URC team news: Ireland stars Lowe and Sheehan bolster Leinster against stacked Stormers while Springboks to light up Jukskei derby

The United Rugby Championship (URC) returns this weekend with a full schedule as Round 10 kicks off with one match on Friday, five on Saturday and two on Sunday.

The weekend’s action gets underway on Friday evening with the Ospreys tackling Benetton.

The Jukskei derby kicks off Saturday with a Springboks-laden Bulls team crossing the river to tackle their rivals the Lions at the iconic Ellis Park.

Simon Easterby will be watching Leinster’s clash against a full-hog Stormers outfit with Dan Sheehan making his first appearance in over six months as he captains a side that includes the return of winger James Lowe.

The Sharks will be without Siya Kolisi for their meeting against Cardiff but have been boosted by the return of Makazole Mapimpi while the Dragons and Munster close out Saturday’s gameday action.

Glasgow Warriors and Connacht’s URC clash has been moved to Sunday with the fixture taking place before the weekend’s matches are wrapped up with Ulster hosting Zebre Parma.

Check on the URC team news, here.

Friday

Ospreys v Benetton

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Dan Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 James Ratti, 5 James Fender, 4 Will Spencer, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Lewis Lloyd, 1 Garyn Phillips
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Cam Jones, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Harri Deaves, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Tom Florence, 23 Iestyn Hopkins

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Siua Maile, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (c), 4 Giulio Marini, 3 Enzo Avaca, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Simon Koroiyadi, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Giuliano Avaca, 23 Federico Zananadrea

Venue: Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Ian Kenny (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse (WRU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Colin Brett (SRU)

Saturday

Lions v Bulls

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Raynard Roets, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Manuel Rass

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Willie le Roux

Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 14:45 local (12:45 GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), JD Jadezweni (SARU)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (SARU)

Springboks: Kurt-Lee Arendse’s Bulls return in doubt as Pieter-Steph du Toit could come in cold for Rassie Erasmus

Scarlets v Edinburgh

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Jac Davies, 13 Macs Page, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Josh Macleod (c), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Jac Price, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Jarrod Taylor

Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Harry Paterson, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Lewis Wells, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Tom Dodd, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Sam Skinner (c), 4 Glen Young, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Paddy Harrison, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Rob Carmichael, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Mosese Tuipulotu

Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Aaron Parry (WRU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

Leinster v Stormers

Leinster: 15 Henry McErlean, 14 Andrew Osborne, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Alex Soroka, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Dan Sheehan (c), 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Rory McGuire, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 James Culhane, 21 Will Connors, 22 Cormac Foley, 23 Charlie Tector

Stormers:?15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Wandisile Simelane

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17:00 GMT
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Chris Busby (IRFU), Jonathan Erskine (IRFU)
TMO: Colin Stanley (IRFU)

Leinster face competition for Rabah Slimani after France recall as veteran prop attracts Top 14 interest

Cardiff v Sharks

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 ?Rory Jennings, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Tom Bowen, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Josh McNally (c), 3 Rhys Litterick, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Rhys Barratt
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Ethan Lloyd, 22 Jacob Beetham, 23 Regan Grace

Sharks:?15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Ethan Hooker, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Vincent Tshituka (c), 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements:?16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Lappies Labuschagne, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Francois Venter, 23 Lukhanyo Am

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Mike