Rabo direct Pro 12 Rd 2 preview

Friday games

Zebre vs Connacht 4/5 Fav

This from Planet Rugby. One of my favourite sources for info.

Zebre will be making their all-time home debut in the PRO12 at Parma's XXV Aprile Stadium when the tournament newcomers host Connacht on Friday.

Stadio XXV Aprile becomes the 36th different ground, and the third in Italy, to host a game in the history of this competition.
French-born coach Christian Gajan has made four changes in the starting line-up following the defeat suffered in Newport in the first round.
21-year-old Alberto Benettin is making his debut for the new Italian franchise starting at outside centre replacing injured team-mate Roberto Quartaroli, while Emerging Italy scrum-half Alberto Chillon wins his first start in place of Tito Tebaldi.
Among the forwards, veteran flanker Mauro Bergamasco - recovered from a muscle injury suffered during summer friendlies - makes his first start for Zebre replacing Nicola Cattina, while former italian international Josh Sole starts as lock in place of Caffini who drops to the bench.
Tighthead prop David Ryan will once again lock horns with Italian internationals Salvatore Perugini and Carlo Festuccia up front.
Meanwhile, Connacht have named an unchanged starting XV.
There are two changes on the bench with Nathan White taking the place of Finlay Bealham and Frank Murphy stepping in for Dave Moore.
Connacht will be looking to convert last week's possession and opportunities into points this week. Despite crossing the tryline twice in the first half and hour, handling errors denied the home side a try which would have made all the difference playing into the strong wind.
Form: The new Italian franchise, lost 6-37 to the Dragons at Rodney Parade on their debut in RaboDirect PRO12 last Friday. Connacht have lost their last two matches in the competition to Glasgow Warriors and Cardiff Blues, whilst their only victory on the road since round one last season was 27-19 at the Dragons on 30 March. The Irishmen have won just one previous RaboDirect PRO12 game in Italy: 11-9 at Treviso on 3 September 2011. The two sides have never met before.
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Sinoti Sinoti, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Alberto Benettin, 12 Gonzalo Garcia (c), 11 Samuele Pace, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alberto Chillon , 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Filippo Cristiano, 5 Josh Sole, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 David Ryan, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea De Marchie, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Nicola Belardo, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Alberto Chiesa, 23 Ruggero Trevisan.
Connacht:15 Gavin Duffy (c), 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Mata Fifita, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Rodney Ah You, 18 Nathan White, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
Date: Friday, 7 September
Venue: XXV Aprile Stadium, Parma
Kick-off: 19:05 (18:05 BST)
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 2nd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Stefano Roscini, Elia Rizzo (both FIR)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (FIR)

Petes prediction.
I was upset that Connacht lost last week to what was ostensibly a Blues 2nd team.
They should come roaring back with a 28 point win

game over Connacht won 30-17. Absolute rubbish. if it wasn't for a fluke of a try in the 84th minute the result would have been even worse.

 

Cardiff Blues 1/3 fav vs Edinburgh

Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley has made four changes to his XV for their RaboDirect PRO12 fixture against Cardiff Blues at Arms Park on Friday.

