Ireland trio back for Munster while Scotland stalwart hits Edinburgh century

David Skippers
Munster scrum-half Craig Casey with ball in hand.

Munster scrum-half Craig Casey with ball in hand.

The United Rugby Championship resumes on Friday as two matches take place, with Edinburgh and Munster hosting the Ospreys and Zebre Parma in their respective fixtures.

Edinburgh v Ospreys

Edinburgh and Scotland centre Mark Bennett will become the club’s 41st centurion when he makes his 100th appearance against Ospreys at Hive Stadium.

Head coach Sean Everitt has handed the former Cumnock man the start on the landmark night as one of four changes made to the starting XV that claimed a win against Zebre Parma a fortnight ago.

Scrum-half Ben Vellacott – who skippers the side – starts in place of Ali Price, with the British & Irish Lion selected among the replacements.

Scotland lock Sam Skinner gets the nod in the second-row ahead of Marshall Sykes – also named on the bench – as Tom Dodd comes into the back-row for Jamie Ritchie.

An unchanged back-three sees Argentine star Emiliano Boffelli continue at full-back alongside wingers Chris Dean and Harry Paterson.

Centres Bennett and Matt Currie link up in the capital midfield with Vellacott and fly-half Ben Healy named at half-back.

Hooker Dave Cherry once again packs down alongside props Boan Venter and WP Nel, as Scotland locks Glen Young and Skinner complete the tight-five.

Fijian number eight Viliame Mata anchors a back-row featuring Dodd and British & Irish Lion, Hamish Watson.

The capital side are further boosted by the return to fitness of back-row Ben Muncaster and wing Wes Goosen, who are both named among the replacements.

Meanwhile, Ospreys will be looking to back up their recent home victory over Ulster when they take on Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship clash.

Justin Tipuric is set to captain the team from the openside flank and is joined in the back-row by Harri Deaves and Jeandre Rudolph, who makes his first start.

Nicky Smith starts at loosehead prop, with Sam Parry lining up at hooker while Tom Botha completes the front-row in their number three jersey once again.

Completing the pack will be locks James Ratti and Victor Sekekete.

In the backline, Luke Davies starts at scrum-half, with Dan Edwards partnering him at 10. Keiran Williams is at inside centre with Evardi Boshoff donning 13.

In the back three, Jack Walsh runs out at full-back, with Keelan Giles on one wing and the hugely experienced Wales stalwart Alex Cuthbert on the other touchline.

Morgan Morris and Rhys Davies both return to the squad following their time out injured.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Harry Paterson, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Chris Dean, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (c), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Glen Young, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Ali Price, 22 James Lang, 23 Wes Goosen

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Luke Davies, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Harri Deaves, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Rhys Henry, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Cameron Jones, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Mat Protheroe

Venue: Hive Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Rob McDowell (Scotland), Calum Worsley (Scotland)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)

Munster v Zebre Parma

Munster are bolstered by the return of Craig Casey, Tom Ahern and Jeremy Loughman from Ireland duty for Friday night’s United Rugby Championship Round 11 clash against Zebre at Virgin Media Park.

Four Academy players are included as Tony Butler and Ruadhán Quinn both start with Ethan Coughlan and Ben O’Connor, who returns from the Ireland U20s, among the replacements.

22-year-old Alex Kendellen captains the team which has four changes to the side that beat Scarlets earlier this month.

There is a new half-back pairing of Butler and Casey as Josh Wycherley and John Ryan come into the front-row.

Academy fly-half Butler, who will move up to the senior squad on a two-year contract next season, and back-row forward Quinn both make their third starts for the province.

Mike Haley makes his 99th start for Munster at full-back with Seán O’Brien and Shane Daly on either wing. Alex Nankivell and Antoine Frisch continue their centre partnership with Casey and Butler at nine and 10.

Wycherley, Niall Scannell and Ryan pack down in the front-row with Ahern and RG Snyman in the engine room. Quinn, Kendellen and Gavin Coombes complete the side.

Eoghan Clarke, Loughman and Stephen Archer provide the front-row back-up with Fineen Wycherley and Jack O’Sullivan completing the forward cover.

Coughlan, Rory Scannell and O’Connor are the backline replacements. Joey Carbery picked up a slight knock in training and was unavailable for selection.

Meanwhile, it will be a memorable game for Zebre Parma second-row Leonard Krumov as he is set to make his 100th appearance for the Italian outfit.

Krumov will be the 11th Zebre player to achieve the milestone and he packs down in the engine room alongside David Sisi while Muhamed Hasa and Luca Rizzoli are the starting props and former Italy captain Luca Bigi joins them in the front-row at hooker.

The rest of the pack sees skipper Giovanni Licata starting at number eight and he is joined in the back-row by Bautista Stavile and Giacomo Ferrari, who are the two flankers.

In the backline, Geronimo Prisciantelli starts at full-back and forms a back three with Scott Gregory and Simone Gesi, who will line up on the wings, while Luca Morisi and Damiano Mazza form the midfield combination with Tiff Eden and Alessandro Fusco the starting half-backs.

The teams:

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Seán O’Brien, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Tony Butler, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen (c), 6 Ruadhán Quinn, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Sullivan, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Ben O’Connor

Zebre: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Scott Gregory, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata (c), 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi, 3 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Luca Rizzoli
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Samuele Taddei, 18 Riccardo Genovese, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Jacopo Trulla, 23 Josh Kaifa

Venue: Virgin Media Park, Cork
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

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