ROUND 2

The teams for this weekend's Round 2 fixtures of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship have beennamed with all details of match officials and broadcast information below.

TEAM NEWS HEADLINES

#ZEBvSHA

• Zebre Parma make two changes in the starting XV with Luca Bigi and Ion Neculai named
• Rohan Janse van Rensburg makes his URC debut for Cell C Sharks

#GLAvCAR

• JP Du Preez in line for Glasgow Warriors debut after being named on bench
• James Ratti makes a return to Cardiff Rugby’s starting line-up

#LEIvBEN

• Garry Ringrose to captain the Leinster side with six Irish internationals named in the pack
• Toa Halafihi to start for Benetton with Michele Lamaro leading the side out on the day

#SCAvULS

• Josh Macleod returns at flanker for Scarlets
• Ireland internationals, Rob Herring, KieranTreadwell, Nick Timoney and Michael Lowry make a return to Ulster’s match-day squad

#BULvEDI

• Johan Goosen will make a return to the side, startingat fullback for the Vodacom Bulls
• Sam Skinner makes his first start for Edinburgh Rugby asGrant Gilchrist and Hamish Watson return to the match day sqaud

#STOvCON

• Two debuts in the backline for DHL Stormers, SuleimanHartzenberg and Clayton Blommetjies
• Connacht make nice changes to the side including a newfront row of Denis Buckley, Dylan Tierney-Martin and Finlay Bealham

#OPSvLIO

• Jack Walsh will make his first start for theOspreys this week
• Fullback Andries Coetzee will run out for his 100thappearance for the Emirates Lions

#DRAvMUN

• Ashton Hewitt and Tane Basham return to Dragons RFCstarting XV as George Nott will make his debut for the club
• Peter O’Mahony returns to captain the Munster side withacademy player Edwin Edogbo, named among the replacements & is in line tomake his debut

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

Zebre Parma vCell C Sharks

Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – KO 17.30 IRE & UK / 18.30ITA & SA

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU, 34th league game)

AR 1: Federico Vedovelli (FIR) AR 2: Dante D'elia (FIR)

TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)

Live on: Eurosport, Discovery +, Premier Sports,SuperSport & URC.tv

Zebre Parma: Richard Kriel, Pierre Bruno,Erich Cronjé, Enrico Lucchin, Simone Gesi, Tiff Eden, Chris Cook, PaoloBuonfiglio, Luca Bigi, Ion Neculai, David Sisi (CAPT), Leonard Krumov, LucaAndreani, MJ Pelser, Taina Fox-Matamua

Replacements:Giampietro Ribaldi, Juan Pitinari, Muhamed Hasa,Joshua Furno, Gabriele Venditti, Alessandro Fusco, Franco Smith Jr, JacopoTrulla

Cell CSharks: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok,Ben Tapuai, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Thaakir Abrahams, Boeta Chamerlain, GrantWilliams, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Thomas du Toit (CAPT), GerbrandtGrobler, Reniel Hugo, James Venter, Dylan Richardson, Phepsi Buthelezi

Replacements: Dan Jooste, Dian Bleuler, CarluSadie, Justin Basson, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Fred Zeilinga, MarnusPotgieter

Zebre Parma Head Coach Fabio Roselli said: "Thematch against (Cell C) Sharks is another good opportunity to tell somethingabout Zebre Parma and our ambitions. The biggest challenge will be in terms ofcollision, scrum and drive. We should be able to not concede penalties like wedid at the start of the game last week against Leinster. It's a good challengebut as usual we are looking forward to it."

Cell C Sharks Head Coach Sean Everitt said: “We’re happyto make amends from our start last year, all the South African teams struggledbut we’re coming in with a bit more experience, we know what’s coming our wayas far as the opposition is concerned. It’s not like last year when we weregoing into the unknown. Zebre (Parma) will be a tough nut to crack at home.They put on a good performance against Leinster last weekend [going down 33-29]and I don’t think anyone would have believed the game would be so close; theywere pretty unfortunate not to get the result. We’re under no illusions as towhat we’re facing on Friday night and we know this competition is unforgivingas some of the teams found out in the first weekend’s action. Preparations havegone well, apart from the injuries picked up by Curwin Bosch and Lionel Cronje,but Boeta showed enough in those pre-season friendlies against the Lions andStormers that he’s ready to take over the number 10 jersey. We as a group arereally excited about the challenge ahead and can’t wait for Friday night’sgame.”

Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff Rugby

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – KO 19.35 IRE & UK/ 20.35 ITA & SA

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU, 23rd league game)

AR 1: Finlay Brown(SRU) AR 2: Ru Campbell (SRU)

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

Live on:Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv

GlasgowWarriors: Cole Forbes, Sebastian Cancelliere, Sione Tuipulotu, Stafford McDowall,Kyle Steyn (CAPT), Tom Jordan, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, ZanderFagerson, Scott Cummings, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey

Replacements: George Turner,Oli Kebble, Lucio Sordoni, JP du Preez, Sintu Manjezi, Thomas Gordon, AliPrice, Domingo Miotti

Cardiff Rugby:Matthew Morgan, Aled Summerhill, Mason Grady, Max Llewellyn, Josh Adams,Jarrod Evans, Tomos Williams, Rhys Carré, Kristian Dacey, Dillon Lewis, JoshTurnbull (CAPT), Seb Davies, James Botham, Thomas Young, James Ratti

Replacements: Liam Belcher,Brad Thyer, Keiron Assiratti, Matthew Screech, Lopeti Timani, Lloyd Williams,Rhys Priestland, Uilisi Halaholo

GlasgowWarriors Head Coach Franco Smith said: “It’s been almost six monthssince the squad have played in front of their home crowd and everyone has beenfighting hard to earn the chance to run out at Scotstoun on Friday night. Lastweekend’s game was not how we wanted to start our season; however, it has givenus valuable insight into what our players have taken away from pre-season andour new game plan. We have challenged the players to be brave this Friday, andbegin writing our own story going forward.”

Cardiff RugbyDirector Of Rugby Dai Young said: “We have made a few changes, either due toinjury or to look after players who are a bit battered and bruised following abig effort last week. It’s important to manage these guys to ensure we getplenty from them through the season, and we have some quality coming in toreplace them. We haven’t done well away and that is something we have to putright quickly. There were a lot of good things on the weekend, and if we canbuild on them then there’s no reason why we can’t be in with a chance ofgetting a result here. It’s Glasgow’s first home game in a while, under a newcoach as well, but last week didn’t go to plan. So they’ll be desperate to geta performance in and get their season up-and-running. We know they’re a qualityteam, and listening to some of the talk after the game, they were more pleasedwith the second half than they were with the first. In the second half theydemonstrated that they’re a team who want to play rugby from all areas of the pitch,and that’s what we expect. We’re going to have to be on our toes defensivelyright across the pitch because they’ll look to attack from anywhere and reallytake us on.”            

Leinster vBenetton

RDS Arena,Dublin – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU, 11th league game)

AR 1: Paul Haycock(IRFU) AR 2: Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)

TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)

Live on: TG4, Discovery +, Premier Sports,SuperSport & URC.tv

Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien, Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose(CAPT), Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney, Ciarán Frawley, Luke McGrath, AndrewPorter, Dan Sheehan, Michael Ala’alatoa, James Ryan, Jason Jenkins, Ryan Baird,Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Ed Byrne, CianHealy, Ross Molony, Will Connors, Cormac Foley, Ross Byrne, Charlie Ngatai

Benetton: Ignacio Mendy, Mattia Bellini, Joaquin Riera, MarcoZanon, Onisi Ratave, Giacomo Da Re, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Ivan Nemer, GiacomoNicotera, Simone Ferrari, Niccolò Cannone, Scott Scrafton, Giovanni Pettinelli,Michele Lamaro (CAPT), Toa Halafihi

Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Federico Zani, Filippo Alongi, CarlWegner, Henry Time-Stowers, Manfredi Albanese, Tommaso Menoncello, RatuvaTavuyara

Benetton Head Coach Marco Bortolami said: “Leinsterare a team that moves the ball and plays in wide open spaces so the aspect ofplacing well on the pitch will be crucial. This weekend we will have to take astep forward in growth, maintaining consistency in the static phases thatallows us to manage the game as we want. Playing away from home we will have tofind the same motivation and energy we had against Glasgow (Warriors), knowingthat it will be a game in which we will have to show tenacity and put all ourstrength on the pitch.”

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Scarlets v Ulster

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – KO 13.00 IRE & UK /14.00 ITA & SA

Referee: AJ Jacobs (SARU, 11th league game)

AR 1: Mike English(WRU) AR 2: Elliot Mayor (WRU)

TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery +  & URC.tv

Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas, Corey Baldwin, Jonathan Davies (CAPT),Johnny Williams, Ryan Conbeer, Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies, Steff Thomas, RyanElias, Javan Sebastian, Vaea Fifita, Sam Lousi, Blade Thomson, Josh Macleod, SioneKalamafoni.

