Ireland stars return for Munster in the United Rugby Championship while Wales duo bring up 100

2024 kicks off with four games taking place in the United Rugby Championship, as the New Year’s Day schedule ends with Leinster against Ulster at the RDS Arena in Dublin.

The return of Tadhg Beirne and Conor Murray to the Munster line-up headlines their match with Connacht, while Wales internationals Owen Watkin and Aaron Wainwright will make their 100th appearance for Ospreys and Dragons respectively on Monday.

Check on all the team news, below.

Connacht v Munster

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (c), 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Oisín Dowling, 21 Michael McDonald, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Conor Oliver

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Tony Butler, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Eoghan Clarke, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Shay McCarthy

Venue: The Sportsground, Galway
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Keane Davison (Ireland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)

Ospreys v Cardiff

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 George North, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Luke Davies, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 James Ratti, 5 Adam Beard (c), 4 James Fender, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Lewis Jones, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Cameron Jones, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Luke Morgan

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 James Botham, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Mackenzie Martin, 22 Ellis Bevan, 23 Jacob Beetham

Venue: Brewery Field, Bridgend
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Ben Breakspear (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Dragons v Scarlets

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Aneurin Owen, 12 Harri Ackerman, 11 Evan Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams (c), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 George Nott, 4 Sean Lonsdale, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Ollie Griffiths, 22 Dane Blacker, 23 Corey Baldwin

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Josh Macleod (c), 6 Sam Lousi, 5 Morgan Jones , 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Jac Price, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jonathan Davies, 23 Ioan Nicholas

Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Gareth Newman (Wales), Dewi Philips (Wales)
TMO: Wayne Davies (Wales)

Leinster v Ulster

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Rob Russell, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Will Connors, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Josh van der Flier

Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Mike Lowry, 23 Jude Postlethwaite

Venue: RDS Arena, Dublin
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Tomas O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

READ MORE: Mack Hansen warns Wallabies about opting for New Zealander as he offers two coaching alternatives