RaboDirect Pro 12 Rd 5

 Rabo Direct Pro 12 Rd 5
Friday
Newport Gwent Dragons* v Edinburgh     13:00
Cardiff Blues* v Ulster     13:05
Glasgow Warriors* v Zebre     13:35
Connacht Rugby v Leinster*     14:00
Saturday
Benetton Treviso v Scarlets *    12:05
Ospreys* v Munster                   12:30

 

Preview: Dragons v Edinburgh

Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley has challenged his charges to take another win away from Wales as the side travel to Newport to face the Dragons.

The club opened their competitive account with an away win over Cardiff at the re-inauguration of the old Arms Park, before a five-try win over Zebre.
Bonus points from the losses to Munster and Leinster keep the club mid-table ahead of their trip south to face the tenth-placed Welshmen, whose round one win over Zebre is their only success in the last eight games in the competition.
However, despite their slow start, the Dragons have a formidable record against the men from Murrayfield, celebrating a home and away double last season, and keeping their visitors from an away win since 2006.
"This is a critical match," said Bradley.
"I've been satisfied with our performances so far this season but we must continue to improve if we are to fulfil our ambitions of making the play-offs, and that means winning away from home.
"There are no easy contests in this division, especially when you're on the road, and Dragons are notoriously difficult to break down.
"Their defensive approach is quick and aggressive and puts a lot of pressure on the opposition, so the fundamentals of our game will have to be very well executed.
"We will have to be sharp and clinical to make the most of any manufactured or opportunistic chances. It will be very tough game."
Bradley's team features seven changes to the side that started last week's narrow loss to Leinster at the RDS, with Scotland trio Ross Rennie, Allan Jacobsen and top try-scorer Tim Visser returning to the front-line.

Outbound are their international colleagues Greig Laidlaw, Ross Ford and Matt Scott, who have each been rested for the match, with Bradley calling on quality replacements in their stead.

The front-row swaps one British Lion for another, as Andy Titterrell makes his first competitive start at hooker and former All Black centre Ben Atiga returns from a hip strain to operate at inside centre alongside Nick De Luca.
At pivot, 20-year-old Harry Leonard has the chance to recapture the form that saw him start three of last season's Heineken Cup pool matches, while lock Robert McAlpine completes the pack alongside Sean Cox, who takes on the captaincy from Laidlaw.
Form: The Dragons have won just one of their last eight matches in the RaboDirect PRO12: 37-6 at home to new franchise Zebre on 31 August. Dragons are unbeaten in their last three games against Scottish opponents. Edinburgh tripped up at Leinster on Saturday to end a two-game winning run. The Scotsmen's solitary away victory in the competition since last November was 21-19 at Cardiff Blues on 7 September. The Dragons achieved the double over Edinburgh last season, whilst Edinburgh's only victory over the Men from Gwent since May 2009 came in April 2011. The Scotsmen's most recent victory at Rodney Parade was way back in May 2006.
The teams:
Dragons:
Dragons: Dan Evans; Adam Hughes, Pat Leach, Andy Tuilagi, Tom Prydie; Steffan Jones, Jonathan Evans; Phil Price, Steve Jones, Dan Way, Ian Nimmo, Adam Jones, Dan Lydiate, Toby Faletau, Lewis Evans (capt).
Replacements : Sam Parry, Aaron Coundley, Nathan Buck, Jevon Groves, Tom Brown, Liam Davies, Ashley Smith, Will Harries.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Ben Atiga, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Sean Cox (c), 4 Robert McAlpine, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andy Titterrell, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 John Yapp, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Dimitri Basilaia, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Chris Leck, 22 John Houston, 23 Dougie Fife.
Date: Friday 28 September
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 19:00

Edinburgh head coach Michael Bradley has made seven changes following last week's narrow loss to Leinster for Friday night's RaboDirect PRO12 clash against Newport. 

Scotland trio Ross Rennie, Allan Jacobsen and top try scorer Tim Visser all return to the front-line.
Outbound are their international colleagues Greig Laidlaw, Ross Ford and Matt Scott, who have each been rested for the match.
In the front-row, Andy Titterrell makes his first competitive start at hooker and Ben Atiga returns from a hip strain to operate at inside-centre alongside Nick De Luca.
At stand-off, Harry Leonard has the chance to recapture the form that saw him start three of last season's Heineken Cup pool matches, while lock Robert McAlpine completes the pack alongside Sean Cox, who takes on the captaincy from Laidlaw.

