Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:56, UK
We may already know the identity of the top four sides who will appear in the PRO12 play-offs but with only one point separating Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors, Munster and Ulster in the table, the battle for those all-important home semi-finals looks set to go to the wire.
Cardiff Blues v Zebre
Cardiff Blues will be favourites to take this game at the Liberty Stadium and if they do, there will be no reward other than a victory for the Welsh side. Zebre on the other hand stand to lift themselves into 11th spot if they win, provided they score four tries in doing so and their countrymen Benetton Treviso fail to beat Scarlets – or lose with a try bonus point of their own.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Aled Summerhill, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Richard Smith, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Tavis Knoyle; 1 Gethin Jenkins (capt), 2 Kristian Dacey, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Filo Paulo, 5 Lou Reed, 6 Macauley Cook, 7 Sam Warburton, 8 Josh Navidi.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Taufa’ao Filise, 19 Josh Turnbull, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Gareth Anscombe.
Zebre: 15 Dion Berryman, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 David Odiete, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Brendon Leonard; 1 Andrea De Marchi, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 3 Dario Chistolini, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 8 Samuela Vunisa.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani , 22 Tommaso Iannone, 23 Filippo Cristiano
Connacht v Ospreys
There is a Champions Cup place and a home semi-final at stake when the men from Galway host Wales' most decorated PRO12 team, having won the competition four times. Ospreys last won the competition in the 2011-12 season, since when they have failed to make the semi-finals. They are currently at the top of the table and will be hoping to qualify for a home semi-final, but the only way to guarantee that would be to win with a bonus point. Anything else and home advantage will be in jeopardy.
Connacht currently occupy seventh spot in the standings. Should they finish there it will be their best finish in 10 years, earning them the right to a qualification game against Challenge Cup champions Gloucester – the winner of which will compete in next season's Champions Cup. Connacht have enjoyed a strong season, starting the year with a big win over Irish rivals Munster, though they lost 26-11 to Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in the reverse of this fixture.
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Fionn Carr, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion; 1. Denis Buckley, 2 Tom McCartney, 3 Rodney Ah You, 4 Andrew Browne, 5 Aly Muldowney, 6 John Muldoon (c), 7 Eoghan Masterson, 8 Eoin McKeon.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 JP Cooney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Michael Swift, 20 George Naoupu, 21 John Cooney, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Shane O’Leary.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Ben John, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 4 Tyler Ardron, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Dan Baker.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jonathan Spratt.
Edinburgh v Leinster
Edinburgh are Connacht's direct rivals for seventh place. The Scots are one point behind Pat Lam's men but face the very difficult task of beating Leinster, even though the fixture will be played at Murrayfield. Leinster cannot make the play-offs but equally cannot be robbed of their Champions Cup place, which may play into the hands of Edinburgh.
It was announced this week by Edinburgh that Alan Solomons has extended his contract for another year, keeping him at the club until 2016. That kind of stability will be welcomed by the Edinburgh squad, who are looking to avenge a 33-8 loss in Dublin late last year.
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Sam Hidlago-Clyne; 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford (c), 3 John Andress, 4 Anton Bresler, 5 Ben Toolis, 6 Fraser McKenzie, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Cornell Du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 James Hilterbrand, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Jade Te Rure, 23 Tom Brown.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Zane Kirchner, 13 Colm O'Shea, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Richardt Strauss, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Mike McCarthy, 6 Jordi Murphy, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c).
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Michael Bent, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Cian Kelleher.
Glasgow v Ulster, Sky Sports 1 HD from 2.30pm on Saturday
The game with most at stake is the showdown between two of the top four sides and can be caught live on Sky Sports 1 from 2.30pm. If this game ends in a draw then theoretically they could both host play-off games, but that would require an Ospreys loss to Connacht as well as Munster losing to the Dragons. Without a draw, one of these two teams will likely host a play-off while the other will be left to travel.
Glasgow have, for the most part, been one of the more consistent sides in the competition, while Ulster have made a late surge for play-off contention having not lost in the competition since the beginning of March. The last time these sides met in the competition was in round six, where Ulster cruised to a 29-9 win at Kingspan Stadium.
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Niko Matawalu; 1 Ryan Grant, 2 Dougie Hall, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Al Kellock (c), 6 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Adam Ashe.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Mike Cusack, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Peter Murchie.
Ulster: 5 Louis Ludik, 14 Rory Scholes, 13 Sam Arnold, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Michael Allen, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall; 1 Andrew Warwick, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Ricky Lutton, 4 Louis Stevenson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Clive Ross, 7 Chris Henry (c), 8 Robbie Diack.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Tommy Bowe.
Munster v Newport Gwent Dragons
The Dragons cannot move up the table through a win, nor can they move down it from a loss, while their hosts on Saturday have a home play-off at stake.
Munster are currently third in the standings, on the same amount of points as Ospreys in first place and Glasgow in second. Should Munster record a bonus-point win, then both of the top two will need to do the same in order to rob Munster of a home play-off.
It will be tough for Glasgow to beat Ulster and score four tries in doing so, while Munster will believe they are capable of earning all five points – even though they only recorded a 17-6 win in the reverse fixture at Thomond Park last year.
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Denis Hurley (c), 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray; 1 John Ryan, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 3 BJ Botha, 4 Billy Holland, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 7 Paddy Butler, 8 CJ Stander.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Sean Dougall, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Andrew Conway.
Dragons: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Jonathan Evans; 1 Boris Stankovich, 2 Hugh Gustafson, 3 Brok Harris, 4 Cory Hill, 5 Rynard Landman (capt), 6 Nick Crosswell, 7 Nic Cudd, 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ashton Hewitt, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.
Benetton Treviso v Scarlets
Benetton Treviso are currently in 11th spot, away from any play-off contention, but crucially one spot above local rivals Zebre. Whichever side ends the season ahead of the other will qualify for Champions Cup rugby next season.
Should Zebre fail to beat Cardiff Blues then there is no way for them to finish above Treviso. Treviso lost 47-0 in the third round of competition when they travelled to Parc y Scarlets, but even more worry for the hosts is that Scarlets arrive in Italy on the back of four wins from five, including victories over the Blues and Leinster.
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Enrico Bacchin, 11 Simone Ragusi, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Henry Seniloli; 1 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Davide Giazzon, 3 Rupert Harden, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c),5 Corniel van Zyl, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 7 Francesco Minto, 8 Mat Luamanu.
Replacements: 16 Albert Anae, 17 Romulo Acosta, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Meyer Swanepoel, 21 Nicola Cattina, 22 Angelo Esposito, 23 James Ambrosini
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Adam Warren, 13 Hadleigh Parkes, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Peter Edwards, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 James Davies, 8 John Barclay.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil John, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Rory Pitman, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Daniel Jones
