FINAL EIGHT TEAM ANNOUNCEMENTS

The teams for the Final Eight fixtures of the United Rugby Championship have beennamed with all details of match officials and broadcast information below.

TEAM NEWS HEADLINES

#ULSvMUN

• John Cooney will make his 100th appearance for Ulster,as he has been named to start at scrum-half
• Stephen Archer will makehis 248th appearances for Munster with Peter O’Mahonyreturning to captain the side

#BULvSHA

• Arno Botha, starting at blindside flank for the Vodacom Bulls, is the onlychange to the starting XV
• Cell C Sharks have made one change to their starting XV with Le Roux Roets coming into the pack

       

#LEIvGLA

• James Ryan will captain Leinster whoname a strong team including European Player of the Year, Josh van der Flier
• 17 internationals named in Glasgow Warriors matchday23. Fraser Brown and George Horne return from injury to take places on thebench

#STOvEDI

• Two changes to DHL Stormers starting XV as HerschelJantjies and Rikus Pretorius come in
• Edinburgh Rugby make one change as Henry Pyrgosreplaces the injured Ben Vellacott at scrum-half

FRIDAY, JUNE 3

Ulster v Munster

Kingspan Stadium, Belfast – KO 19.35  IRE & UK / 20.35ITA & SA

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU, 10thleague game)

AR 1: Hollie Davidson (SRU) AR 2: BenBlain (SRU)

TMO: Marius van der Westhuisen (SARU)

Live on: Premier Sports, TG4, SuperSport & URC TV

Ulster: StewartMoore, Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, BillyBurns, John Cooney, Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor,Iain Henderson (CAPT), Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen

Replacements: JohnAndrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Gareth Milasinovich, Kieran Treadwell, Matty Rea,Nathan Doak, Ian Madigan, Ben Moxham

Munster: Mike Haley, Andrew Conway,Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Keith Earls, Joey Carbery, Conor Murray, JoshWycherley, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, PeterO’Mahony (CAPT), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, JeremyLoughman, John Ryan, Jason Jenkins, Thomas Ahern, Craig Casey, Ben Healy, ChrisCloete

SATURDAY, JUNE 4

Vodacom Bullsv Cell C Sharks  

Loftus Versfeld Stadium,Pretoria – KO 12.45  IRE & UK / 13.45ITA & SA

Referee: Andrew Brace(IRFU, 79th league game)

AR 1: Mike Adamson(SRU)  AR 2: Sam Grove-White (SRU) 

TMO: Joy Neville(IRFU)

Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports & URC TV

Vodacom Bulls: Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, HaroldVorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Zak Burger; Gerhard Steenekamp, JohanGrobbelaar, Mornay Smith, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT),Arno Botha, Elrigh Louw

Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Lizo Gqoboka, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel,Reinhardt Ludwig; Embrose Papier, Morne Steyn, Stedman Gans

Cell C Sharks: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, LukhanyoAm, Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Ox Nche, BongiMbonambi, Thomas du Toit (CAPT), Le Roux Roets, Reniel Hugo, Siya Kolisi, HencoVenter, Phepsi Buthelezi

Replacements:  Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, KhuthaMchunu, Ruben van Heerden, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain,Ben Tapuai

Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White said: “I amreally proud of our players for what they have achieved in reaching this stageof the Vodacom URC. They have put in the hard work and have shown greatdetermination to overcome some obstacles in the early stages of the season toreach the playoffs.

The Cell C Sharks have been an outstanding sidethroughout the campaign. They have shown their quality with all the Springboksin their squad, their depth with the great talent at their disposal andconsistency which has seen them claim some good results.

The fact that we have lost twice to them in theround robin stages shows the quality of their side. We are expecting a verytough battle. We have done what we can in our preparations for this weekend’smatch. Now we will need to now implement and execute our plans well and playour best rugby if we want to overcome a quality outfit like the Cell C Sharks.”

Leinster vGlasgow Warriors

RDS Arena,Dublin – KO 15.15 IRE & UK / 16.15 ITA & SA

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 23rd league game)

AR 1: Craig Evans (WRU) AR 2: Gianluca Gnecchi(FIR)

TMO: Matteo Lipperini (FIR)

Live on: RTÉ,Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC TV

Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien, Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, CiaránFrawley, Rory O'Loughlin, Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, DanSheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (CAPT), Ryan Baird, Josh vander Flier, Caelan Doris

Replacements: Seán Cronin, Cian Healy, MichaelAla'alatoa, Ross Molony, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Robbie Henshaw

Glasgow Warriors: Ollie Smith, Josh McKay, SioneTuipulotu, Sam Johnson, Rufus McLean, Ross Thompson, Ali Price; Jamie Bhatti,George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Rob Harley, Richie Gray, Ryan Wilson (CAPT),Gregor Brown, Jack Dempsey

Replacements: Fraser Brown, Oli Kebble, SimonBerghan, Lewis Bean, Kiran McDonald, Thomas Gordon, George Horne, DomingoMiotti

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Danny Wilson said: “We’reexcited to be in a quarter-final and playing away at Leinster is as big achallenge as it gets. Leinster have been the benchmark in the league in recentyears. We know we go into this game as underdogs, but we’re confident that wehave prepared well this week, welcome the challenge this game presents and lookforward to putting our own imprint on the game.”

DHL Stormers v Edinburgh Rugby

DHL Stadium, Cape Town – KO 18.00 IRE & UK /19.00 ITA & SA

Referee: Frank Murphy(IRFU, 63rd league game)

AR 1: Chris Busby (IRFU) AR 2: Adam Jones(WRU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse(WRU)

Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, TG4 & URCTV

DHL Stormers: Warrick Gelant, SeabeloSenatla, Ruhan Nel, Rikus Pretorius, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, HerschelJantjies, Steven Kitshoff (CAPT), JJ Kotze, Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat,Marvin Orie, Deon Fourie, Hacjivah Dayimani, Evan Roos

Replacements: Andre-Hugo Venter, Brok Harris,Neethling Fouche, Adre Smith, Ernst van Rhyn, Nama Xaba, Godlen Masimla, SachaMngomezulu

Edinburgh Rugby: Emiliano Boffelli, Darcy Graham,Mark Bennett, Chris Dean, Damien Hoyland, Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos, PierreSchoeman, Dave Cherry, WP Nel, Jamie Hodgson, Grant Gilchrist (CAPT), LukeCrosbie, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury

Replacements: Adam McBurney, HarrisonCourtney, Lee-Roy Atalifo, Marshall Sykes, Ben Muncaster, Charlie Shiel, Jacovan der Walt, James Lang

DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said: “A lot ofhard work has gone into securing this home quarterfinal, so we are determinedto rise to the occasion. It has been a good week of preparation and everyone isexcited about what should be a memorable day. We want to raise the intensityand make sure that we are at our best for the full 80 minutes, playing the kindof rugby that has got us into this position."

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Mike Blair said: “As a squad,we really benefited from our two-week tour of South Africa back in April, andits once again galvanised the guys – there’s a great feeling of togethernesswith this group. They love playing for each other and representing this club. We’ve approached tomorrow night’s match in thesame way we have all season. It's really important for us to stay relaxed andtrust what we are trying to do. Stormers are a strong side and we know it’s goingto be a huge test away from home, but we have belief and confidence in the waywe want to play.”