Ireland prospects aplenty for Munster and Leinster while South African sides at full-tilt for North-South derby

David Skippers
Oli Jager Munster Champions Cup 2023 - Alamy.jpg

Munster tighthead prop Oli Jager.

The 2023/24 United Rugby Championship season continues with Round Eight’s action which sees several derbies taking place, including the highly anticipated clash between defending champions Munster and table-toppers Leinster at Thomond Park on Tuesday.

Check on the team news for all the weekend’s matches, here.

Friday 

Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Huw Jones, 13 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 George Horne, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Tom Jordan

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Glen Young, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Emiliano Boffelli

Venue: Scotstoun
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)

Ulster v Connacht

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Iain Henderson (c), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Andy Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Al O’Connor, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jude Postlethwaite, 23 Will Addison

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Byron Ralston, 10 Jack Carty (c), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Denis Buckle
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Michael McDonald, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Shane Jennings

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Saturday

Zebre Parma v Benetton

Zebre: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli (c), 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Giacomo Ferrari, 6 Guido Volpi, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Iacopo Bianchi, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Giovanni Montemauri, 23 Luca Morisi

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Edoardo Iachizzi, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Mirco Spagnolo
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Henry Time-Stowers, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Edoardo Padovani

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Filippo Russo (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Stormers v Bulls

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Clayton Blommetjies

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (c), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Sebastian de Klerk

Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 19:00 local (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Tuesday

Munster v Leinster

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Gavin Coombes, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron (c), 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Sean O’Brien

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ciaran Frawley, 11 Rob Russell, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan (51), 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Thomas Clarkson (31), 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Liam Turner, 23 Will Connors

Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Andrew Cole (Ireland)
TMO: Brian McNeice (Ireland)

READ MORE: How Jake White’s Bulls plan to end the Stormers’ North-South derby dominance

Benetton Treviso