cardiff
Latest – Ospreys 34/9 Cardiff, less than 5 min left. Derek Bevan was called on to decide about Ospreys 5th try which was eventually awarded it was left wing Natoga scoring his third of the night in the left hand corner inches away from the touchline. They showed a small screen view of Bevan, looks quite grey now. Natoga has been given man of the match by the commentators.
Latest – Leinster 20/0 Zebre, 3 tries so far for Leinster, less than 15min left.
Edinburgh 3/6 Ulster
Nasty injury to Cardiff’s Harry Robinson eventually carried off on stretcher with his leg strapped up, looks like he twisted his leg and fell heavily on it as he went down after tackling Osprey’s right wing Hassler two minutes from the end of the game. Hope its not too serious.
Final score: Ospreys 34/9 Cardiff Blues. Bonus point win for Ospreys who remain in 4th on the log 8 points clear of Glasgow who have 3 games in hand. It is important for Glasgow to win and try get bonus point tomorrow against Scarlets.
Latest score: Edinburgh 3/9 Ulster at a wet Murrayfield.
Very good effort from Ospreys playing Cardiff in pouring rain, they showed good strength and skill playing at quite a pace and passing well down the backline in spite of the wet conditions.
Final score- Leinster 27/0 Zebre – bonus point try for Leinster right at the end of the game…
Wicus Blaauw started for Edinburgh tonight, he was elevated from the bench as Al Dickenson who was originally the starting loosehead pulled out of the match.
19 @ Bullscot:
Alex Allan was included on Edinburgh bench in place of Blaauw.
Final Score: Edinburgh 3/9 Ulster
Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 results: Glasgow Warriors 14/6 Scarlets, Munster 14/3 Benetton Treviso
Today’s PRO12 result: Newport Gwent Dragons 8/24 Connacht
The top half of the RaboDirect PRO12 as follows (teams, games played, points), 1. Leinster 17, 64 ; 2. Munster 17, 62 ; 3. Ulster 17, 59 ; 4. Ospreys 17, 51 ; 5. Glasgow Warriors 15 47 ; 6. Scarlets 17 36.
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