Stormers welcome Springboks hopeful and prop back for URC race to eight, Emiliano Boffelli out for Edinburgh
sacha-feinberg-mngomezulu-Emiliano-Boffelli
Round 16 of the United Rugby Championship kicks off Friday evening with the Dragons hosting the Stormers while Zebre tackle Edinburgh Rugby in the Scottish capital.
The Stormers welcome back playmaker Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu from injury as they tackle the Dragons at Rodney Parade while Edinburgh’s Los Pumas star Emiliano Boffelli misses their crunch clash against Zebre.
Check out the team news for Friday’s URC matches below.
Dragons RFC v Stormers
The red-hot Warrick Gelant maintains his place at full-back for the Stormers alongside Suleiman Hartzeberg and Angelo Davids in a dangerous-looking back-three.
There is no Damian Willemse this week as Dan du Plessis starts at 12 with Wandisile Simelane at outside centre. Springboks duo Manie Libbok and Herschel Jantjies start again.
Loosehead Sti Sithole makes his return from injury, with Springboks Joseph Dweba and Fans Malherbe completing the front-row. Salmaan Moerat captains the side again as he continues his partnership with rising star Ruben van Heerden.
Head coach John Dobson has opted for a physical back-row with Willie Engelbrecht, Ben-Jason Dixon and Evan Roos starting.
The Stormers have opted for a 5-3 bench headlined by the return of prodigy Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu while Hacjivah Dayimani and Neetling Fouche will look to make their impact off the pine.
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For the hosts, Aaron Wainwright starts at number eight with flanks Sean Lonsdale and Harri Keddie in the back-row.
Ahead of them is the lock pairing of Matthew Screech and George Nott while prop Rhodri Jones and Chris Coleman start with hooker Elliot Dee in the coalface.
Scrum-half Dan Blacker is named alongside Will Reed in the half-back pairing while Aneurin Owen and Steff Hughes lineup in the midfield. Chris Hollis starts at wing as does Welsh speedster Rio Dyer while Jordan Williams is full-back.
The Dragons have gone for a regular bench with Taine Basham and Sio Tomkinson as the featured stars.
The teams
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Chris Hollis, 10 Will Reed, 9 Dane Blacker,8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Sean Lonsdale,5 George Nott, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 James Benjamin, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Sio Tomkinson
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
Kick-off: 19.35 BST (20.35 ITA & SA)
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Maickel English (WRU), Gareth Newman (WRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
Broadcasters: BBC Wales, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
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Edinburgh Rugby v Zebre Parma
Edinburgh are chasing a top-eight finish and enters round 16 of the URC ranked ninth, just behind Benetton.
Ahead of the clash, head coach Sean Everitt has made just two changes to the starting XV which defeated Cardiff last time out in the competition.
Los Pumas international Emiliano Boffelli has suffered another injury setback and misses the clash with a back strain which has resulted in Matt Currie shifting to the wing allowing for Mark Bennett to start at outside centre.
Bennett links up with James Lang in the centres with Duhan van der Merwe on the left wing and Wes Goosen at fullback.
Ali Price and Ben Healy continue as the starting halfbacks with the second change coming the forward pack as Bill Mata starts at number eight in place of Luke Crosbie – who drops to the bench.
The tight five remains unchanged with Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and WP Nel starting up front with Sam Skinner and captain Grant Gilchrist in the second row.
Zebre, who are dealing with somewhat of an injury crisis, have made several changes to their starting lineup ahead of their clash with Edinburgh.
Despite their growing injury list, head coach Fabio Roselli has named a threatening back three consisting of Geronimo Prisciantelli, Jacopo Trulla and Simone Gesi.
Enrico Lucchin and Fetuli Paea combine in the centres with Thomas Dominguez and Giovanni Montemauri the starting nine and ten, respectively.
Giovanni Licata captains the side from number eight and is flanked by Taina Fox-Matamua and Giacomo Ferrari with Andrea Zambonin and Matteo Canali named as the starting locks.
The front row of Muhamed Hasa, Giampietro Ribaldi and Juan Pitinari completes the starting team.
Zebre’s replacements are: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Samuele Taddei, Riccardo Genovese, David Sisi, Bautista Stavile, Gonzalo Garcia, Damiano Mazza and Lorenzo Pani.
The teams
Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Matt Currie, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter (63), 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Chris Dean
Zebre Parma: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giovanni Montemauri, 9 Thomas Dominguez, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Taina Fox-Matamua, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Giampietro Ribaldi, 1 Muhamed Hasa
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Samuele Taddei, 18 Riccardo Genovese, 19 David Sisi, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Damiano Mazza, 23 Lorenzo Pani
Venue: Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19.35 BST (20.35 ITA & SA)
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (SRU), David Sutherland (SRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)
Broadcasters: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv