Friday 28 November 2014 20:30, UK
Table-topping Ospreys aim to get back to winning ways against Leinster in the Guinness PRO12 on Saturday.
After falling to their first PRO12 defeat of the season against Ulster last time out, Ospreys will be eager to get back to winning ways against Leinster.
Darren Cave's double proved enough to down the Welsh side at the Kingspan Stadium but head coach Steve Tandy is drawing confidence from his side's second-half resurgence, having been 18-3 behind at the interval.
And the 34-year-old is urging his players to show the same fight at the RDS Arena, where Leinster have won their last 17 matches in all tournaments since drawing 29-29 with Ospreys in September 2013.
Ospreys will be boosted by the return of Dan Baker from Wales duty to start at No 8, while Marc Thomas comes into the front row after injuries to fellow looseheads Duncan Jones, Nicky Smith and Ryan Bevington.
Hanno Dirksen starts at centre with Tyler Ardron and Joe Bearman joining the pack and despite the disruption of injuries and international call-ups, Tandy is confident his men will rise to the challenge.
While Leinster remain unbeaten in the PRO12 since tripping up against Munster in round five, it took a late missed penalty by Benetton Treviso for Matt O'Connor's side to escape with a draw from last weekend's encounter.
The head coach has made six changes to his starting XV, with Fergus McFadden making a welcome return from an ankle injury to partner Ireland international Ian Madigan in midfield.
Eoin Reddan comes in at scrum-half while hooker Bryan Byrne and flanker Dominic Ryan replace the injured Richardt Strauss and Kevin McLaughlin respectively.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Darragh Fanning, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Ian Madigan, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Eoin Reddan (c), 1 Michael Bent, 2 Bryan Byrne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Mike McCarthy, 5 Kane Douglas, 6 Dominic Ryan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 8 Jack Conan.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Noel Reid.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Aisea Natoga, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Hanno Dirksen, 11 Tom Grabham, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Martin Roberts, 1 Marc Thomas, 2 Sam Parry, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 4 Lloyd Peers (c), 5 Tyler Ardron, 6 Joe Bearman, 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Dan Baker.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Cai Griffiths, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Ieuan Jones, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Dafydd Howells.
Zebre Rugby will be boosted by the return of 11 internationals to face Edinburgh.
The Italian side, who have suffered four consecutive defeats, will try to repeat the result of last season when they beat Edinburgh 26-13 in April, the Italian club achieving the first ever victory against a Scottish side after six defeats.
After facing the four Irish teams and three of the four Welsh ones, captain Marco Bortolami and his team-mates will face a Scottish side for the first time this season.
Edinburgh have made two changes to their starting line-up, with Tim Visser and Ross Ford returning from international duty to take the left wing and hooker berths
Matt Scott, who was a late replacement last weekend for centre Sam Beard, stays at 13 with a recovered Beard coming on to a bench which has only one other change, with the addition of James Hilterbrand who started against the Blues.
Zebre: 15 Hendrik Daniller, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Brendon Leonard, 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Andrea Manici, 3 Dario Chistolini, 4 George Biagi, 5 Marco Bortolami (cap), 6 Valerio Bernabò, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 8 Samuela Vunisa
Replacements : 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Romano, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Michele Visentin.
Edinburgh: 15 Nick McLennan, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 1 Rory Sutherland, , 2 Ross Ford, 3 Willem Nel, 4 Ollie Atkins, 5 Ben Toolis, 6 Mike Coman (capt), 7 Roddy Grant, 8 David Denton.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 John Andress, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Sam Beard.
Hooker Tom McCartney, who earned his first Connacht cap from the bench last week, has been named for his first start in the absence of the injured Jason Harris-Wright.
Galway-born duo Andrew Browne and Eoin McKeon have also been promoted from the bench and Connacht coach Pat Lam is expecting a tough test.
The Scarlets still have nine players missing on international duty and will be relying on their strength of depth to see them through.
Front row pairing Peter Edwards and Kirby Myhill will each make their 50th appearance for the region as the Scarlets look to rack up their sixth straight win against Connacht – a run stretching back to September 2011.
They have also suffered just one defeat in their last six PRO12 outings but Wayne Pivac's side are searching for a first away win in the competition since February.
Connacht: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9.Kieran Marmion, 1 Denis Buckley, 2 Tom McCartney, 3 Rodney Ah You, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Andrew Browne, 6 John Muldoon (c), 7 Eoin McKeon, 8 George Naoupu.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 John Cooney, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Darragh Leader.
Scarlets: 15 Steffan Evans, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Michael Tagicakibau, 12 Regan King, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Aled Davies, 1 Phil John, 2 Kirby Myhill, 3 Peter Edwards, , 4 George Earle, 5 Johan Snyman, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 James Davies, 8 John Barclay (c).
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Rory Pitman, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Gareth Owen.
