RaboDirect Pro12: Week 9 Preview

Domestic rugby returns this weekend after the Heineken Cup period. On Thursday, Cardiff Blues came away with a bonus point win at home to Aironi. Many sides have chosen to rest players after intense fixtures in Europe while the Welsh regions will be without players called up to the Wales squad for their upcoming tie against Australia.

FRIDAY

Scarlets vs Dragons, 7:05pm

Both sides are coming off 2 wins in Europe, Scarlets stunned Northampton at Franklins Gardens to put themselves in a strong position in their pool. Both sides are missing  players who are in Welsh camp. Tongan wing Viliami Iongi is set to make his Scarlets debut from the bench. Scarlets are in the strongest form they have been in years and even without the likes of Rhys Priestland and Johnathan Davies, should have too much for the Dragons. Scarlets by 10-15 points.

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Nick Reynolds, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Gareth Maule, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones (c), 9 Gareth Davies,8 Ben Morgan, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Iestyn Thomas, 18 Deacon Manu, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Mat Gilbert, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Newton, 23 Viliami Iongi.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Ashley Smith (c), 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Tom Brown, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Andrew Coombs, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Dan Way, 2 Rhys Buckley, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Nathan Buck, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Lewis Robling, 23 Steffan Jones.

Glasgow Warriors vs Ulster, 7:35pm

Glasgow have been a mixed bag all season, their narrow win over Bath 2 weeks ago was followed by a horror show performance at Leinster where they were crushed in the first half. However should they beat Ulster, this will be Glasgow's fifth successive win in the Pro12. Ulster haven't seemed to push on from last season and are struggling for form. A result at Leicester was there for the taking but the Irish province couldn't capitalise on a great opportunity. This will be a tight game and home advantage suggests Glasgow are favourites to sneak this and Ulster are always a weaker side when the likes of Rory Best and Stephen Ferris are unavailable. Glasgow by less than 7 points.

Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 David Lemi, 13 Troy Nathan, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Federico Aramburu, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Barclay, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Michael Cusack, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Moray Low, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Alex Dunbar, 23 Colin Shaw.

Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Tim Barker, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Ian Whitten.

SATURDAY

Benetton Treviso vs Leinster, 2pm (Irish time)

Leinster were pummeled here last season but they will know that this Treviso side is a difficult prospect in their own back yard. Treviso have made just three changes to the side that drew against the Ospreys last week while Leinster have rested their Irish internationals. Eoin O'Malley has retained the 13 shirt and Fergus McFadden, who is another candidate for the 13 shirt, starts on the wing. Treviso will be buoyed by their performance last week and they should have enough to defeat a relatively inexperienced Leinster selection. Treviso by 5 points.

Benetton Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Benjamin De Jager, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 19 Benjamin Vermaak, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.

Leinster: 15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Shane Jennings (c), 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Damian Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Nathan White, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Jamie Heaslip, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Brendan Macken.

Connacht vs Ospreys, 6:30pm

Ospreys are without their Wales contingent while Connacht have made a few changes from the side that lost to Toulouse. It's a big game for Ian Gough who makes his 100th appearance for the Ospreys and can celebrate being awarded a new 2 year contract by the region. While they lost both games, Connacht put in a mammoth effort in their Heineken Cup debut and may find it strange to come back to Pro12 action after being in a spotlight they are not used to. Ospreys still have a talented squad at their disposal despite their international absentees. They should have too much for the hosts. Ospreys by 5 points.

Connacht:
15 Gavin Duffy (C), 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Dave McSharry, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 John Muldoon, 6 TJ Anderson, 5 George Naoupu, 4 Dave Gannon, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Stewart Maguire, 19 Mike Kearney, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Niall O'Connor, 23 Mark McCrea.

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 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tom Smith (Capt), 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Joe Rees, 19 James Goode, 20 George Stowers, 21 Tom Isaacs, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Hanno Dirksen.

Munster vs Edinburgh, 8:30pm

Both sides have 2 wins from 2 in Europe through exciting circumstances and have chosen to make wholesale changes to their lineups for this game. Both right wingers are making their first competitive start, Seb Visser (brother of try scoring machine Tim) starts for Edinburgh while current Munster academy back Luke O'Dea starts for the Irish province. Scottish stalwart Chris Paterson returns from injury to start at fullback while Phil Godman returns from injury to start at 10. Tomas O'Leary starts at scrum-half for Munster with Conor Murray rested and Peter Stringer on Barbarians duty. Munster are at home, which makes them a very difficult prospect for any side. They should have enough firepower to win here, but their very young backline will need to click. Without Tim Visser, Edinburgh don't have the same tryscoring ability. Munster by 10 points.

Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Luke O'Dea, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Danny Barnes, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Paddy Butler, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Billy Holland, 5 Mick O'Driscoll (c), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Sean Henry, 17 John Ryan, 18 John Hayes, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 James Coughlan, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Tom Gleeson, 23 Scott Deasy.

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Sep Visser, 13 Jim Thompson, 12 James King, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Netani Talei, 5 Steven Turnbull, 4 Sean Cox, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Steven Lawrie (c), 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Esteban Lozada, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Harry Leonard, 23 Gregor Hunter.