ROUND 1

The teams for this weekend's Round 1 fixture of the BKT United Rugby Championship have been named with all details of match officials and broadcast information below.

TEAM NEWS HEADLINES

#BENvGLA

• Dewaldt Duvenage named as Benetton captain with Giacomo Da Re starting at No 10
• Kyle Steyn will captain Glasgow Warriors for first time in competitive match, also making his 50th appearance. Tom Jordan, Lucio Sordoni and Sintu Manjezi will make their debut

#ZEBvLEI

• David Sisi captains the Zebre Parma side which include four debuts in starting XV - Richard Kriel, Tiff Eden, MJ Pelser and Jacques Du Toit
• Jason Jenkins and Charlie Ngatai start to make their Leinster debut. Rhys Ruddock captains the side

#LIOvBUL

• Emirates Lions sees the return of Springbok Andries Coetzee. Marius Louw makes his official debut for the team

• Mihlali Mosi, S’bu Nkosi and Wandisile Simelane all named in Vodacom Bulls starting XV to make their debuts. David Kriel will start at inside centre.  

#CARvMUN

• British and Irish Lions Liam Williams and Taulupe Faletau are set for their Cardiff Rugby debuts
• Malakai Fekitoa will make his competitive Munster debut

#SCAvOSP

• Vaea Fifita to make URC debut for Scarlets
• Justin Tipuric returning as Captain for Ospreys. Jack Walsh set to make his debut off the bench

#EDIvDRA

• Viliame ‘Bill’ Mata returns from injury making his first start in nine months for Edinburgh Rugby
• Will Rowlands captains Dragons RFC for first time

#ULSvCON

• Alan O’Connor will captain the Ulster side while Tom Stewart will make his first senior start for the province
• Gavin Thornbury will captain Connacht for the first time with five uncapped players named in match-day squad

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

Benetton v Glasgow Warriors

Stadio Monigo, Treviso – KO 17.30 IRE & UK / 18.30 ITA & SA

Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 64th league game)

AR 1: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)  AR 2: Manuel Bottino (FIR)

TMO: Brian McNeice (IRFU)

Live on: Discovery +, Eurosport, Premier Sports, SuperSport, & URC.tv

Benetton: Rhyno Smith, Edoardo Padovani, Ignacio Brex, Joaquin Riera, Ignacio Mendy, Giacomo Da Re, Dewaldt Duvenage (CAPT), Ivan Nemer, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Simone Ferrari, Scott Scrafton, Federico Ruzza, Giovanni Pettinelli, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone

Replacements: Giacomo Nicotera, Federico Zani, Tiziano Pasquali, Niccolò Cannone, Michele Lamaro, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Marco Zanon, Mattia Bellini

Glasgow Warriors: Cole Forbes, Sebastian Cancelliere, Sione Tuipulotu, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Steyn (CAPT), Tom Jordan, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Lucio Sordoni, Lewis Bean, Richie Gray, Sintu Manjezi, Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey

Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Oli Kebble, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Thomas Gordon, Ali Price, Duncan Weir

Benetton Head Coach Marco Bortolami said: “The match against will be immediately important. Our strength has always been to focus on ourselves, aware of our strengths and it is on those that we need to work on. Physically we are well, against Edinburgh it was the most evident aspect over the whole 80 minutes, at the end of a preseason is one of the most important aspects. Having the chance to make the debut in the championship in front of our fans will be an extra incentive”

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Franco Smith said: “We're all excited to get our season underway tomorrow evening in Treviso. The boys have all worked extremely hard throughout pre-season and tomorrow gives them the opportunity to show the results. Lucio, Sintu and Tom have all earned the opportunity to make their debut for the club tomorrow and we look forward to seeing them make their mark in a Warriors jersey. Benetton are a fit attacking minded team who like to run the ball from everywhere and we'll need to be at our best tomorrow in Treviso.”

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Zebre Parma v Leinster

Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – KO 13.00  IRE & UK / 14.00 ITA & SA

Referee: Ben Blain (SRU, 21st league)

AR 1: Federico Boraso (FIR) AR 2: Dario Merli (FIR) 

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)

Live on: Discovery +, RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport, & URC.tv

Zebre Parma:  Richard Kriel, Pierre Bruno, Erich Cronjé, Enrico Lucchin, Simone Gesi, Tiff Eden, Chris Cook, Paolo Buonfiglio, Jacques Du Toit, Matteo Nocera, David Sisi (CAPT), Leonard Krumov, Luca Andreani, MJ Pelser, Taina Fox-Matamua

Replacements: Luca Bigi, Juan Pitinari, Muhamed Hasa, Joshua Furno, Guido Volpi, Alessandro Fusco, Franco Smith Jr, Jacopo Trulla

Leinster: Max O'Reilly, Rob Russell, Jamie Osborne, Charlie Ngatai, Dave Kearney, Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath, Ed Byrne, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Ala'alatoa, Ross Molony, Jason Jenkins, Rhys Ruddock (CAPT), Scott Penny, Max Deegan

Replacements: John McKee, Michael Milne, Vakhtang Abdaladze, Brian Deeny, Alex Soroka, Nick McCarthy, Ciarán Frawley, Will Connors

Zebre Parma Head Coach Fabio Roselli said: "We know that Leinster is one of the strongest teams in rugby in terms of culture, territory and ability. Having them at the start of the season is all the more reason to do well. We are preparing very well, on and off the field. We want to become strong in the aerial battle. The conquest will definitely concern scrums and lineouts, but also the impact our forwards during the game. It will be a decisive moment: the biggest difficulty will be playing from the first to the 80th minute. We are preparing for this, we want to give strong positive signals in terms of character and determination."

Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls

Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg – KO 15.05  IRE & UK / 16.05 ITA & SA

Referee: AJ Jacobs (SARU, 10th league game)

AR 1: Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU)  AR 2: Griffin Colby (SARU) 

TMO: Marius van der Westhuisen (SARU)

Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports & URC.tv

Emirates Lions: Andries Coetzee, Edwill van der Merwe, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw, Quan Horn, Jordan Hendrikse, Sti Sithole, PJ Botha, Ruan Dreyer, Ruan Venter, Reinhard Nothnagel (CAPT), Sibusiso Sangweni, Ruhan Straeuli, Franke Horn

Replacements: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, Ruan Smith, Pieter Jansen van Vuren, Emmanuel Tshituka, Sanele Nohamba, Gianni Lombard, Zander du Plessis

Vodacom Bulls: Wandisile Simelane, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel, S’bu Nkosi, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Mornay Smith, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Vermaak, Mihlali Mosi

Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Dylan Smith, Francois Klopper, Janko Swanepoel, Marco van Staden; Zak Burger, Morne Steyn, Stedman Gans

Emirates Lions Head coach Ivan van Rooyen said: "We're quite excited about the team we've selected as we open our account against the (Vodacom) Bulls this weekend. Pre-season was good for us as it gave us an opportunity reflect and plan for the season. We've closes to three months connecting as a squad. I’m excited to see this team reach their full potential not only on Saturday but throughout the season. Jukskei Derbies over the years have always produced incredible rugby and Saturday will be no different. Fans are sure to be in for a spectacular day of rugby at Emirates Lions Park."

Vodacom Bulls Head Coach Jake White said: “We have had a great six weeks of pre-season training where we have worked on areas we felt we needed to improve on from last season. This has also been a great opportunity for our new recruits to acclimatise in their new environment. A lot of hard work went into the past few weeks and we are pleased with where we are ahead of the start of the season. We now have a tough encounter against a strong Emirates Lions team that will want to begin their season campaign on a positive note. Even though we expect a slow start, given that it is the first game of the season, we are  looking forward to the lads giving their all to set the tone for the rest of the season.”

Cardiff Rugby v Munster

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff – KO 15.05  IRE & UK / 16.05  ITA & SA

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 63rd league game)

AR 1: Ben Breakspear (WRU) AR 2: Mike English (WRU)

TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

Live on: BBC Wales, RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC.tv

Cardiff Rugby: Liam Williams; Owen Lane, Rey Lee-Lo, Max Llewellyn, Josh Adams; Jarrod Evans, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carré, Kristian Dacey, Dillon Lewis, Josh Turnbull (CAPT.), Seb Davies, James Botham, Thomas Young, Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: Liam Belcher, Rhys Barratt, Dmitri Arhip, Matthew Screech, Lopeti Timani, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Uilisi Halaholo

Munster: Shane Daly, Calvin Nash, Chris Farrell, Malakai Fekitoa, Liam Coombes, Ben Healy, Paddy Patterson, Josh Wycherley, Niall Scannell, Keynan Knox, Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, Jack O'Donoghue (CAPT), Alex Kendellen, Jack O'Sullivan.              

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Dave Kilcoyne, Roman Salanoa, Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Neil Cronin, Jack Crowley, Rory Scannell

Cardiff Rugby Director Of Rugby said: “Our new signings have been fantastic. You can see their obvious quality in and around training and the fact that they have played in other top level environments. They will bring a something a little bit different both on and off the pitch. We've been really pleased with what they have shown us so far and it would be great for them to really show what they can do in a Cardiff jersey come Saturday.”

“There has been a lot of hard work that’s gone into pre-season, trying new things and new combinations but the telling time is when you play that first game. You’re not going to get a better fixture to get excited about than Munster at home. Since I've been here we've pushed them close a couple of times and not actually got on the right side of the result. So it would be fantastic really. I expect us to be hugely competitive against them and we're at home and I'm confident we can get the result, as long as we play something like we can play.”

