RaboDirect Pro12: Week 12 Preview

Table:

1. Leinster 40

1. Ospreys 34

1. Munster 33

1. Glasgow 30

1. Cardiff 29 (game in hand)

1. Scarlets 26

1. Treviso 23

1. Ulster 21

1. Edinburgh 21

1. Connacht 16

1. Dragons 12 (game in hand)

1. Aironi 10

 

FRIDAY

Dragons vs Scarlets, 7:05pm

Dragons have retained the same XV that lost away to Cardiff last week, while Scarlets have only retained one player. Essentially it is Dragons' 1st XV against Scarlets' 2nd XV. Having said that, while Scarlets have made wholesale changes, they still have many  experienced players like Stephen Jones and Deacon Manu available.

Dragons should fancy this one, if they can get useful ball wide their back three is lightning and can cut up defences. The Rodeny Parade factor usually plays a big factor, with it probably being the best atmosphere in all of the Welsh regional stadia. Dragons by 5 points.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Lewis Robling, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau. 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Lloyd Burns, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Lewis Evans, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Anitelea Tuilagi, 23 Will Harries.

Scarlets: 15 Dan Newton, 14 Viliame Iongi, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Gareth Maule (capt), 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Stephen Jones , 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Iestyn Thomas, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Richie Pugh, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Daniel Evans.

Ulster vs Munster, 7:05pm

It's change for Munster as they make wholesale changes to the side that defeated Connacht at Thomond Park on Monday, while Ulster have changed the entire XV that travelled to Ulster.

This means the return of experienced players in the shape of Pienaar, Wannenburg et al while temporary signing Stefan Terblanche makes his first start for the Red Hand on the left wing. Both sides are missing their Irish stars who are in an Ireland training camp ahead of the Six Nations. Ian Nagle starts at lock for Munster in the absence of O'Callaghan, O'Connell and Ryan while Tom Gleeson gets a run at outside centre.

Ulster are well rested and should have too much for a weakened Munster side. Ulster by 7-12 points.

Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Stefan Terblanche, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 John Afoa, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Paddy McAllister.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Ali Birch, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Chris Farrell, 23 Peter Nelson.

Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Luke O'Dea, 13 Tom Gleeson, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll (capt), 4 Ian Nagle, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Will Chambers.

SATURDAY

Treviso vs Aironi, 3pm (local time)

Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Brendan Williams 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Gonzalo Padrò, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.

Aironi: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Nicola Cattina; 5 Marco Bortolami (cap), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys; 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Filippo Ferrarini, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Naas Olivier, 23 Alberto Benettin.

SUNDAY

Connacht vs Leinster, 5pm

Mick Kearney makes his first start for Connacht on the blindside flank. Unbelieveably Niall O'Connor is retained at flyhalf despite a shambolic performance last week. Leinster as usual have rotated their team and Issac Boss starts at scrum half with Isa Nacewa at fullback. Eoin Griffin vs Eoin O'Malley will be an interesting matchup, both are young players that are gunning for an Ireland callup.

Connacht usually put in a strong performance against Leinster, home or away, but they are in such a serious rut of results that it is hard to see how they will beat an in form Leinster. The Dublin based side are in such a roll no matter the team they send out and they will relish travelling to the Sportsground with Connacht in such a state. Leinster by 12 points.

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (C), 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Kyle Tonetti, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 John Muldoon, 7 Johnny O'connor, 6 Mick Kearney, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 George Naoupu, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Dylan Rogers, 19 Eoin McKeon, 20 TJ Anderson, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Henry Fa'afili.

Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 David Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Andrew Conway, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Kevin McLaughlin/Shane Jennings, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Damian Browne, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Nathan White, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings/Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Noel Reid/Fionn Carr, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

Glasgow vs Edinburgh,  5:35pm

Glasgow and Edinburgh played out a dramatic draw last week at Murrayfield, where over 10,000 spectators turned up, a rare occurence. Talented youngster Stuart Hogg, who signed an extension to his contract at Glasgow this week, moves from fullback to outside centre with Peter Murchie in the 13 jersey. David Lemi starts on the right wing with Rory Lamont out injured.

Edinburgh have changed their number 10 again. With Greig Laidlaw rested, Phil Godman dons the flyhalf jersey with Harry Leonard on the bench. The hugely experienced Simon Webster returns while Chris Leck starts at number 9.

Glasgow will be buoyed by the draw last week and should do the business in front of a big Firhill crowd. Glasgow by a score.

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 David Lemi, 13 Stuart Hogg, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Colin Shaw, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Mike Cusack, 18 Ed Kalman, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 John Barclay, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Troy Nathan, 23 Ruaridh Jackson.

Edinburgh: 15 Jim Thompson, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Matt Scott, 12 John Houston, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Godman (c), 9 Chris Leck, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Steven Turnbull, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Ross Rennie, 21 Mike Blair, 22 Harry Leonard, 23 Lee Jones.

Ospreys vs Cardiff Blues, 6:35pm

Ospreys host Cardiff in Swansea in what should be the game of the weekend. Many eyes will be on Gavin Henson as he returns to his former club, where he was desperate to leave 2 years ago. Ospreys were hugely disappointing against Scarlets and will be looking to bounce back. They have too much quality to lose this game, while Cardiff are winning they are not playing great rugby. Ospreys by 10.

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams/Hanno Dirksen, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Justin Tipuric (Capt), 6 James King, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Tom Smith, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Tom Isaacs.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gavin Henson, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Tyrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Ryan Harford ,19 Michael Paterson, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dan Parks, 23 Harry Robinson.