James Ryan returns to lead Leinster as Bulls and Stormers miss key Springboks for United Rugby Championship quarter-finals

The United Rugby Championship has entered its play-off stage with the quarter-finals set to get underway this weekend and there are some interesting clashes lined up.

The first quarter-final sees defending champions Munster host Ospreys on Friday before the remaining three get underway on Saturday with the Bulls, Leinster and Glasgow Warriors hosting Benetton, Ulster and the Stormers in their respective matches.

Leinster have received a shot in the arm as Ireland second-row James Ryan returns to their run-on side to captain them at the Aviva Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Bulls will be without injured Springboks duo Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden for their clash with Benetton at Loftus Versfeld, while another Bok, Evan Roos of the Stormers, will miss his side’s clash with Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun due to concussion.

Friday, June 7

Munster v Ospreys

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Seán O’Brien, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 RG Snyman, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 John Ryan, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Mike Haley

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Jac Morgan, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Victor Sekekete, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Luke Scully, 23 Harri Houston

Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU, 14th league game)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (FIR), Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
Live on: RTÉ, S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Saturday, June 8

Bulls v Benetton

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Sergeal Petersen

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Edoardo Iachizzi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Niccolò Cannone, 21 Lorenzo Cannone, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacob Umaga

Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Kick-off:14.30 IRE & UK / 15.30 ITA & SA
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 82nd game)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (SRU), Adam Jones (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Live on: SuperSport, Sky Italia, TG4, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

United Rugby Championship quarter-final storylines: The weight of Munster’s crown, go time for the Bulls and Leinster’s knockout woes

Leinster v Ulster

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Ciarán Frawley

Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 David McCann, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Greg Jones, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ethan McIlroy, 23 Jude Postlethwaite

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17.00 IRE & UK / 18.00 ITA & SA
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 95th league game)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Brain MacNeice (IRFU)
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Glasgow Warriors v Stormers

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Ross Thompson

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Connor Evans, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU, 43rd league game)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (IRFU), Peter Martin (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

READ MORE: United Rugby Championship: What is the protocol if a play-off match ends in a draw?