The changes see Scotland props Allan Jacobsen and Geoff Cross start the match in place of John Yapp and WP Nel and Roddy Grant replace the rested Ross Rennie on the openside flank.
Centre John Houston is the only change to backs and comes in for the injured Ben Atiga, who aggravated a hip strain in the Munster match.
The bench sees Fiji captain Netani Talei return from a hamstring strain and Sep Visser take the place on the bench vacated by Houston.
"This match presents a big challenge for us as Cardiff will be making a big play of being back at the Arms Park," said Bradley.
"The players and fans will be very excited, and possibly a bit anxious, to get a home win at the old ground."
Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues' homecoming match at the Arms Park following their away victory over Connacht sees Phil Davies select a side that sees the return of internationals Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Sam Warburton and Bradley Davies.
"I've watched Edinburgh and they are a very committed side who like to play an expansive style of rugby and are very competitive throughout all areas of the game," said Davies.
"They come off the back of a successful season last year which saw them reach the semi final of the Heineken Cup.
"Therefore their confidence will be high.
"They have some outstanding players in their ranks with the likes of Visser, Denton and Laidlaw and of course they have recruited ex Blues players Richie Rees and John Yapp.
"We expect a pretty dogged performance off them but also an expansive style which we ourselves are endeavouring to produce.
"It is fantastic to be back at the Arms Park and Peter Thomas along with Richard Holland deserve massive credit for making this happen.
"The staff at the Arms Park have done a magnificent job since we have been back and hopefully you will all see and appreciate all the work that has been undertaken during the summer."
Form: Cardiff Blues began the new season of RaboDirect PRO12 action with a 13-9 victory in Connacht. The Blues won both matches they played at the Arms Park last season, against Connacht and Ulster. Cardiff Blues won their opening two encounters last season. Edinburgh Rugby gained a losing bonus point in their reversal to Munster at Murrayfield last Saturday, and have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions. The Scotsmen's only away win in their last 19 trips in the PRO12 was at Treviso last November. Edinburgh Rugby have not won in Wales since a visit to Scarlets on 4 December 2009. The Blues have won their last four games against Edinburgh Rugby in the RaboDirect PRO12, whilst Edinburgh have been victorious on four of their last five visits to the Arms Park.
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Andries Pretorius (capt), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Benoit Bourrust, 2 Rhys Williams, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Thomas Davies, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Thomas Williams.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 John Houston, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 9 Richie Rees, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 John Yapp, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Perry Parker, 20 Netani Talei, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Gregor Hunter, 23 Sep Visser.
Date: Friday, September 7
Kick-off: 19:05 BST
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Jason Langdon (Wales)

Blues have their internationals back so they should take care of an Edinburgh side that couldn't beat a 2nd XV Munster side at home last time out.
very few of these RaboDirect teams are renown for their ostentatious rugby and ability to score numerous tries so i go with a 15 point win to Blues. And thats only because they are at home and Edinburgh play such negative rugby.

Half time. Blues playing down and Edinburgh throwing ball around. But luckily Blues are 9-8 up.
Game over and Blues lose in front of home crowd, 21-19. Pathetic.

 

Glasgow vs Scarlets 10/11 fav

Winger DTH van der Merwe has been named in Glasgow's starting line-up for Friday's PRO12 match against Scarlets at at Scotstoun Stadium.