Scarlets v Ospreys

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA & SA

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 22nd league game)

AR 1:  Simon Rees (WRU)  AR 2: Wayne Davies (WRU)

TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)

Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC.tv

Scarlets: Johnny McNicholl, Tom Rogers, Jonathan Davies, Johnny Williams, Ryan Conbeer; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies, Steff Thomas, Ryan Elias, Javan Sebastian, Vaea Fifita, Sam Lousi, Blade Thomson, Tomás Lezana, Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements: Daf Hughes, Wyn Jones, Harri O’Connor, Tom Price, Josh Macleod, Kieran Hardy, Dan Jones, Corey Baldwin

Ospreys: Michael Collins, George North, Owen Watkin, Joe Hawkins, Keelan Giles, Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Webb, Nicky Smith, Scott Baldwin, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric (CAPT), Morgan Morris

Replacements: Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Will Griffiths, Reuben Morgan Williams, Jack Walsh, Max Nagy

Scarlets Head Coach Dwayne Peel said: “We have worked hard in pre-season and are in a good place going into this game. The last time we played here (in BKT URC) against the Stormers, we had a decent crowd, it was an exciting game and we need more of that. We have a duty to put on a show. If we can get a big crowd and support the guys, it will be fantastic.”

Ospreys Head Coach Toby Booth said: “We’re expecting a very difficult, hard fought and emotional contest. We need to go down there and put our best foot forward, if we’re not at our best we’ll be coming second for sure. Ospreys haven’t won down there for a while so that’s also important. They’ve said they want to play entertaining rugby so we’re going to need to be very good defensively. We understand the challenge but it’s one we’re looking forward to.”

Edinburgh Rugby v Dragons RFC

DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 25th league game)

AR 1: David Sutherland (SRU) AR 2: Michael Todd (SRU)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)

Live on: Premier Sports, S4C, SuperSport & URC.tv

Edinburgh Rugby: Henry Immelman, Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, Chris Dean, Damien Hoyland, Charlie Savala, Ben Vellacott, Boan Venter, Dave Cherry, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Glen Young, Jamie Ritchie (CAPT), Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Pierre Schoeman, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Nick Haining, Henry Pyrgos, Blair Kinghorn, James Lang

Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien, Rio Dyer, Sio Tomkinson, Jack Dixon, Jared Rosser, JJ Hanrahan, Rhodri Williams; Aki Seiuli, Bradley Roberts, Lloyd Fairbrother, Ben Carter, Will Rowlands (CAPT), Sean Lonsdale, Ben Fry, Ross Moriarty

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Josh Reynolds, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, Taine Basham, Lewis Jones, Will Reed, Jordan Williams

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Mike Blair said: “We’re thrilled to be back home and we’re excited to kickstart the season in front of the Edinburgh supporters at DAM Health Stadium. The squad have all put in the hard yards throughout pre-season, gearing up for Round 1 of the competition, and now it’s time represent the city and show what it means to play for this great club. We know Dragons will travel north with confidence. They’ve made some savvy signings over the summer and have restructured their coaching team – they’ll feel rejuvenated as a squad, so we need be focused and ready to take them on from the first whistle. The season opener is always exciting for everyone – players, staff, sponsors and supporters. It’s a chance to get your journey off to the best possible start, and that’s what we intend to do on Saturday night.”

Dragons RFC Director Of Rugby Dean Ryan said: “Edinburgh are a big test first up and Mike (Blair) did a great job last year. They were at the top end of the table and caused a lot of problems for teams. I expect them to build on that. They are probably one of the most difficult starts we could get because we know how they can play. Playing on a plastic surface up there is going to be something that's going to make the game faster. We've got to go up there and get our game right.”

Ulster v Connacht

Kingspan Stadium, Belfast – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU, 2nd league game)

AR 1: Chris Busby (IRFU) AR 2: Andrew Cole (IRFU)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

Live on: BBC NI, TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport & URC.tv

Ulster: Stewart Moore, Rob Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, Nathan Doak Eric O’Sullivan, Tom Stewart, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor (CAPT), Sam Carter, Matty Rea, Marcus Rea, David McCann

Replacements: John Andrew, Callum Reid, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Cormac Izuchukwu, Jordi Murphy, David Shanahan, Angus Curtis, and Aaron Sexton

Connacht: Tiernan O’Halloran, Byron Ralston, Tom Farrell, Tom Daly, John Porch, Conor Fitzgerald, Kieran Marmion, Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Jack Aungier, Gavin Thornbury (CAPT), Leva Fifita, Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver,  Paul Boyle

Replacements: . Dylan Tierney-Martin, Denis Buckley, Sam Illo, Niall Murray, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Caolin Blade, David Hawkshaw, Oran McNulty

Ulster Head Coach Dan McFarland, said: “It’s interesting to have an Interpro up first in the new season. The players are looking forward to playing full-stop, but the Interpro element adds something a little bit extra. From my point of view, it’s always a big one against Connacht. We have the attitude that it’s a great opportunity for us to test what we’ve been doing in pre-season, given what they offer around their line speed, relentless defence, and endless attack. Those are areas that are going to test us.”

Connacht Director of Rugby Andy Friend said: “We’ve had a very positive pre-season and there’s now a huge sense of excitement among the group. There’s a genuine belief and optimism about what we can achieve in this first block of games, which all starts in Belfast tomorrow night. Ulster are a quality side and our battles against them are always hard fought. We’re really looking forward going head-to-head with them in what should be a great season opener for us both.”