The May Day weekend should provide the most intense scrutiny of the RaboDirect PRO12 table to date.
The opening fixture between Zebre and Ospreys could go a long way to answering some of the questions – a loss for the hosts would put Treviso in the driving seat for the Italian spot in next season’s European competition, whilst a loss for the visitors Ospreys, without picking up any league points, would take away their mathematical chances of making the Play-Offs .
edinburghrugby
Bonus point wins are the big prize in the game at Ravenhill on Friday night – a bonus point win for hosts, Ulster, would secure their place in the Play-Offs regardless of the Ospreys result, whilst a maximum pointer for Leinster would gain them home advantage having already qualified for a top four finish.
Also on Friday Scarlets have the chance to secure European rugby next season needing just two points from their game against Dragons, and deny Cardiff Blues or Edinburgh any mathematical chance of beating them to sixth place.
Glasgow Warriors’ win over Edinburgh in their rearranged fixture last weekend lifted them into the second spot, which will stand them in good stead as they go looking for maximum points in Italy (v Treviso) to support their push for a home Play-Off, while the Italians push for the automatic place in Europe.
The calculators will be to the fore in Limerick as Munster fans watch their three main competitors for the Play-Offs battle it out on Friday night before they take on Edinburgh Rugby the following day.
Any points that the Munstermen can take out of this game reduces the pressure on their last fixture, which will be against Ulster.
One of the most exciting penultimate rounds of recent years could set up a grandstand finish for the last round of the regular season.
Connacht will host Cardiff Blues on Saturday in a match whose result will have no bearing on who plays in the European Rugby Champions Cup next season.
Glasgow Warriors team to face Treviso:
15 Stuart Hogg
14 Tommy Seymour
13 Mark Bennett
12 Peter Horne
11 Nikola Matawalu
10 Finn Russell
9 Henry Pyrgos
1 Gordon Reid
2 Pat MacArthur
3 Geoff Cross
4 Tim Swinson
5 Jonny Gray
6 Robert Harley
7 Tyrone Holmes
8 Josh Strauss (Captain)
Substitutes
16 Fraser Brown
17 Ryan Grant
18 Jon Welsh
19 Leone Nakarawa
20 Chris Fusaro
21 Chris Cusiter
22 Ruaridh Jackson
23 Sean Maitland
Not available due to injury: Michael Cusack (medical/illness), Alex Dunbar (wrist/thumb), Finlay Gillies (neck), Ed Kalman (back), Sean Lamont (knee), Tom Ryder (knees), DTH van der Merwe (shoulder) and Ryan Wilson (shoulder)
The match between Zebre and Ospreys took place tonight. Final score – Zebre 30/27 Ospreys. Both teams scored 3 converted tries with the difference being 3 penalties to Zebre to Ospreys 2. Halftime score was 16/6 I Zebre’s favour.
Tonight’s win moves Zebre up from 12th to 11th on the log with a total of 29 points now from 21 games, Treviso are also on 29 points but are below Zebre on points difference. Treviso have only played 20 games so far.
Teams for match between Edinburgh and Munster:
Edinburgh: Jack Cuthbert, Tom Brown, Matt Scott, Andries Strauss, Tim Visser, Carl Bezuidenhout, Greig Laidlaw (capt), Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Willem Nel, Grant Gilchrist, David Denton, Mike Coman, Tomas Leonardi, Cornell Du Preez.
Replacements: James Hilterbrand, Wicus Blauuw, Simon Berghan, Ben Toolis, Dimitri Basilaia, Grayson Hart, Piers Francis, Sam Beard.
Munster: Simon Zebo, Gerhard VD Heever, Johne Murphy, Denis Hurley, Andrew Conway, JJ Hanrahan, Conor Murray, James Cronin, Duncan Casey, John Ryan, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell Capt., CJ Stander, Tommy O’Donnell, Paddy Butler.
Replacements: Damien Varley, Dave Kilcoyne, Alan Cotter, Dave Foley, James Coughlan, Duncan Williams, Ian Keatley, Luke O’Dea.
Edinburgh seem to be running a bit low on locks so David Denton starts for them at lock against Munster, going to be hard going against the strong experienced lock pair of Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan.
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