Scrum-half Chris Cusiter and fly-half Ruaridh Jackson will also be reunited at half-back in the other changes behind the scrum.
Up front there is an all-new front row in the shape of Ryan Grant, Pat MacArthur and Moray Low, while John Barclay comes in at openside flanker.
Friday's clash sees Glasgow throw open the doors of their new Scotstoun home for the first time, as the Warriors seek to bounce back from the disappointment of an 18-10 defeat to recent Heineken Cup finalists Ulster in Belfast last week.
"As ever, we've selected a team with one objective in mind: winning the match," said head coach Gregor Townsend.
"The quality and depth of our squad is reflected by the guys we're able to bring in this week, all of whom know they have to deliver with so many other players breathing down their necks.
"That's particularly the case in a position like wing. We're delighted to welcome back DTH van der Merwe, an experienced, quality campaigner coming into the side in a role where Tommy Seymour performed very well last week.
"Similarly in the front row, we're lucky to have a number of really good options.
"Ryan Grant and Moray Low both performed very well off the bench in Ulster, as did John Barclay, Chris Cusiter and Ruaridh Jackson, all of whom start this week.
"Ruaridh has applied himself excellently in training, working on various aspects of his game that will allow him to make even more of an impact.
"Duncan (Weir) wasn't helped last week by the indiscipline we showed, and we're well aware of how effective he can be when given a better platform.
"He and the other guys who will be on the bench come Friday have a massive role to play - we'll be looking to them to have a similar impact to that produced by the replacements who came on against Ulster."
Meanwhile, Welsh international Rhys Priestland starts at fly-half for Scarlets.
Up front captain and number eight Rob McCusker leads his side alongside Johnathan Edwards and Aaron Shingler in the back-row. Matthew Rees comes in at hooker with Rhodri Jones and Deacon Manu in the front-row.
Scarlets new forwards coach, Danny Wilson, said he was impressed with the early performance of his pack against Leinster last week; but said with just one game down, their feet were firmly on the ground and there was still plenty to work on.
"It was my first taste of what the boys could do in a competitive fixture against a Leinster pack made up of quality, experienced professionals and we were pleased with the performance - however it means nothing unless we back it up this weekend," he said.
"With a level of consistency in our game up front, we can unleash our back line and we saw at the weekend how very potent it is. There's some work to do with our scrum, but the line-out functioned well last weekend. We went into the game with a confidence and intent to put pressure on them up front and it went our way.
"There's a very strong work ethic and ambition in this Scarlets group and the boys know that there's plenty competition for places. We need to build continuity in our performance and there's a lot of that reflected in our selection this weekend but we also need to rotate some players to ensure we keep building our depth and give opportunities across our squad.
"There's a lot of rugby ahead of us so it's important we build a strong squad - as opposed to just a team."
Wilson said they had a big challenge ahead of them on Friday in Scotland.
"We've had a good look at the Warriors and their game last weekend, they were a very dogged side, and they'll put a lot of pressure on in the contact area. We know we'll have to be sharp this weekend - it's going to be a tough fixture as their opening game in the new home and they'll want to bounce back from their loss last weekend," he said.
"We are under no illusion as to what we are facing - they were a very strong side last season and reached the semi-finals just ahead of us by a couple of points. But we're confident in what we can bring, the players are gelling well and know they have to back up what they achieved last weekend."
Form: Glasgow tripped up 10-18 at Ulster in round one of the RaboDirect PRO12 - the Warriors also lost their opening two games of the 2011/12 season. The Warriors have lost just one of their last nine matches against the Welsh regions. Scarlets defeated Leinster 45-20 at Parc y Scarlets on Friday and are now unbeaten in their last four PRO12 encounters. Scarlets have lost on their last two visits to Scotland. Both clashes between the two sides last season were won by the home side on the day, whilst Scarlets have won just once in Glasgow on their last seven visits.
The teams:
Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Barclay, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Moray Low, 1 Ryan Grant, 2 Pat MacArthur.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Mike Cusack, 18 Gordon Reid, 19 James Eddie, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Peter Horne.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Rob McCusker (c), 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Richard Kelly, 4 George Earle, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Adam Warren.
Date: Friday, 7 September
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)

This is a tough call. Scarlets played great last week, albeit against a weakened leinster side.
Glasgow were their usual dour self vs Ulster last week and deserved to lose. They have reinforcements this week so will be a harder nut to crack.
I'll go with Scarlets and their attacking style and predict they will win by 5.
This gives me the back up of a draw in superbru. Glasgow have that ability to eke out draws.

Game over and Scarlets play really well, but Glasgow manage to get witin 5. 18-13 to Scarlets.
bang on the money.

 

Munster 1/8 fav vs Treviso

Treviso enter their PRO12 fixture against Munster at Thomond Park full of confidence after beating reigning champions the Ospreys last week.

The impressive 12-6 win over the Welsh region in poor weather conditions caused a stir in Round One, and they face another tough game on Friday.
Brendan Williams has been named at full-back in place of Kristopher Burton, who drops to bench duty, while Luca Morisi comes in at centre, which leads to Luke McLean dropping out of the 22.
Up front, Michele Rizzo and Lorenzo Cittadini are preferred over Alberto De Marchi and Lorenzo Cittadini as props, Valerio Bernabò and Antonio Pavanello come in at lock while Paul Derbyshire and Dean Budd earn a run in the back-row.
Munster coach Rob Penney has made two changes following their opening round win in Edinburgh.
Those changes occur up front with Stephen Archer getting in on this ocasion ahead of BJ Botha at prop while Dave O'Callaghan gets the nod over Paddy Butler at number six.
Form: Munster began their 2012/13 RaboDirect PRO12 campaign with a 23-18 victory against Edinburgh at Murrayfield. The Munstermen have won seven of their last eight home games in the competition. Munster lost their most recent encounter with an Italian opponent: 17-21 at Aironi in March. Benetton Treviso beat Ospreys 12-6 at Stadio Monigo in round one. Treviso had a won 2, lost 6 record against Irish provinces last season, with both victories coming away from home in Belfast and Galway. Treviso's only previous win against Munster was 19-18 at Stadio Monigo in February 2011.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett (capt), 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Luke O'Dea, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Ivan Dineen.
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Paul Derbyshire, 7 Dean Budd, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (capt), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Alessandro Zanni, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Kristopher Burton.
Date: Friday, September 7
Kick-off: 20:00 BST
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick

