There’s two United Rugby Championship games scheduled on Friday as the round kicks off with Munster v Scarlets and Glasgow Warriors v Zebre Parma.
Munster v Scarlets
Munster are bolstered by the return from long-term injury of Springbok second-row RG Snyman, who has been named on the bench for the clash with Scarlets.
Head coach Graham Rowntree has made three personnel changes and one positional switch to the side that beat Ospreys two weeks ago as they host the Welsh.
Hooker Diarmuid Barron starts on his 50th Munster run-out as Academy players Patrick Campbell and Calvin Nash also come into the XV at full-back and wing.
Rugby World Cup-winning lock Snyman is among the replacements after battling back to full fitness after a serious knee injury he sustained in October 2021.
Jack Crowley and Keynan Knox also come into the 23 as replacements, with Academy pair Ethan Coughlan and Mark Donnelly keeping their places on the bench.
Munster backs
Campbell starts at full-back on his 10th appearance of the campaign, with Nash returning from injury on the right wing. Daly moves to the left wing, having started the Ospreys victory at full-back.
There is continuity in the Munster half-backs and midfield. Scrum-half Paddy Patterson and fly-half Joey Carbery start together for the third successive game, as do centre pairing Malakai Fekitoa and Antoine Frisch.
In the front-row, Roman Salanoa keeps his place on his return from international duty and packs down with Josh Wycherley and Barron.
Jean Kleyn, who makes his 17th start of the season, and Fineen Wycherley are paired together in the engine room for the third successive game.
Gavin Coombes returns from Ireland camp to start in an unchanged back-row with captain Jack O’Donoghue and John Hodnett.
Scarlets make three changes
Meanwhile, Josh Macleod, Tom Rogers and Johnny Williams return from injury to take their place in the Scarlets‘ squad for the Musgrave Park clash.
Macleod captains a side showing three personnel changes from the team that claimed a bonus-point victory over Edinburgh last time out.
Behind the scrum, Rogers comes onto the right wing, with Steff Evans shifting to the left. Ryan Conbeer is ruled out with the shoulder knock he picked up against Edinburgh.
Joe Roberts and Ioan Nicholas again combine in midfield, while Dane Blacker gets the nod at scrum-half, with Gareth Davies dropping to the bench.
Up front, Kemsley Mathias, Shaun Evans and Sam Wainwright are again selected in the front-row, while the return of Macleod from a knee injury sees Vaea Fifita shift to the second row to partner fellow Tonga international Sam Lousi.
In the back-row, openside flanker Dan Davies will make his 50th Scarlets appearance.
Johnny Williams, who last played in the defeat to Benetton in round three, comes onto the bench after recovering from a calf issue.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Patrick Campbell, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Roman Salanoa, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Mark Donnelly, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Jack O’Sullivan
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Ioan Nicholas, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Josh Macleod (c), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Shaun Evans, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Taylor Davies, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Johnny Williams
Venue: Musgrave Park, Cork
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Ben Blain (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU), Sam Holt (IRFU)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
Glasgow Warriors v Zebre Parma
Glasgow Warriors have made five changes to their starting XV as they look to get back to winning ways against Zebre Parma at Scotstoun Stadium.
In total, head coach Franco Smith can call upon the services of 14 internationals in the matchday 23, as the Warriors look to further their ambitions of retaining their place in the top four and securing a home quarter-final.
Allan Dell will make his first start in Glasgow colours after making his club debut off the bench in Johannesburg last weekend, joining fellow Scotland prop Simon Berghan in packing down either side of Johnny Matthews in the front-row.
JP du Preez comes into the starting line-up to partner Lewis Bean in the second-row, the pair having last started together in the away win over the Dragons at the end of January.
Du Preez’s inclusion sees Scott Cummings move to the blindside in an otherwise unchanged back-row, meaning Rory Darge – set for his first appearance at Scotstoun since last September – and Sione Vailanu continue as two-thirds of the triumvirate.
Behind the scrum, George Horne returns from international camp to start at scrum-half, resuming his partnership with Tom Jordan in the week that the latter pledged his future to the Scotstoun side.
Continuity
Sam Johnson and Stafford McDowall continue their midfield partnership for the fourth successive match, McDowall once again captaining the squad from outside centre.
The only change to the back-three sees Ollie Smith return in place of Eli Caven, with Josh McKay moving to the wing in a trio completed by Cole Forbes.
Oli Kebble is in line for his first appearance since December’s reverse fixture with Zebre Parma should he come off the bench, the prop having successfully completed his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury to take his place amongst the replacements.
Fraser Brown and Jamie Bhatti join Kebble as the front-row cover, having both been involved in Scotland’s narrow defeat at the hands of France last weekend.
Alex Samuel comes into the matchday 23 after missing out on last week’s clash with the Emirates Lions, whilst Gregor Brown is set for his first outing since November’s visit to Leinster.
Thomas Gordon continues amongst the replacements after his try-scoring cameo in Johannesburg, with Jamie Dobie and Duncan Weir completing the matchday squad.
Kriel, Trulla and Boni return
Meanwhile, Zebre have made three changes to their backline as Richard Kriel, Jacopo Trulla, and Tommaso Boni come in at full-back, wing and centre, respectively.
The half-back pairing that started against Connacht last time out is retained as Chris Cook, and Tiff Eden link up, with Enrico Lucchin skippering from number 12.
Up front, Giampietro Ribaldi and Paolo Buonfiglio come into the XV at hooker and loosehead prop, respectively, with lock Andrea Zambonin handed a start this week.
There is just one tweak in the back-row on Friday as Davide Ruggeri comes in at number eight, and he will be joined by Matt Kvesic and Luca Andreani on the flanks.
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Cole Forbes, 13 Stafford McDowall (c), 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Josh McKay, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Scott Cummings, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Duncan Weir
Zebre Parma: 15 Richard Kriel, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Enrico Lucchin (c), 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Giampietro Ribaldi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Jan Uys, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Ratko Jelic, 22 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 23 Damiano Mazza
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Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Perriam (SRU), Sam O’Neil (SRU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)