Pete says:
This is a hard game to pick
Dragons keep letting me down. Crap coaching.
I'll take the form line of Edinburgh beating blues and Dragons at home losing to Blues to call this a win for away side...Edinburgh by 5 
Dragons come good this week. Go figure and Edinburgh rubbish lost 32-12

Preview: Cardiff Blues v Ulster

Ulster have named Tommy Bowe on the wing for their trip to Cardiff Blues, which is their first rugby action since the recent death of Nevin Spence.

Mark Anscombe has continued the rotation policy which has served his side so well since the start of his tenure. The New Zealander has made five personnel changes and a further three positional switches to the starting line-up which started in the 20-19 home win over Munster two weeks ago.
Bowe will start in his familiar position of right wing, with Andrew Trimble switching to the left to accommodate him. As a result, Michael Allen moves into outside centre and Darren Cave shifts in to fill the number twelve jersey worn by Luke Marshall in the first three games of the season.
Scrum-half Paul Marshall, fly-half Paddy Jackson and full-back Jared Payne have all retained their places from the Munster match.
Up front, captain Johann Muller has picked up a knock and is replaced in the second-row by Neil McComb. Ireland lock Dan Tuohy will make his first appearance of the season after being named alongside McComb in the engine room. Fellow international Chris Henry will also play for the first time this season and will captain in the absence of Muller. Stephen Ferris has been rested so Iain Henderson joins Henry and Nick Williams in the back-row.
Meanwhile, Bradley Davies will make his 100th appearance for the Blues on Friday.
The Blues go into the match with confidence, with their only defeat in the opening four rounds a 19-21 loss at home to Edinburgh in round two.
"Friday I think will be our sternest test against the Heineken Cup finalists," said coach Phil Davies.
"It's going to be Ulster's first game back since the tragic news they received a fortnight ago about Nevin Spence.
"We are paying due respect to the situation Ulster are in and how they feel by matching that emotion and that level of performance.
"Hopefully we will have a great game as a tribute to a great rugby player and a great Ulsterman."
On Davies becoming a centurion, Davies added words of praise for the powerful lock.
"Bradley was one of the first players to have come through the system at the Blues, playing age grade rugby for Blues North and Under 18's before joining the Blues academy," he said.
"He has gone on to perform consistently for the Blues as well as for Wales and I'm sure it's a big day for him.
"Bradley is one of the stalwarts of the Cardiff Blues and I'd like to congratulate him on reaching a landmark 100 games for the region."


Form: Cardiff Blues only defeat in the opening four rounds of this season's RaboDirect PRO12 was 19-21 at home to Edinburgh in round two. The Blues have won just two of their last five home games, but have been victorious in their last two home fixtures with Irish provinces. Ulster return to action following the tragic circumstances of last week's postponement of the clash with Zebre in Italy. The Ulstermen have won all three PRO12 encounters so far this season, whilst their only defeat in their last five clashes with Welsh regions came in this equivalent fixture last season. Each side won its respective home game when the two teams met last campaign, whilst Ulster's only win at the Arms Park since 2003 came on 9 September 2005.
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Dafydd Hewitt, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Andries Pretorius (c), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Robin Copeland, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Nathan Trevett.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Campese Ma'afu, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Rory Watts-Jones, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Tom Williams.
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry (c), 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Neil McComb, 3 John Afoa, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Paddy Wallace, 23 Craig Gilroy.
Date: Friday, September 28
Kick-off: 19:05 BST
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park

Its quite obvious Blues will take on Ulster in the forwards. 
Blues by 3. Hoping Ulster are starved of ball and cannot uinleah their backs.
Blues really suck. hard to know when they will win. Lost 48-19. Abysmal

Preview: Glasgow v Zebre

Glasgow Warriors are gunning for their second home PRO12 victory in seven days when they face Zebre at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday.