Treviso should provide respectable resistance. They were resolute in their double scores (12-6) win over The Ospreys in round one. This was built on a sound defence and a fearless forward pack.
They will need more than that if they are to repel a Munster side that is already benefiting from the beautifully balanced centre partnership between James Downey and Casey Laulala and the rise of fly-half Ian Keatley and wing Luke O'Dea to complement captain Doug Howlett.
New coach Rob Penney is working his Southern hemisphere style into munster traditions.
Munster by 14 

Not an attractive game. Munster win 19-6. My guess good enough for government work.

Saturday games.

Leinster 1/6 fav vs Dragons

Former Western Province lock Quinn Roux will make his home debut for Leinster in Saturday's PRO12 clash with the Dragons in Dublin.

Roux partners skipper Leo Cullen in the second-row while another home debut is handed to Leinster Academy flanker Ben Marshall who made his first appearance for the province away to Ulster in December 2010.
Marshall comes into the back-row alongside Shane Jennings and number eight Leo Auva'a.
Ireland hooker Sean Cronin is included in the front-row alongside Jamie Hagan and Jack McGrath.
In the absence of the injured Isaac Boss, John Cooney will link up with Ian Madigan at half back with the rest of the largely fledgling back-line that started last weekend's game in Llanelli - aside from the experienced Isa Nacewa who will make his 104th appearance - set to continue.
Devin Toner is named on the replacements bench alongside prop Heinke van der Merwe.
Meanwhile, Dragons back row Jevon Groves is set to lead the men of Gwent for the first time.
Although this is his first outing as Dragons captain, he is no stranger to the position having captained the Wales Sevens team to the plate semi-finals during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Fellow back row and regional captain Lewis Evans makes his return from injury from the bench whilst prop Tim Ryan will be looking to start his competitive career at the Dragons as a replacement.
With an unchanged back-line from the 37-6 victory over the Zebre last week, head coach Darren Edwards has rung the changes in the forwards with Groves, Ian Nimmo and Toby Faletau the only survivors from last weekend's starting line-up.
Form: Leinster have now slipped to back to back defeats in the RaboDirect PRO12 - they have not lost three in a row in the competition since October 2008. The only visiting team to have beaten the Leinstermen at the RDS in any competition in the last three years , other than Ospreys, was Glasgow in September 2011. Newport Gwent Dragons top the RaboDirect PRO12 table after round one, courtesy of their bonus point win over newcomers, Zebre. The Welshmen have three times before led the league after one week (2005, 2007 and 2008) and on all three occasions have lost in round two and surrendered top spot. The Men from Gwent have won just one of their last dozen encounters with Irish provinces: 22-9 at home to Ulster on 30 September 2011. Dragons solo victory in Ireland since2004 came at Ulster in September 2008. Leinster have taken the last four clashes with Newport Gwent Dragons, whilst Dragons have never overturned the Leinstermen on their own soil!


The teams:
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 John Cooney, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Ben Marshall, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Tom Sexton, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Colm O'Shea, 23 Darren Hudson.
Dragons: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Will Harries, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Jevon Groves (c), 6 Hywel Stoddart, 5 Adam Jones, 4 Ian Nimmo, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Gustafson, 17 Aaron Coundley, 18 Tim Ryan, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Ashley Smith, 23 Hallam Amos.
Date: Saturday, September 8
Petes prediction.
I'm going for a real long shot here.
Dragons by 2
Dragons have more internationals in their team than Leinster who have a couple of academy players.
For sure leinster are not happy they lost to scarlets last week and will come out swinging. And, lets be fair, leinster have a history of succeeding whereas dragons have always struggled.
I didn't see the Dragons game last week but judging by who scored the tries I would say the coach iis attempting to play an expansive game

Ospreys 2/5 fav vs Ulster

The Ospreys will be looking to bounce back from defeat in Italy last week in Saturday's PRO12 clash with Ulster at Liberty Stadium.

"It's going to be a tough game against a quality team that has really grown over the last couple of years as seen by their Heineken Cup run last season that saw them go all the way to the final, said Ospreys backs coach Gruff Rees.

"Brian McLaughlin did a great job and Mark Anscombe their new coach is looking to really build on that this year with some quality signings to enhance an already strong squad.

"For us it's a great game to kick-off at home and we'll be expecting a big crowd on a lovely evening so it should be great occasion. We'll want to do well, to make sure we send all our season-ticket holders home happy, but in order to do that we'll have to make big improvements to our discipline and our attention to details from where we were last Friday in Treviso.

"We need to tighten up and find a little bit more composure, while keeping the right balance to ensure that we are always in control of ourselves. That's an area where we let ourselves down in the first half last time.

"We've made a few changes for this game, changes we were always going to make in order to allow players to have a fair chance to stake a claim for a place in the opening weeks of the season. It's up to those coming in to put their hands up now and show that they deserve a chance to retain the jersey, but what it will do is help to ensure everything stays competitive."
Meanwhile, Ulster coach Mark Anscombe has continued to rotate his squad with Declan Fitzpatrick, Niall O'Connor and Darren Cave all coming into the starting XV.
The Ulster coach has also been boosted by the return of Ireland internationals Andrew Trimble and Stephen Ferris who are named on a vastly experienced replacements bench.
The only change up front sees Fitzpatrick replace John Afoa at tighthead prop, where he is joined in the front-row by hooker Rob Herring and Callum Black.
Captain Johann Muller and Lewis Stevenson continue their hard working partnership in the second-row, while the loose forward trio of Sean Doyle, Robbie Diack and Nick Williams will be hoping to continue their impressive form from last week.
With Paddy Jackson still not fully recovered from his calf injury, O'Connor will start ahead of Paddy Jackson at fly-half, with Michael Heaney retaining the number nine jersey. Cave has been promoted from the bench to start at outside centre at the expense of Chris Farrell. Luke Marshall, Michael Allen, Craig Gilroy and Jared Payne complete the backline.
Anscombe is delighted to welcome back Ferris and Trimble to his matchday squad.
"When you bring players of that calibre back into the mix it gives everyone a lift. The two boys haven't played much rugby in a while so you have to put that in perspective and not expect too much from them this early. Putting them on the bench is a good way of easing them back in," he said.
Explaining the changes to his starting team, he commented: "With Paddy Jackson it was a precaution with his calf; he's not 100 percent but he's feeling much better than he was and he's progressing well. It wasn't worth the risk and we wanted to give Niall another chance to show what he can do.
"Darren Cave was on the bench last week, he's been training with the team now for a few weeks and I though he came on for the last quarter of an hour last week and added greatly to the team. He's an International so he brings that experience to a youthful backline. Declan is the same, he's been training well and we wanted to have a look at him from the start."
Form: Ospreys' seven game winning streak in the RaboDirect PRO12 ended in Italy last Friday, with their 6-12 reversal to Benetton Treviso. Ospreys have won their last three matches at Liberty Stadium and lost only once to an Irish province last season: 14-15 to Ulster at Ravenhill on 24 February. Ulster began the new season with an 18-10 victory over Glasgow at Ravenhill, but have tripped up in their last two away games in the PRO12, at Connacht and Munster. The Ulstermen have won three of their last four encounters against Welsh regions, but have lost on their last four visits to the Principality. The last four fixtures between the two sides have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst Ulster's only victory at Liberty Stadium since 2006 was 20-16 on 12 September 2009.


The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Isaacs, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James King, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Joe Rees, 19 George Stowers, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Tom Grabham.
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Michael Allen , 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Michael Heaney, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Sean Doyle, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Tom Court, 18 John Afoa, 19 Neil McComb, 20 Stephen Ferris, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Trimble.
Date: Saturday, September 8

Petes prediction.
well neither side showed much endeavor last week and if the Ulster internationals on the bench were fit I'd go with Ulster.
But hopefully Ospreys have some pride playing at home and I suggest they will win by 5.