URC Round 6

#ULSvBEN

• Dave Shanahan in line for 100th Ulster appearance from bench
• Onisi Ratave starts for the first time at 14 for Benetton

#DRAvLEI

• New loan signing Will Austin on bench for Dragons RFC
• Josh Ericson, who was added to the Leinster Academy earlier this month, is in line to make his debut off the bench

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28

Ulster Rugby v Benetton

Affidea Stadium, Belfast – KO 19.45 IRE & UK / 20.45 ITA / 21.45 SA

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU, 56th league game)

AR 1: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU) AR 2:  Max Weston (IRFU)

TMO: David Sutherland (SRU)

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

Ulster Rugby: Jacob Stockdale, Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Jude Postlethwaite, Werner Kok, Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak, Sam Crean, Tom Stewart, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, Iain Henderson, David McCann, Nick Timoney Juarno Augustus

Replacements: Rob Herring, Callum Reid, Tom O’Toole , Matthew Dalton, Bryn Ward, David Shanahan, Jake Flannery, Stewart Moore

Benetton: Rhyno Smith, Onisi Ratave, Paolo Odogwu, Filippo Drago, Ignacio Mendy, Jacob Umaga, Andy Uren, Destiny Aminu, Bautista Bernasconi, Giosuè Zilocchi, Federico Ruzza, Eli Snyman, Jadin Kingi, Michele Lamaro (CAPT), So’otala Fa’aso’o

Replacements: Nicholas Gasperini, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Marcos Gallorini, Giulio Marini, Alessandro Izekor, John Bryant, Louis Werchon, Leonardo Marin

Benetton Head Coach Calum MacRae said: “It’ll be an extremely physical match against Ulster, and we’ll need to start strong from the first minute. We’ll need to be consistent and clinical, capitalizing on our opportunities and conceding little to our opponents”

Dragons RFC v Leinster Rugby

Rodney Parade, Newport  – KO 19.45 IRE & UK / 20.45 ITA / 21.45 SA

Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU, 19th league game)

AR 1: Craig Evans (WRU) AR 2:  Lucas Yendle (WRU)

TMO: Chris Allison (SARU)

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

Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien (CAPT), Cai Evans, David Richards, Aneurin Owen, Huw Anderson, Tinus de Beer, Rhodri Williams; Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Oli Burrows, Robert Hunt, Seb Davies, Matthew Screech, Ryan Woodman, Thomas Young, Mackenzie Martin

Replacements: Will Austin, Wyn Jones, Owain James, Levi Douglas, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Niall Armstrong, Joe Westwood, Ewan Rosser

Leinster Rugby: Jimmy O’Brien, Joshua Kenny, Hugh Cooney, Ciarán Frawley, Jordan Larmour, Harry Byrne, Fintan Gunne; Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Diarmuid Mangan, Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, Max Deegan (CAPT)

Replacements: John McKee, Jerry Cahir, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Josh Ericson, Luke McGrath, Charlie Tector, Ruben Moloney

Dragons RFC Head Coach Filo Tiatia said: “Leinster have a good coaching group and a very good squad that they can rely on – with a lot of Ireland international players.

“Whatever team they bring over, they will be very good.

“I am sure there will be good numbers at Rodney Parade to support us and we know that Leinster are a very talented side. It’s a challenge we need to embrace.”

Leinster Rugby Head Coach Leo Cullen said: “A lot of the lads are raring to go for the next block of games, especially the ones that didn’t play last week, and there are loads of young lads itching to play on the flip side that haven’t played for the last number of weeks.

“That’s what we want, guys that are hungry and wanting to play for Leinster and making sure they want to give everything of themselves every opportunity they get to put on a Leinster jersey, because it has to mean something, it has to be special. That’s the beauty of that last game against Zebre, and you can see how cool it was for the group, because the wider group wants to make it special for all those players making their debut.

“I’d love to be picking guys making a debut every week, you know, because you can see how everyone rallies around that.”