URC Round 14 - Team selection

27 March 2026

Sharks: 15 Lua Giliomee, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Ethan Hooker, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Phatu Ganyane

Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Jannes Potgieter, 21 Jaden Hendrikse / Ross Braude, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Le Roux Malan

Cardiff: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Iwan Stephens, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder; 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (Captain), 1 Corey Domachowski.

Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Alun Lawrence, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Elijah Evans

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Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Fergus Watson, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ben Afshar, 8 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Max Williamson, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling.

Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Alex Craig, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Jack Oliver, 23 Dan Lancaster.

Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynach, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Tomas Medina, 11 Rhyno Smith, 10 Leonardo Marin, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza (captain), 4 Niccolo Cannonne, 3 Marcon Gallorini, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Destiny Aminu.

Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Mattia Midena, 21 Jadin Kingi, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Filippo Drago

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Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrse, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Joshue Kenny, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelon Doris (captain) , 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter

Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jerry Cahir, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Robbie Henshaw

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Dane Blacker; 8 Fletcher Anderson (captain), 7 Dan Davis, 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Harry Thomas, 1 Kemsley Mathias.

Replacements: 16 George Roberts, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan Jones, 23 Macs Page

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28 March 2026

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.

Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Khuta Mchunu, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Cheswill Jooste, 23 David Kriel.

Munster: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey (captain), 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Michael Milne

Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 John Ryan, 19 Edwin Edogbo, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 John Hodnett

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Connacht: 15 Sean Naughton, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Paul Boyle (captain), 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.

Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 David O’Connor, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Oisin McCormack.

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Dan Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Luke Davies, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Ratti, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Lewis Lloyd, 1 Steffan Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Ryan Smith, 20 James Fender, 21 Morgan Morris, 22 Harri Williams, 23 Max Nagy.

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Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze

Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Eddi Eddie Davids, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Richard Kriel

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Angus O’Brien (co-captain), 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.

Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Jordan Morris, 18 Owain James, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jac Lloyd, 23 Fetuli Paea.

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Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Damian Willemse, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Jurie Matthee.

Edinburgh: 15 Piers O’Connor, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Malelili Satala, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.

Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mosese Tuipulotu, 23 Jack Brown.

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29 March 2026

Zebre: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 David Odiase, 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Leonard Krumov (captain), 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa.

Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Juan Pitinari, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Giacomo Ferrari, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Martin Roger Farias, 23 Luca Morisi.

Ulster: 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Zac Ward, 10 James Humphreys, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Bryn Ward, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 David McCann, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Joe Hopes, 3 Tom McAllister, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.

Replacements: 16 James McCormick, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ben Carson, 23 Ben Moxham.

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re is a reason I posted this issue early - the teams will available only by Friday - but I have borne in mind the rankings after completion of Round 13 - the top 8 rankings qualifying to play in the Quarterfinals/

The Top 8 rnkin g s are as follows:-

1 Glasgow - 50 points

2 Stormers - 46 points

3 Ulster - 42 points

4 Leinster - 41 points

5 Cardiff - 40 points

6 Munster - 39 points

7 Lions - 38 points

8 Bulls - 35 points

Some observations: -

The Sharks is not there yet = they only have 29 points and is still behind in the race to the Quarterfinals - but they need to win the next two matches to be wthin striking distance,

All of Glasgow, the Lions, the Bulls and the Sharks did the Stormes a favour by putting more distance , between the Stormers and the 3rd to 6tth rankings on the log, .

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The upcoming maches this week is another possible clean sweep in Round 14.

I think the Bull ndd Sharks in particular have never this year played two good matches in a row. They can do th e Stormers a favor by winning hei matches Losing by their two opponents - will put firthe distance between the Stormers and the relevant two opponens, especially if he Stormers win their own match.

A fter the next Round there is a two eek break in this tounment o allow for two European Champions C up matches woth the Stomers and Bulls being in at lest in the latter series next weekend,

S o we will see what the rankings look like onm 17 April 2026 when the next URC is bound to be played the weekend starting with 17 April 2026. Important since both Du Toit nd de A llende indicated hat this is the last seson theyw ould be playing rugby in Japan and likely to return to play for the Stormers in the upcoming 2026-27 tournaments. Bort sure about Marx - but he islikely to be in the same situation.

All three players have a major target and that i to play in the 2027 RWC after which theya re likely to retire. I think the main aim of Du Toit is to go farming after his retirement from professional Rugby.

The Bulls are sure fire for the play-offs. They had most of their difficult games at the start of the season.

The Lions have Munster, Leinster and the Galsgow...at least Glasgow is at Ellis Park.

The Dragons is a sure win for them, and then might need two wins from the final 4 games to get into the playoffs.

Based on the points already accumulated, the Stompies should make it too.

Very much doubt the Sharks will get in. I think they need to win almost all of their games from here on out.

Hope you are right about the Bulls + but there is a bizare way they losing matches.