Gregor Townsend's men secured a first success in their great new home last week, claiming a bonus-point win over Connacht, and are now looking for their third straight tournament victory.
New signing Josh Strauss will start Friday's match at number eight, with Fiji scrum-half Niko Matawalu and Tonga prop Ofa Fainga'anuku in line to make their Warriors debuts from the bench.
In all, there are 13 changes to the starting XV that ran out against Connacht, with Scotland international Stuart Hogg named among the replacements having made a prompt recovery from his recent ankle injury.
Young backs Byron McGuigan, part of the Scotland 7s squad last season, and Scottish Rugby Elite Development players Fraser Thomson and Sean Kennedy will be making their first competitive starts.
Up front, former All Black back-rower Angus Macdonald will make his first start for the Warriors at blindside flanker, with the team set to be captained by inspirational openside Chris Fusaro.
"First and foremost, we've picked a team that we strongly believe has the right attributes to win Friday's game against Zebre," said Townsend.
"We're fortunate this season to have such a good amount of strength in depth, and the players we've brought in this week have all been chomping at the bit to get out there and prove they're worthy of regular selection.
"Our aim is to be competing at the business end of both the RaboDirect PRO12 and Heineken Cup season, and as such we have to manage the workload of our players while maintaining a high level of consistency on the pitch regardless of the team we send out.
"We have a lot of faith in the side that will take the field on Friday, both individually and collectively. We're excited to see them in action in what will be another extremely tough test for us."
More to follow...
The teams:
Glasgow: 15 Fraser Thomson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Byron McGuigan, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro (c), 6 Angus Macdonald, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Finlay Gillies, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Ofa Fainga'anuku, 18 Moray Low, 19 James Eddie, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Stuart Hogg.
Zebre: tbc
Date: Friday, 28 September
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Not the strongest Warriors team but good enough to win by 18. Josh Strauss will be all over Zebre
Glasgow crap, were behind aall game and finally won 22-19.

Preview: Connacht v Leinster

Dan Parks will make his debut for Connacht in Friday's Irish derby against Leinster at the Sportsground.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Parks said that he is delighted to be fit for the highly anticipated fixture.
"With the injury it's been 16 weeks since I've played, now I'm dying to get out there. I never really lost it, but I feel revitalised. It's made me appreciate how much I still love playing and being around rugby," said Parks.
Connacht coach Eric Elwood has made a number of changes to his side as they prepare to take on the European Champions.
Robbie Henshaw replaces an injured Gavin Duffy at full-back. 19-year-old Henshaw earned his first competitive start in Glasgow last week and had made a notable impact from the bench in all three previous league matches.
Both Tiernan O'Halloran and Fetu'u Vainikolo return to their starting positions on the wing while Eoin Griffin joins Dave McSharry in the centre.
Up front, Brett Wilkinson makes way for Denis Buckley as loosehead prop while former Leinster prop Nathan White, who also captains the side, starts again as tighthead.
Michael Swift, who earns his 150th league appearance on the eve of this derby game, slots back into the second-row and is joined Mike McCarthy.
Eoin McKeon who started the last two weeks in the number eight position moves to blindside flanker and joins Johnny O'Connor and George Naoupu in the back-row.
Meanwhile, Ireland full-back Rob Kearney will make his first for Leinster this season. Kearney will make his 121st Leinster appearance for the province while Fergus McFadden starts on the right wing.
In midfield Gordon D'Arcy will be partnered by Brendan Macken, who scored a brace of tries last weekend, with Isa Nacewa moving to the left wing.
Ian Madigan is at fly-half with John Cooney on his inside.
In the pack, Shane Jennings leads the team and he is joined in the pack by Ben Marshall and Quinn Roux - with the South African lock set to make his second appearance for the province.
Heinke van der Merwe comes into the front-row, while the visitors can call on an all-Ireland international front-row off the bench in ex-Connacht hooker Sean Cronin, Cian Healy and Mike Ross.
Form: Connacht ended an unwanted run of ten straight defeats against fellow Irish provinces with their victory over Ulster at the Sportsground in April. Leinster have recorded three successive wins against the Dragons, Treviso and Edinburgh. The Leinstermen achieved a clean sweep of six straight wins against their Irish provincial rivals last season in the RaboDirect PRO12. Connacht have not beaten Leinster since a 27-13 victory at the Galway Sportsground on 21 April 2010.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Nathan White (c), 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Jason Harris-Wright, 17 Brett Wilkinson, 18 Ronan Loughney, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Mata Fifita.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 John Cooney, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Shane Jennings (c), 6 Ben Marshall, 5 Tom Denton, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Thomas Sexton, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Fionn Carr.
Date: Friday, September 28
Venue: Sportsground, Connacht
Kick-off: 20.00 (19.00 GMT)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon
Pete says.
Leinster are saving many of their players for the coming weeks.
But when push comes to shove, having so many internationals on the bench that should sway things their way.
Leinster by 2 
Leinster awful lost by 34-6...humiliating.

Preview: Treviso v Scarlets

 

The Scarlets have made six personnel changes to their line-up that will take on Treviso, with a number of players swapping positions on Saturday.

