RaboDirect Pro12: Week 10 Preview

FRIDAY

Ulster vs Scarlets, 7:05pm

Ulster have been very poor for weeks now but they have recalled the likes of Stephen Ferris and Rory Best which is a huge boost. Ruan Pienaar returns from injury to a bench spot and John Afoa is back from New Zealand to start at tighthead prop. Scarlets are missing their Welsh internationals so they have a number of unfamilar names in their ranks. Ulster are in a serious slump but they surely can't lose this game with the Scarlets ranks so depleted. Ulster by less than 7 points.

Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Ian Whitten.

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Viliami Iongi, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones (capt), 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Rob McCusker, 6 Mat Gilbert, 5 Adam Powell, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Iestyn Thomas, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Johnathan Edwards, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Daniel Newton, 23 Iolo Evans.

Connacht vs Benetton Treviso, 7:30pm

Like Ulster, Connacht are in a slump and have lost their last 7 games in all competitions having started the season strongly. Treviso are usually poor away from home yet they stunned Ulster at Ravenhill a few weeks back. Kyle Tonetti makes his Connacht debut at outside centre while Treviso start Willem De Waal at number 10 instead of Kris Burton. This is a must win for Connacht given their next 2 fixtures are a home and away series against Gloucester in the Heineken Cup and should they lose to Treviso tonight, they are looking at successive losses in the double figures. Connacht by 3 points.

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (capt), 14 Mark McCrea, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 John Muldoon, 6 Dave Gannon, 5 George Naoupu, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Dennis Buckley, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Fetu'u Vainikolo.

Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Ezio Galon, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Benjamin Vermaak, 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo (capt).
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Gonzalo Padrò, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 Kristopher Burton.

Edinburgh vs Aironi, 7:30pm

Edinburgh were awful last week against Munster but that was their second string selection, the likes of Tim Visser, Nick de Luca and Ross Ford have been recalled for this game. Aironi are the basement team of the league and have never won away from home in any competition since their inception. They have quality players in their ranks like Geldenhuys and Sole but they never seem to back up what they possess on paper and are liable to hammerings away from Italy. A hugely important Heineken Cup period is on the horizon for Edinburgh and they will see a win here as a chance to build momentum. Edinburgh by 15-20 points.

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Sean Cox, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Steven Lawrie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Netani Talei, 20 Ross Rennie, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Tom Brown, 23 Phil Godman.

Aironi: 15 Ruggero Trevisan; 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tito Tebaldi; 8 Josh Sole, 7 Filippo Ferrarini, 6 Nicola Cattina, 5 George Biagi, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (c); 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Lorenzo Romano, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Frans Viljoen, 21 Tyson Keats, 22 Gilberto Pavan, 23 Giulio Toniolatti.

Leinster vs Cardiff Blues, 8:05pm

Leinster are simply on a roll, their coach Joe Schmidt has used an effective rotation system which has managed to keep Leinster's big squad happy and in form. Eoin O'Malley once again starts at outside centre while South African signing Steven Sykes starts at lock alongside captain Leo Cullen. World Cup star Sean O'Brien starts at number 8. Cardiff are missing their internationals so they come to Dublin with a weakened side. Leinster have an impressive record at home and should be favourites for this. Leinster to win by 10-15 points.

Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 David Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Leo Cullen (capt), 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Damian Browne, 20 Leo Auva'a, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Jonathan Sexton, 23 Rob Kearney.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (capt), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Taufaao Filise, 2 Ryan Tyrrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Michael Paterson, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Dafydd Hewitt.

SATURDAY

Ospreys vs Munster, 6:30pm

This top of the table clash sees a strong Munster selection travel to Ospreys who, despite their international absentees, have been able to name a strong side for this game. Matthew Morgan starts at 10 and he may be faced with the prospect of a personal battle with Ronan O'Gara late in the game. A similar Ospreys selection defeated Connacht last week while Munster disposed of Edinburgh. This has the potential to be an interesting contest, Munster will be out for revenge after Ospreys won in Thomond Park in the beginning of October. Munster have serious impact to come off the bench in the shape of O'Connell, Coughlan, Murray and O'Gara and that could prove crucial. Munster by 3 points.

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 James King, 6 Tom Smith (c), 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Joe Rees, 19 George Stowers, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Tom Isaacs, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Hanno Dirksen.

Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Danny Barnes, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Peter O'Mahony (c) 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Paul O'Connell, 20 James Coughlan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Johne Murphy.

SUNDAY

NG Dragons vs Glasgow Warriors, 4:30pm

Glasgow will set a record of successive wins in the league (6) if they can win at Rodney Parade on Sunday, where hosts Dragons have yet to lose this season. Andy Tuilagi is set to make his Dragons debut off the bench while Johnnie Beattie has been recalled from Ayr duty to start at number eight. The Scottish international will be hoping to resurrect his form having been out of favour in the last few weeks. While they may not be playing great rugby, Glasgow are on a roll and have been winning games. They should have enough to defeat Dragons. Glasgow by 5 points.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Ashley Smith (c), 11 Aled Brew, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Tom Brown, 8 Gavin Thomas, 7 Lewis Evans, 6 Scott Morgan, 5 Adam Jones, 4 Nathan Buck, 3 Steve Jones, 2 Nathan Williams, 1 Wayne Evans.
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Phil Price, 18 Keiron Jenkins, 19 Darren Waters, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Andy Tuilagi.

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 David Lemi, 13 Rob Dewey (c), 12 Troy Nathan, 11 Colin Shaw, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Calum Forrester, 5 Rob Verbakel, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Ed Kalman, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Jon Welsh.

Replacements: 16 Finlay Gillies, 17 Moray Low, 18 Gordon Reid, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Scott Wight, 21 Ryan Wilson, 22 Alex Dunbar, 23 Murray McConnell.