The teams for Friday’s Round Seven fixtures of the United Rugby Championship have been named with all details of match officials and broadcast information below.
TEAM NEWS HEADLINES
CARvSCA
• Liam Belcher returns to captain Cardiff
• Blair Murray returns to Scarlets starting XV
LEIvULS
• James Ryan set to earn 100th Leinster cap
• Angus Bell makes first Ulster start with Stuart McCloskey and Ethan McIlroy named upon return from injury
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19
Cardiff v Scarlets
(Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff – KO 19.45 IRE & UK / 20.45 ITA / 21.45 SA)
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Cardiff: Cam Winnett, Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Mason Grady, Callum Sheedy, Aled Davies, Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher (captain), Javan Sebastian, Josh McNally, George Nott, James Botham, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence
Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Rhys Barratt, Sam Wainwright, Rory Thornton, Alex Mann, Taulupe Faletau, Johan Mulder, Jacob Beetham
Scarlets: Blair Murray, Tom Rogers, Eddie James, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee, Joe Hawkins, Gareth Davies, Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias, Archer Holz, Sam Lousi, Jake Ball, Max Douglas, Josh Macleod (captain), Fletcher Anderson
Replacements: Marnus van der Merwe, Alec Hepburn, Henry Thomas, Jarrod Taylor, Dan Davis, Archie Hughes, Ellis Price, Joe Roberts
Cardiff Coach Corniel van Zyl said: “We were really pleased with our result against Ulster and the way the boys fought back for a great win. It has kept our momentum going ahead of a massive run of games with three consecutive Welsh derbies.
“We are in a good position in the league, which is nice to see, but it’s all about taking it one game at a time and all that matters right now is the Scarlets. It’s been a long time since we beat them at the Arms Park so that is a big motivation for the group.
“After a tough start, they have really found some form, they enjoy coming here, are building momentum and have a lot of experience with quality players.
“It promises to be a great occasion, with a packed stadium and we will need to be at the top of our game, but it is a challenge that we are looking forward to.”
Scarlets Head Coach Dwayne Peel said: “This is a massive game for us, it is important we start climbing the table. The last four games, and I’m counting the Sharks game in South Africa, we look more like the way we want to look, the way we finished towards the end of last season.
“Cardiff have been going well and winning games at the death which shows they have character. These matches have always been high-contested, high-scoring, physical games and we are expecting more of the same. It promises to be another great occasion with a big crowd.”
Leinster v Ulster
(Lansdowne Road, Dublin – KO 19.45 IRE & UK / 20.45 ITA / 21.45 SA)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Fogarty (Ireland), Tomás O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Leinster: Ciarán Frawley, Joshua Kenny, Rieko Ioane, Charlie Tector, James Lowe, Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath, Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Rabah Slimani, Brian Deeny, James Ryan, Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (CAPT)
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Paddy McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Max Deegan, Fintan Gunne, Harry Byrne, Ruben Moloney
Ulster: Jacob Stockdale, Rob Baloucoune, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Werner Kok, Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak, Angus Bell, Tom Stewart , Tom O’Toole, Harry Sheridan, Charlie Irvine, David McCann, Nick Timoney (CAPT), Juarno Augustus
Replacements: John Andrew, Sam Crean, Scott Wilson, Joe Hopes, Bryn Ward, Conor McKee, Jake Flannery, Ethan McIlroy
Leinster Assistant Coach Tyler Bleyendaal said: “We’ve got a very tough Christmas period where we’re going to have Interpros. We’d like to be further up on the URC log, that’s for sure, but we are where we are. We tackle a very tough Ulster team that are riding pretty high at the moment. It’s going to be a pretty hard challenge for us. We need to turn up and it’s going to be an exciting challenge for us. I would expect them to come here fully loaded and very motivated. We’re going to have to match that and better that.”
Ulster Head Coach Richie Murphy said: “It’s going to be a massive challenge for us, our ability to play against their defence and keep ourselves on the front foot is going to be huge, as well as our work around the contact areas in both attack and defence.”