Replacements: Daf Hughes, Sam O’Connor, HarriO’Connor, Tom Price, Luca Giannini, Kieran Hardy, Dan Jones, Rhys Patchell

Ulster: Michael Lowry, Aaron Sexton, Luke Marshall, StuartMcCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, John Cooney, Andy Warwick, RobHerring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor (CAPT), Kieran Treadwell, Matty Rea, MarcusRea, Nick Timoney

Replacements: Declan Moore, Eric O’Sullivan,Tom O’Toole, Sam Carter, Sean Reffell, Dave Shanahan, Angus Curtis, CraigGilroy

Scarlets Head Coach Dwayne Peel said: “It’s anotherhome game which is good for us to get that momentum. Ulster played really welland were very clinical against Connacht last weekend; their drive was a realweapon, as it has been for the last couple of years. They are a top team asthey showed last season. It is a big challenge ahead of us, but we are excitedabout it.”

Ulster Defence Coach Jonny Bell said: “Scarlets isgoing to be a different game this week in many ways. They are a team that liketo play a bit of rugby and, with Dwayne Peel knowing the Ulster squad insideand out, I have no doubt that he’ll have something up his sleeve. We need to beon our mettle against a very good side, and it’s going to be a challenge for usdefensively, but that’s what we want.”

Vodacom Bulls v Edinburgh Rugby

LoftusVersfeld Stadium, Pretoria – KO 13.30 IRE & UK / 14.30 ITA & SA

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 23rd league game)

AR 1: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU) AR 2: GriffinColby (SARU)

TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)

Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Discovery +& URC.tv

Vodacom Bulls: Johan Goosen, Cornal Hendricks,Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith, Zak Burger; GerhardSteenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Mornay Smith, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje,Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Vermaak, Elrigh Louw

Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, SimphiweMatanzima, Francois Klopper, Janko Swanepoel, Marco van Staden; Embrose Papier,Morne Steyn, Stedman Gans

Edinburgh Rugby: Henry Immelman, Darcy Graham,Mark Bennett, James Lang, Damien Hoyland, Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos, PierreSchoeman, Dave Cherry, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist (CO-CAPT), JamieRitchie (CO-CAPT), Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Boan Venter, Luande Bruin, Marshall Sykes, Hamish Watson, Ben Vellacott, Jaco van der Walt, ChrisDean

Vodacom Bulls Director Of Rugby Jake White said: “It was goodto be able to start the new season on a winning note, beating a tough EmiratesLions side in their own backyard. We had a few areas we identified that weneeded to work on this week and the boys were hard at work getting those better.Edinburgh is a tough and talented side. They had an incredible game againstDragons (RFC) last weekend where they won by a convincing margin. We know howtough they are from our last meeting in the previous season where they beat us.We will need to be at our best if we want to get a  good result. We expect another toughencounter against a well-coached outfit.”

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Mike Blair said: “It’s beena good week of training as we once again acclimatise to conditions in SouthAfrica – the squad are raring to go. We’ve talked about the brilliant challengeof facing teams like (Vodacom) Bulls in their own backyard and that’s addedanother layer of motivation for us as a team. These are the games you want tobe playing in, especially in one of the world rugby’s great stadiums likeLoftus. As we saw last season, (Vodacom) Bulls are a hugely physical side withtry-scoring threats across the park. We know we’re going to have be at our bestthis weekend, but we’re thrilled with the opportunity to once again representEdinburgh and our supporters back home.”

DHL Stormers v Connacht

Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch –KO 13.30  IRE & UK / 14.30 ITA &SA

Referee : Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR, 17th league game)

AR 1: MorneFerreira (SARU) AR 2: Stephan Guldenhuys (SARU)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

Live on: SuperSport, RTÉ, Premier Sports, Discovery+  & URC.tv

DHL Stormers: Clayton Blommetjies, AngeloDavids, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Dan du Plessis, Seabelo Senatla, Manie Libbok, Paulde Wet, Ali Vermaak, Andre-Hugo Venter, Brok Harris, Ernst van Rhyn (CAPT),Marvin Orie, Junior Pokomela, Hacjivah Dayimani, Evan Roos

Replacements: Chad Solomon, Kwenzo Blose,Neethling Fouche, Adré Smith, Marcel Theunissen, Willie Engelbrecht, GodlenMasimla, Sacha Mngomezulu

Connacht: Oran McNulty, John Porch, Byron Ralston, TomFarrell, Mack Hansen, Conor Fitzgerald, Caolin Blade, Denis Buckley, DylanTierney-Martin, Finlay Bealham, Josh Murphy, Niall Murray, Cian Prendergast, JarradButler (CAPT), Paul Boyle

Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Peter Dooley,Jack Aungier, Oisín Dowling, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Kieran Marmion, Bundee Aki,David Hawkshaw

DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said: "We haveseen the likes of Clayton, Suleiman and some of the others show some realpromise in our pre-season and it will be good to see how they react onSaturday. We have got an exciting blend of youth and experience, along withmore than a few players who really stepped up for us consistently last season. Theplayers can't wait to get going again and we know how important it will be tomake a strong start this week, especially as we are playing in a rugby-madplace like Stellenbosch on what should be a great day for it."

