United Rugby Championship Team Announcement Round 9

The teams for Saturday's Round 9 fixtures of the United Rugby Championship have been named with all details of match officials and broadcast information below.

TEAM NEWS HEADLINES

#CONMUN

• Bundee Aki starts for Connacht at inside centre. While Matthew Devine could earn his first cap for the province from the bench.

• Jack O’Donoghue will captain Munster with seven changes to the team that defeated Castres in the Heineken Champions Cup.

#SCAOSP

• Scott Williams will captain Scarlets in the Welsh derby fixture.

• Keelan Giles returns to the starting line-up for Ospreys after a long-term injury.

SATURDAY, 1ST JANUARY

Dragons Rugby v Cardiff Rugby

Rodney Parade, Newport – KO 15.00 IRE & UK / 16.00 ITA / 17.00 SA

POSTPONED

Connacht Rugby v Munster Rugby

The Sportsground, Galway – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA / 19.15 SA

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU, 15th league game)

AR 1: Andrew Brace (IRFU) AR 2: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1 & URC TV.

Connacht Rugby: Tiernan O’Halloran, John Porch, Sammy Arnold, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Jack Carty (CAPT), Kieran Marmion, Matthew Burke, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Oisín Dowling, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler.

Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Tietie Tuimauga, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Eoghan Masterson, Abraham Papali’I, Matthew Devine, Conor Fitzgerald, Tom Farrell

Munster Rugby: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Shane Daly; Ben Healy, Craig Casey; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue (CAPT), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Keynan Knox, Thomas Ahern, Jack Daly, Neil Cronin, Jack Crowley, Rory Scannell.

Connacht Head Coach Andy Friend said: “First of all it’s great we’re able to get this game played. All players selected came through numerous PCR and antigen tests this week, and with the amount of cases in the community at the moment a huge amount of work has gone on to ensure we’ve had no significant outbreak in the group. This is obviously a very important game if we’re to achieve our aim of a top 4 finish in the URC. We’ve no game in the competition for a month after this weekend so it’d be great to have another win under our belt, albeit it against a very strong Munster team.”

Scarlets Rugby v Ospreys Rugby

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA / 19.15 SA

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 13th league game)

AR 1: Ben Breakspear (WRU) AR 2: Rhys Jones (WRU)

TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU)

Live on: S4C, Premier Sports 2 & URC TV

Scarlets Rugby: Liam Williams, Johnny McNicholl, Steff Hughes, Scott Williams (CAPT), Steff Evans, Dan Jones, Gareth Davies, Rob Evans, Ryan Elias, Harri O’Connor, Sam Lousi, Tom Price, Blade Thomson, Josh Macleod, Sione Kalamafoni.

Replacements: Daf Hughes, Steff Thomas, WillGriff John, Aaron Shingler, Tomas Lezana, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Patchell, Tom Rogers.

Ospreys Rugby: Dan Evans, Keelan Giles, Michael Collins, Owen Watkin, Luke Morgan, Josh Thomas, Rhys Webb(CAPT), Nicky Smith, Elvis Taione, Tomas Francis, Will Griffiths, Adam Beard, Ethan Roots, Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris

Replacements: Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Tom Botha, Lloyd Ashley, Sam Cross, Matthew Aubrey, Joe Hawkins, Keiran Williams

Ulster Rugby v Leinster Rugby

Kingspan Stadium, Belfast – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 21.35 SA

POSTPONED

SUNDAY, 2ND JANUARY

Benetton Rugby v Zebre Parma

Stadio Monigo, Treviso – KO 13.00 IRE & UK / 14.00  ITA / 15.00 SA

POSTPONED

Edinburgh Rugby v Glasgow Warriors

The DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh – KO 14.00 IRE & UK / 15.00 ITA / 16.00 SA

POSTPONED