Round 18 Teams and Fixtures

DHL Stormers v Cardiff Rugby

DHL Stadium, Cape Town – KO 18.00 IRE & UK / 19.00 ITA / 19.00 SA

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR, 41st league game)

AR 1: AJ Jacobs (SARU) AR 2: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)

TMO: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

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

DHL Stormers: Damian Willemse, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Wandisile Simelane, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies, Sti Sithole, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouché, Salmaan Moerat (CAPT), JD Schickerling, Dave Ewers, Louw Nel, Marcel Theunissen

Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Vernon Matongo, Sazi Sandi, Connor Evans, Paul de Villiers, Paul de Wet, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ben Loader

Cardiff Rugby: Cam Winnett, Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Gabe Hamer-Webb, Callum Sheedy, Aled Davies, Danny Southworth, Evan Lloyd, Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally (CAPT), Teddy Williams, Alun Lawrence, Alex Mann, Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: Dafydd Hughes, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, James Botham, Dan Thomas, Johan Mulder, Rory Jennings

DHL Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said: “The last three matches at home have seen us gain some confidence and secure our Play-Off spot with a game to go, but we know we are in for a big test against a Cardiff side that has it all to play for. We have made some changes to ensure that we have enough players with recent gametime heading into the Play-Offs and we are looking forward to seeing what those coming into the mix this week can do. We are also very aware that we are unlikely to play at home again this season, so we want to put together a good performance for the fans that have shown us such incredible support.”

Cardiff Rugby Head Coach Matt Sherratt said: “At the start of the year if you were saying that we were in round 18 and we had a game to get in the play-off, we would snatch your hand-off. It’s must-win game in terms of getting in that top eight. DHL Stormers are a good team and are in good form as well. Like all the South African teams, they’ve got that balance between power and pace and their backs are very, very dangerous. It would be brilliant if we reached the playoffs. We have never been in the Vodacom URC Play-Offs before and for the club with our history and the potential, we should be getting into the top eight. It’s going to be a tough ask because results went against us at the weekend, but we spoke to the players around not trying to creep in, let’s win a game and get in there rather than hope that other teams didn’t get what they needed.”

Edinburgh Rugby v Ulster

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

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU, 67th league game)

AR 1: Ru Campbell (SRU)  AR 2: Rob McDowell (SRU)

TMO: Tom Spurrier (WRU)

Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Edinburgh Rugby: Wes Goosen, Darcy Graham, Matt Currie, James Lang, Harry Paterson, Ross Thompson, Ali Price, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D’arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Sam Skinner, Ben Muncaster, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury (CAPT)

Replacements: Paddy Harrison, Boan Venter, Javan Sebastian, Glen Young, Jamie Ritchie, Charlie Shiel, Ben Healy, Mark Bennett

Ulster: Michael Lowry, Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak, Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (CAPT), Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, David McCann

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, James McNabney, David Shanahan, Aidan Morgan, Stewart Moore

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Sean Everitt said: “Last weekend’s gritty victory in Galway was a testament to the resilience and character within this squad, and it provides us with real momentum as we head into tomorrow night’s match against Ulster. The passion and energy of our supporters at Hive Stadium have been incredible, and that atmosphere will be absolutely crucial in driving us forward once again. To be playing in front of third consecutive sell-out crowd will be simply amazing – it underscores the connection we have with our city. We know we are playing for Edinburgh, for our supporters, and we are determined to deliver a performance they can be proud of.”

Ulster Head Coach Richie Murphy said: “It means a lot to us in terms of who we play for and who we represent. So we’re looking for one last big effort and try and come out on the right side of it.”

Munster v Benetton

Virgin Media Park, Cork – KO 20.00 IRE & UK / 21.00 ITA / 21.00 SA

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 90th league game)

AR 1: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU) AR 2: Sam Holt (IRFU)

TMO: David Sutherland (SRU)

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Munster: Thaakir Abrahams, Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Jack Crowley, Craig Casey, Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (CAPT), Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes

Replacements: Lee Barron, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern, Conor Murray, Seán O’Brien, Alex Kendellen

Benetton: Rhyno Smith, Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Ignacio Brex, Paolo Odogwu, Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi; Thomas Gallo, Siua Maile, Simone Ferrari, Scott Scrafton, Federico Ruzza (CAPT), Riccardo Favretto, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone

Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Mirco Spagnolo, Tiziano Pasquali, Niccolò Cannone, Sebastian Negri, Nicolò Casilio, Tomas Albornoz, Malakai Fekitoa

Benetton Head Coach Marco Bortolami said: “Looking ahead Munster, we know that we will have to play a great match. We are aware that for the second consecutive year, destiny is in our hands, we will go there and play our cards to try to get into the top eight of the Vodacom URC”