Connacht Director Of Rugby Andy Friend said: “We’ve hada positive week so far in South Africa. After arriving on Tuesday, we’vemanaged to get the required training done and we’re in a good space headinginto our game against the (DHL) Stormers. I don’t believe that our performanceagainst Ulster was reflective of all the hard work we’d put in duringpre-season, and I’m very confident that we’ll deliver a much improvedperformance on Saturday against last year’s champions.”

Ospreys vEmirates Lions

Swansea.com Stadium,Swansea – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

AR 1: Rhys Jones (WRU) AR 2: Dai Cambourne (WRU)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (IRFU)

Live on: S4C, Premier Sports, S4C, SuperSport,Discovery + & URC.tv

Ospreys: Max Nagy, Luke Morgan, George North, MichaelCollins, Keelan Giles, Jack Walsh, Rhys Webb, Nicky Smith, Scott Baldwin, TomasFrancis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric (CAPT), MorganMorris

Replacements: Dewi Lake, Garyn Phillips, TomBotha, Rhys Davies, Will Griffiths, Jac Morgan, Reuben Morgan Williams, JoeHawkins

Emirates Lions: Andries Coetzee, Edwill van derMerwe, Zander du Plessis, Marius Louw, Quan Horn, Gianni Lombard, SaneleNohamba, Sti Sithole, PJ Botha, Ruan Dreyer, Ruben Schoeman, Reinhard Nothnagel(CAPT), Sibusiso Sangweni, Emmanuel Tshituka, Franke Horn

Replacements: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, RuanSmith, Pieter Jansen van Vuren, Ruan Venter,  Morne van den Berg, Jordan Hendrikse, SangoXamlashe

Ospreys Head Coach Toby Booth said: “We know wehave to adapt and learn which is a sign of a good side. We’ve had one seasonexposed to the South African sides and now have a greater understanding firsthand of what that looks and feels like so we’ll see how much we’ve learnt thoselessons from last season on Saturday. We know what’s coming and we’re going tohave to be good enough to deal with it. We’re looking forward to being back athome. It’s been a while and the first home game is always special so it’ll begreat to see a lot of people come down and watch us. As we saw previously atthe end of last year it really makes a difference so hopefully they’ll all comeout and we’ll give them something to cheer about.” 

Emirates Lions Forwards and Lineouts Coach Albertvan den Berg said: “We will have to improve on our individualmistakes ahead of Saturday and avoid conceding soft penalties because we knowthat a team like Ospreys will capitalise on our errors. A big emphasis has beengeared towards improving on a few technical aspects especially in our lineoutand scrums and to ensure everyone understands and executes their rolesaccurately.”

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Dragons RFC v Munster

Rodney Parade, Newport – KO 15.00 IRE & UK /16.00 ITA & SA

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU, 25th league game)

AR 1: Simon Rees (WRU) AR 2: Aaron Parry (WRU)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)

Live on: BBC Wales, RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport,Discovery + & URC.tv

Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien, Rio Dyer, SioTomkinson, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, JJ Hanrahan, Rhodri Williams; Aki Seiuli,Bradley Roberts, Lloyd Fairbrother, George Nott, Will Rowlands (CAPT), SeanLonsdale, Taine Basham, Ross Moriarty

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Rob Evans, ChrisColeman, Ben Carter, Aaron Wainwright, Lewis Jones, Max Clark, Jordan Williams

Munster: Mike Haley, Keith Earls, Malakai Fekitoa, Dan Goggin, Simon Zebo, Ben Healy, Craig Casey,Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley;Jack O'Donoghue, Peter O’Mahony (CAPT), Jack O'Sullivan.               

Replacements: Scott Buckley, Liam O’Connor,Keynan Knox, Edwin Edogbo, Tadhg Beirne, Paddy Patterson, Joey Carbery, LiamCoombes

Dragons RFC Head Coach Dai Flanagan said: “We’relooking forward to being back on home soil and looking for a response after ouropening performance. Munster don’t lose twice on the bounce often, so we mustrespect them. But we’ve also got to look after what we can look after, andwe've got to show improvement.”