Up-and-coming young back Jordan Williams, gets a start at full-back after his impressive form away in Connacht which won him the man of the match gong. Liam Williams moves to the right wing.
Last year's vice-captain Gareth Maule comes into the centre to partner Jonathan Davies who switches to inside centre. Rhys Priestland is at fly-half with Gareth Davies, who achieved his 50th appearance for the region last week, getting his chance at nine. Tavis Knoyle moves to the bench.
Matthew Rees starts at hooker and Sione Timani partners with George Earle in the second-row. Experienced Scarlets back-rower Johnathan Edwards comes back into the line-up with Josh Turnbull moving to six and captain
"There are some changes to ensure we give game time to as many of the squad as we can before Europe and it takes into account the amount of rugby some of our players have already put in; so George (North) and Scott (Williams) get some time off the field this weekend," said head coach Simon Easterby.
"It's great to see young talent like Jordan Williams stepping up; he's impressed us and he has great versatility as a player which we want to encourage. He's still developing and we need to be mindful of that but we also know he has the ability do things that not many players can.
"This region has consistently invested in its younger players and given opportunities with the philosophy that if you're good enough you're old enough."
Meanwhile, Treviso head coach Franco Smith has brought in Tommaso Iannone on the left wing in the only change to the backline while he tweaks a few in the forward pack.
Lorenzo Cittadini is back as tighthead prop, while Michele Rizzo is loosehead.
Captain Antonio Pavanello and Valerio Bernabò form a completely new second-row, with Simone Favaro returning in the back-row.
Form: Benetton Treviso have won just one of their last six RaboDirect PRO12 encounters: 12-6 over Ospreys at Stadio Monigo on the opening day of the new season. Treviso have won two of their last three games against the Welsh regions. Scarlets' four game winning run ended at home to Ospreys on Friday, but they still sit atop the PRO12 table. Scarlets have won their last three away games but have not won four in a row on the road in the tournament since May 2004. Each side won its respective home game when the two teams met last season, whilst the men from West Wales' only previous win in Treviso came during the pool games in the 2010/11 European Cup.


The teams:
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (capt), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Francesco Minto, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Paul Derbyshire, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.
Scarlets: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Rob McCusker (capt), 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 George Earle, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Peter Edwards, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Kristian Phillips.
Date: Satuday, September 29
Kick-off: 19:05 local (18:05 BST)
Venue: Stadio Monigo Pete says this may go to 4/1 shot Treviso at home. Treviso so strong in pack and have named a strong squad vs Scarlets who are mising good players....resting them for European rugby....
Treviso by 2

Preview: Ospreys v Munster

Ospreys hooker Richard Hibbard will make his 100th league appearance for the region when they take on Munster at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Hibbard starts alongside Aaron Jarvis and Ryan Bevington while there is reward for Welsh back-row Ryan Jones following his try off the bench against Scarlets last week as he is in the XV.
That 23-16 win pleased backs coach Gruff Rees, who wants more from his team this weekend.
"We were delighted with the win last Friday but that's forgotten about now, we've had to put that one to bed and move on. There's still a lot of work to be done, it was a better performance against the Scarlets but there's still a lot of room for improvement needed," he said.
"We've said all along that these opening weeks of the season would see us looking at the wider squad, giving people a chance, and despite some disappointing results we believe it's been the right thing to do as we've learned a lot about the group moving forward.
"What you'll see from selection now though is a far more settled group starting to come together as we move into what is a crucial month of the season. We've got some big games coming up, starting this weekend, and we need big performances to match."
More to follow...
Form: Ospreys got off the mark with a first victory of the RaboDirect PRO12 season at Scarlets on Friday. The defending champions have lost their two games at Liberty Stadium so far this campaign but have never lost three successive home matches in the history of the tournament. Munster's only defeat this season was a narrow 19-20 at Ulster on 7 September. The Munstermen have won just one of their last four away games: 23-18 at Edinburgh on 1 September. Ospreys achieved a treble over Munster in the PRO12 last season having also met them in the Play-Offs, whilst the Irishmen's only win at Liberty Stadium since 2009 was 22-20 on 23 April 2011.


The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Isaacs, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Ross Jones.
Munster: tbc
Date: Saturday, September 29
Kick-off: 18:30 BST
Venue: Liberty Stadium
munster team from Now rugby

Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett Capt., K Earls, C Laulala, S Zebo, R O’Gara, C Murray; W Du Preez, M Sherry, S Archer, D O’Callaghan, B Holland, T O’Donnell, N Ronan, P Butler.
Replacements: D Varley, D Kilcoyne, BJ Botha, D Ryan, P O’Mahony, P Stringer, I Keatley, J Downey

Pete says ospreys are just too  irregular.
munster have sent a strong side so Munster by 3