TAULUPE FALETAU TO MAKE LONG-AWAITED RETURN WHILE SHARKS REST SPRINGBOKS AGAINST GLASGOW

The United Rugby Championship (URC) resumes on Friday as two matches take place, with Glasgow Warriors and Ulster hosting the Sharks and Cardiff in their respective fixtures.

Glasgow Warriors v Sharks

Scotland international Oli Kebble is set to make his 100th appearance for Glasgow Warriors after the front-row was selected in the matchday 23 to take on the Sharks at Scotstoun under the Friday night lights.

The loosehead prop is amongst the replacements for the South African side’s first visit to Glasgow since October 2021.

An unchanged front-five from the team that took on Harlequins a fortnight ago sees Nathan McBeth and Zander Fagerson continue as the props, with Johnny Matthews –URC‘s top try-scorer – packing down in the middle of the front-row.

Max Williamson and Scott Cummings are partnered together in the engine room, having also started on the club’s last URC outing away to the Scarlets.

Henco Venter is the only alteration to the starting pack that ran out at the Twickenham Stoop, coming in to start at openside in a back-row completed by Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey.

Behind the scrum, George Horne and Tom Jordan continue as the half-backs, the former having crossed for a scintillating team try against Harlequins last time out.

Sione Tuipulotu makes his first URC start of the calendar year after returning from injury a fortnight ago, partnering Stafford McDowall in the centres for Friday night’s clash.

The only change to the starting back-line sees Facundo Cordero come into the starting XV on the wing, with Kyle Rowe moving to full-back for the first time in Glasgow colours in a back three completed by captain Kyle Steyn.

Gregor Hiddleston and Lucio Sordoni join centurion-in-waiting Kebble as the front-row cover, as the Warriors opt for a six-two split of forwards and backs amongst the replacements.

Sintu Manjezi wears the number 19 jersey for the third match in succession, whilst Ally Miller and Thomas Gordon cover the back-row between them.

Jamie Dobie and Ross Thompson complete the replacements, the latter set for his first outing in Glasgow colours since the win over Benetton at the start of March.

Meanwhile, the Sharks have selected an exciting team for Friday evening’s Round 14 United Rugby Championship clash with Glasgow Warriors.

Over the last month, many of the stalwarts have had to carry a hugely physical load and now get the opportunity to rest up, or in this case, play a shortened (but still vital) role off the bench.

Former Springboks centre Francois Venter leads a side that despite the many changes, still brings a vast amount of experience, and the competition for places that has been spoken about will certainly provide motivation for the players who have been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the exceptional form and momentum the Sharks have achieved over the last few weeks.

Murray Koster joins Venter in the midfield while Boeta Chamberlain starts at full-back, with Eduan Keyter and Aphiwe Dyantyi the two starting wings. Meanwhile, Springbok duo Curwin Bosch and Grant Williams come into the run-on side as the half-back pairing.

In the forwards, there are changes aplenty, with Nick Hatton starting at number eight while Lappies Labuschagne and Tino Mavesere complete the back-row as the two flankers.

In the engine room, Gerbrandt Grobler gets the nod alongside Corne Rahl while Dan Jooste packs down at hooker, with Ntuthuko Mchunu and Hanru Jacobs as the starting props.

The teams

Glasgow: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn (c), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Facundo Cordero, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Wiliamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Ross Thompson

Sharks: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Murray Koster, 12 Francois Venter (c), 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Dan Jooste, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Emile van Heerden, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Ethan Hooker

Venue: Scotstoun

Kick-off: 19:35 GMT

Referee: Federico Vedovellli (Italy)

Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Rob McDowell (Scotland)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

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Ulster v Cardiff

It’s Ulster interim head coach Richie Murphy’s first home game at Kingspan Stadium and he has named his matchday squad to take on this week’s Welsh opposition at Kingspan Stadium.

Alan O’Connor retains his starting position from last week, and will captain Friday’s side from the second-row alongside Ulster Rugby Academy graduate, Harry Sheridan.

A changed front-row from last week’s game in Clermont sees Eric O’Sullivan, Tom Stewart and Scott Wilson get the nod.

In the back-row, David McCann makes the switch to the number eight jersey, and will pack down alongside Dave Ewers and Marcus Rea.

After a number of weeks on the road, the home crowd will see Nathan Doak and Jake Flannery take to the pitch at Kingspan Stadium as the half-back partnership.

In the centre pairing, James Hume is named alongside 22-year-old Jude Postlethwaite.

On the left wing, Jacob Stockdale makes a return to the starting line-up, with Mike Lowry moving to the right wing after last week’s test in France.

Will Addison completes the starting line-up at full-back.

On the bench, the forward reinforcements named are John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Cormac Izuchukwu and Greg Jones. John Cooney, Billy Burns and Ethan McIlroy will be the backline options.

Meanwhile, Cardiff have been boosted by the return of experienced Wales back-row Taulupe Faletau for this encounter.

The talismanic number eight has been named in the Blue and Blacks’ starting line-up for the first time this season having returned from a broken arm he sustained playing for Wales against Georgia during the Rugby World Cup.

He forms a back-row partnership with Alex Mann and Thomas Young, who returns to the starting XV after being named on the bench for the clash versus Munster earlier this month.

In total, head coach Matt Sherratt has made four changes to the starting team with Teddy Williams, Young and Faletau replacing Seb Davies, Ellis Jenkins and Mackenzie Martin in the forwards, and Theo Cabango coming in for Owen Lane who is ruled out.

15 of the match-day squad are products of the Cardiff pathway system.

Scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou, who signed on loan from Dragons RFC for the remainder of the season, is named on the bench, along with Rhys Carré, Evan Lloyd, Ciaran Parker, Rory Thornton, Ellis Jenkins, Mackenzie Martin and Jacob Beetham.

The teams

Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Dave McCann, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Alan O’Connor, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Greg Jones, 21 John Cooney,22 Billy Burns, 23 Ethan McIlroy

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Ben Donnell, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Corey Domachowski Replacements: 16 Rhys Carré, 17 Evan Lloyd, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Mackenzie Martin, 22 Gonzalo Bertranou, 23 Jacob Beetham

Venue: Kingspan Stadium

Kick-off: 19:35 GMT

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

2024-04-18T12:37:06Z dg43tfdfdgfd