United Rugby Championship: Harry Byrne starts at 10 for Leinster against Ospreys while Finlay Bealham and Mack Hansen return for Ulster

The 2022/23 United Rugby Championship season continues with Round 12’s action that kicks off with Munster hosting the Lions on Friday.

Check on the team news and see our predictions for the weekend, here.

Friday

Munster v Lions

Prediction: Munster by 10

The teams:

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Alex Kendellen, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Gavin Coombes, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Roman Salanoa, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Cian Hurley, 20 Jack O’Sullivan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Dan Goggin, 23 Patrick Campbell

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Emile van Heerden, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Manuel Rass

Venue: Musgrave Park
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

Dragons v Bulls

Prediction: Bulls by 5

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Max Clark, 11 Sio Tomkinson, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Aki Seiuli
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Ben Fry, 22 Gonzalo Bertranou, 23 Will Reed

Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 David Kriel, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Gerard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Bismarck du Plessis, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Cornal Hendricks

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Mike English (Wales), Tom Spurrier (Wales)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Saturday

Benetton v Ulster

Prediction: Ulster by 4

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Iain Henderson (c), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Andy Warwick, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Ethan McIlroy

Venue: Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Filippo Russo (Italy), Filippo Vinci (Italy)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Edinburgh v Zebre

Prediction: Edinburgh by 12

The teams:

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Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Jack Blain, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Cammy Hutchison, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Nick Haining, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Luke Crosbie (c), 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Lang

Zebre: 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Boni, 12 Enrico Lucchin (c), 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 MJ Pelser, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Jacques Du Toit, 17 Alessio Sanavia, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Ratko Jelic, 22 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 23 Franco Smith Jr

Venue: DAM Health Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

Cardiff v Scarlets

Prediction: Cardiff by 10

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ioan Nicholas

Cardiff: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Josh Turnbull (c), 5 Seb Davies, 4 Lopeti Timani, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Mason Grady

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Gareth Newman (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Connacht v Sharks

Prediction: Connacht by 6

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (c), 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Oisín Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Leva Fifita, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Byron Ralston

Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Murray Koster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Nevaldo Fleurs, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Henco Venter, 6 James Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo (c), 4 Thembelani Bholi, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Fezo Mbatha, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Ockie Barnard, 20 Corne Rahl, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Ethan Hooker

Venue: Sportsground
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
TMO: Wayne Davies (Wales)

Ospreys v Leinster

Prediction: Leinster by 12

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Mat Protheroe, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smit
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Jack Walsh

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 19 James Ryan, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rob Russell

Venue: Swansea.com Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Dewi Phillips (Wales), Jason Bessant (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Sunday

Glasgow Warriors v Stormers

Prediction: Stormers by 7

The teams: 

Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Cameron Neild, 22 Ali Price, 23 Domingo Miotti

Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c)
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Angelo Davids

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam (Scotland), Ross Mabon (Scotland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)