The United Rugby Championship continues on Friday as two games take place, with Glasgow Warriors and the Scarlets hosting Benetton and Leinster in their respective fixtures.
Glasgow Warriors v Benetton
Scotland U20 standouts Alex Samuel and Euan Ferrie are both in line for their Glasgow Warriors debuts this weekend, after both were named in the matchday 23 for Friday’s clash with Benetton at Scotstoun.
It will be Samuel’s first-ever competitive appearance in Glasgow colours, the second-rower having put pen to paper on a first professional contract with the Warriors over the summer.
Scotland age-grade team-mate Ferrie will also make his first appearance for the Warriors if he comes off the bench, with the man from East Kilbride in his second season as part of the Scottish Rugby Academy at Scotstoun.
Head coach Franco Smith names a starting XV showing 11 changes from the club’s most recent outing, as Glasgow look to finish the first block of 2022/23 fixtures on the front foot against their Scottish-Italian Shield rivals.
An all-new front-row combination sees Murphy Walker return from Scotland camp to make his first start of the season at tighthead, joining Oli Kebble and Fraser Brown at the coalface.
Sintu Manjezi is one of four players to retain their places from the meeting with the Sharks in Durban, the South African packing down alongside debutant Samuel in the second-row.
Sione Vailanu will make his first appearance at Scotstoun after making his debut off the bench in Durban last time out, with Ryan Wilson shifting to the blindside to accommodate the Tongan in a back-row completed by Gregor Brown.
Behind the scrum, a new half-back combination sees both Jamie Dobie and Domingo Miotti make their first starts of the season, the former appearing in a Glasgow Warriors matchday squad for the first time since a hamstring injury sustained during his summer loan spell at Bay of Plenty.
A brace of returnees from Scotland camp will combine in the midfield, as Stafford McDowall lines up inside club captain Kyle Steyn in the centres.
Josh McKay is the only back to retain his place from the club’s most recent outing, with the full-back joined by Sebastian Cancelliere and Rufus McLean in the back-three.
Smith and his coaching team once again elect for a six-two split of forwards and backs on the bench, with Ferrie covering the back-row in his first outing in professional rugby.
Johnny Matthews is the most-experienced Warrior available off the bench, the hooker joining Simon Berghan and Nathan McBeth as the front-row cover.
JP du Preez and Lewis Bean provide a physical presence to the replacements, with Bean set for his first outing for Glasgow since the Round One clash away to Benetton last month.
Sean Kennedy comes into the matchday 23 to cover at scrum-half, whilst Tom Jordan completes the squad by rotating to the bench after starting each of Glasgow’s five fixtures to date this campaign.
Meanwhile, Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami has rung the changes to his run-on side which suffered a defeat against the Bulls in Treviso last weekend.
There are 10 alterations in all with Rhyno Smith returning to start at full-back at the expense of Giacomo Da Re, who shifts to fly-half where he takes over from Tomas Albornoz. The only other alteration in the backline sees Joaquin Riera coming in at outside centre for Ignacio Brex.
In the forwards, there’s a new-look back-row with former Moana Pasifika stalwart Henry Stowers lining up at number eight while Sebastian Negri and Giovanni Pettinelli are the starting flankers.
Carl Wegner comes in to join Scott Scrafton as the starting locks with Tiziano Pasquali and Nahuel Tetaz packing down in the front-row as the starting props alongside hooker Federico Zani.
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn (c), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Rufus McLean, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Gregor Brown, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Lewis Bean, 21 Euan Ferrie, 22 Sean Kennedy, 23 Tom Jordan
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Henry Stowers, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Federico Zani, 1 Nahuel Tetaz
Replacements: 16 Manuel Arroyo, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alessandro Izekor, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Marcus Watson
Venue: Scotstoun
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Finlay Brown (Scotland), Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Scarlets v Leinster
Tom Rogers and Aaron Shingler return from injury to take their place in the Scarlets’ starting XV to face Leinster in Round Seven of the United Rugby Championship at Parc y Scarlets.
Rogers has recovered from a hamstring issue and comes in on the right wing, while experienced international back-row Shingler plays his first match of the campaign following a knee problem. They are two of five changes to the side that took the field against Connacht in Galway last weekend.
Rogers is joined in the back three by Johnny McNicholl and Ryan Conbeer, who will run out for his 50th Scarlets appearance.
Steff Evans continues in midfield alongside skipper Jonathan Davies, while Dan Jones gets the nod at fly-half. He partners Wales and Lions scrum-half Gareth Davies, who returns to the side after missing the Connacht match.
The only change in the front five comes at hooker with Daf Hughes coming in for Ken Owens — one of seven players unavailable because of Wales duty. Hughes slots in between Steff Thomas and Harri O’Connor in the front-row, with Jac and Tom Price again named at lock.
The other change comes at blindside flanker with Shingler replacing Macleod. The on-loan Dan Thomas, who impressed on his return to Scarlets colours in Galway, continues at openside, while the competition’s leading carrier, Sione Kalamafoni, starts at eight.
On the bench, 19-year-old Archie Hughes comes in to provide scrum-half cover.
Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has also named a side which contains several changes after their win over Munster at the Aviva Stadium last weekend.
It’s a new back three for Cullen this week with two Academy players, Chris Cosgrave and Rob Russell, joined by the experienced Dave Kearney. It will be Cosgrave’s first involvement of the campaign and only his second start ever.
In the centre Charlie Ngatai is joined by Liam Turner this week, with Irish internationals Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne the half-backs.
Ed Byrne, John McKee and Thomas Clarkson form the front-row selected by Cullen, with McKee and Clarkson making their first starts of the season.
Ross Molony and Jason Jenkins are selected in the second-row with Rhys Ruddock back as captain. Scott Penny and Max Deegan complete the back-row.
On the bench it will be a special weekend for the families, friends and clubs of Tadgh McElroy, Charlie Tector and Ben Brownlee, with all three in line to make debuts off the bench.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Steff Evans, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tom Price, 4 Jac Price, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kelmsey Mathias, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Corey Baldwin
Leinster: 15 Chris Cosgrave, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 John McKee, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ben Brownlee
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Mills (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
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