PREVIEW: The South African teams enter the fray with the United Rugby Championship still playing second fiddle to an international tournament – the Rugby Championship.
They missed last week’s opening round to avoid a clash with the Currie Cup Final, resulting in the Sharks beating the Lions with a 59-metre Jordan Hendrikse extra-time penalty.
That gives them a positive mindset going into the tournament – starting with a three-match road trip against Connacht, Dragons and Benetton.
In contrast, the Lions – the losing Currie Cup finalists are starting with home games against Ulster and Edinburgh, before hitting the road.
The Bulls, URC runners-up, also start with a couple of home games – Edinburgh and Ulster.
The Stormers, the inaugural URC champions, also start on the road – Ospreys, Zebre and Edinburgh.
Round Two starts with two Friday fixtures – Leinster hosting the Dragons and defending champions Glasgow Warriors taking on Benetton in their first game of the season at Scotstoun Stadium.
The focus of Round Two will be on the South African teams, with most of the spotlight on the Currie Cup champion Sharks.
Sharks coach John Plumtree was adamant that they have parked the Currie Cup season and are starting afresh.
They could not have asked for a tougher start – a tricky Connacht team at the Sportsground in Galway, fresh off a heartbreaking 33-35 loss to Munster at Thomond Park.
Plumtree also said he is not too concerned about the ‘expectation’ that comes with them being Currie Cup champions.
“I don’t think like that,” he told @rugby365com, adding that he is a ‘day-to-day’ coach.
“I challenge the boys all the time around being better every day.
“If you want to be a winner, you have to be ‘cursed’ – being the best you can be in every aspect of being a professional player.
“Winners are cursed with wanting to win all the time – something I want to grow within this team.
“It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, the mindset is about winning in the next job.”
He added that he will not load the players with additional pressure around expectations.
Turning to Connacht, he said they are a typical Irish province that likes to ‘play a lot’.
“They are very structured and on attack, they like to expose you in the middle of the park,” the Sharks coach added.
“They like to build pressure with the ball. They are a well-drilled side that has been together for a while – tough to beast at home in these [Galway] conditions on the 4G pitch.
“There is no doubt there are a few challenges for us here.”
(Article continues below the Plumtre preview …)
* The Lions have very contrasting emotions going into URC season four, with assistant coach Barend Pieterse admitting it was a ‘challenge’ to put the heartbreaking loss of last week behind them.
“We have not been in this situation before,” he told @rugby365com, adding: “You play in a Currie Cup Final and the next week you prepare for the URC.”
The players were given off on Monday to ‘refresh’ and when they started their build-up on Tuesday the vibe was positive.
Loose forward Francke Horn said they are ‘excited’ to get a new campaign underway.
“We are looking to build on the momentum that the Currie Cup players brought,” he said, adding that a number of the players from the Currie Cup squad has been included in the URC group.
“We are looking forward to starting the campaign on a positive note, especially at home.
“Hopefully the many fans from last week [the Currie Cup Final] return and come support us again,” he added.
* The Stormers will be looking for a far better start than last season when they lost all four matches on tour.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that his squad understands just how important this tour will be in the context of their season.
“It is vital that we make a positive start to this campaign and take some momentum into the home matches against Munster and Glasgow next month,” Dobson said.
“We know how important it is in this competition to perform on the road, so we will give these three matches all we have.
“There are some new faces as well as a few old ones, but all of these players are hungry to make an impression in the Stormers jersey over the next three weeks,” he added.
Backline coach Dawie Snyman spoke about the ‘novelty’ of playing at the Brewery Field, in Bridgend a venue they will be visiting for the first time.
“It will be a tough start, but we are excited to get the season going,” he said.
He added that they would like to avoid a repeat of last season when they were ‘chasing their tails’ after a poor start.
* The defending champions, Glasgow Warriors, are keen to bounce back from last week’s opening round loss – 19-20 to Ulster at Ravenhill.
“This match presents us with an opportunity to build upon the effort shown by the players in our opening URC match of the season,” Warriors coach Franco Smith said of the Round Two home match against Benetton.
“Benetton has recruited well during the off-season and is a team with ambitions of challenging at the top of the standings; we know they will be a tough challenge and one we will need to meet head-on.”
* All the Round Two teams and predictions follow below …
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Glasgow Warriors v Benetton
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 Italian time; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Glasgow Warriors by 15 points
Teams
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Scott Cummings, 21 Gregor Brown, 22 George Horne, 23 Duncan Weir.
Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Sebastian Negri, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (captain), 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo.
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Aminu Destiny, 18 Riccardo Genovese, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Toa Halafihi, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Paolo Odogwu
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South African)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Scotland), Michael Todd (Scotland)
TMO: Christopher Allison (South African)
Leinster v Dragons
(Lansdowne Road, Dublin – Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 Italian & South African time; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster by 22 points
Teams
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Harry Wilson, 12 Steff Hughes, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 George Nott, 4 Ben Carter (captain), 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacement: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 George Young, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Joe Westwood, 23 Ewan Rosser.
Leinster: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan (captain), 7 Will Connors, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Aitzol King.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Tomas O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Lions v Ulster
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg – Kick-off: 12.55; 11.55 Ireland & UK time; 10.55 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Lions by six points
Teams
Lions: TBC
Ulster: TBC
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South African), Henru van Rooyen (South African)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Bulls v Edinburgh
(Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria – Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 Ireland & UK; 13.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bulls by nine points
Teams
Bulls: TBC
Edinburgh: TBC
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Griffon Colby (South African), Dylan November (South African)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Zebre v Munster
(Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – Kick-off: 16.00; 15.00 Ireland & UK time; 14.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Munster by 12 points
Teams
Zebre: TBC
Munster: TBC
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Scarlets v Cardiff
(Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli – Kick-off: 17.15; 16.15 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Scarlets by three points
Teams
Scarlets: TBC
Cardiff: TBC
Referee: Christopher Allison (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mike English (Wales) , Amber Stamp-Dunstan (Wales)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Connacht v Sharks
(The Sportsground, Galway – Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 South African time; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Connacht by five points
Teams
Connacht: TBC
Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Reniel Hugo, 21 Tino Mavesere, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Gurshwin Wehr.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)
Ospreys v Stormers
(Brewery Field, Bridgend – Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 South African time; 18.35 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Ospreys by five points
Teams
Ospreys: TBC
Stormers: TBC
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Rhys Jones (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
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