The 2020/21 PRO Rugby season kicked off last night. The Champions, Leinster, have barely shaken off their hang-overs having lifted the PRO14 trophy for the 2019/20 season less than a month ago in Dublin.

Zebre hosted Cardiff Blues in the first match of the season. The Blues will return home with a victory under their belts. This in spite of a red card issued in the 43rd minute to their number 8 Josh Turnbull for what has been described in some quarters as a ‘Farrell-esque’ tackle on Zebre’s Maxime Mbanda. A reported 1000 spectators attended the match in the stadium which has a capacity of 5000.

There were wins for last seasons Finalists as Ulster eventually ran out as winners against Benetton in a match that was squared at 21 all at half time.

Ulster picked up a bonus point, scoring 5 tries one of which by powerhouse number 8 Marcell Coetzee. Around 600 spectators were allowed in to watch the match in Belfast at a time when COVID-19 infection rates are rising sharply in Northern Ireland, although possible mitigation is that the capacity of Kingspan Stadium said to be around 18 000 and fans were seen to be wearing face coverings.

Meanwhile Leinster picked up where they left off last season with a comfortable comprehensive bonus point win against the Dragons. Former Stormer Jamie Roberts made his debut for Dragons in the match and spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for a high tackle.

Three more games are scheduled for today with Scarlets, Connacht and Edinburgh playing in the familiar surroundings of their home grounds.

Both hosts, Scarlets and Edinburgh, will be missing a key player due to COVID-19 restrictions. Scarlets’ centre Johnny Williams misses their opening match as he is self-isolating. Edinburgh’s star flanker Jamie Ritchie, who hasn’t tested posistive, is left out of their squad as  precaution after being in contact with a family member who is self-isolating.

Two hundred spectators are set to watch the game in Galway between Connacht and Glasgow Warriors.

Question mark

In case anyone is wondering the question mark next to PRO in the header is not a mistake. There is currently uncertainty surrounding this season as this weekend only sees 12 European based teams in action. There has been talk of the 4 South African Super Rugby franchises joining PRO rugby in place of the Cheetahs and Kings. However, it is unclear when the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers are likely to start taking part in the competition.

Fixtures and Results

Zebre 6/16 Cardiff Blues

Zebre:  Junior Laloifi; Federico Mori, Giulio Bisegni (capt), Tommaso Boni, Mattia Bellini; Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi; Daniele Rimpelli, Oliviero Fabiani, Eduardo Bello, Mick Kearney, Leonard Krumov, Maxime Mbandà, Johan Meyer, Jimmy Tuivaiti.

Replacements: Massimo Ceciliani, Danilo Fischetti, Giosuè Zilocchi, Cristian Stoian, Lorenzo Masselli, Guglielmo Palazzanit, Antonio Rizzi, Jacopo Trulla.

Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Josh Adams, Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo, Hallam Amos; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams; Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Dmitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Cory Hill (capt), Shane Lewis-Hughes, James Botham, Josh Turnbull.

Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Rhys Carré, Dillon Lewis, Ben Murphy, Olly Robinson, Lewis Jones, Jason Tovey, Garyn Smith.

Leinster 35/5 Dragons

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Ciarán Frawley, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Ed Byrne, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Bent, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.

Replacements: Seán Cronin, Cian Healy, Andrew Porter, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Tommy O’Brien.

Ulster 35/24 Benetton 

Ulster: Stockdale; Gilroy; Hume, S Moore; Lyttle; Lowry, Cooney; McGrath, Herring, M Moore; Carter, Henderson (capt); Rea, Reidy, Coetzee.

Replacements:McBurney, Milasinovich, O’Sullivan, O’Connor, McCann, Mathewson, Johnston, Ludik.

Benetton: Hayward; Tavuyara; Brex, Zanon; Ioane; Garbisi, Duvenage (capt); Traore, Faiva, Riccioni; Lazzaroni, Ruzza; Negri, Steyn, Halafihi.

Replacements:Lucchesi, Quaglio, Ferrari, Cannone, Snyman, Pettinelli, Braley, Padovani.

Scarlets v Munster – (kick off 16oo SA time)

Scarlets: Leigh Halfpenny; Tom Rogers, Jonathan Davies, Steff Hughes, Steff Evans; Dan Jones, Gareth Davies; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens (capt), Werner Kruger, Jake Ball, Sam Lousi, Blade Thomson, Josh Macleod, Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Lewis Rawlins, James Davies, Kieran Hardy, Patchell, Tyler Morgan.

Munster: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Darren Sweetnam; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey; James Cronin, Rhys Marshall, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Jeremy Loughman, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Neil Cronin, Ben Healy, Rory Scannell.

Connacht v Glasgow Warriors – (kick off 1815 SA time)

Connacht: Porch; Sullivan, Farrell, Aki, Wootton; Carty, Marmion; Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham; Thornbury, Roux; Butler (capt), Oliver, Boyle.

Replacements: Murphy, Duggan, Aungier, Murray, Masterson, Blade, Fitzgerald, Arnold.

Glasgow Warriors: Jones; Seymour, Grigg, McDowall, Nairn; Hastings, Price; Kebble, Brown, Rae; Harley, Cummings; Wilson, Fusaro, Fagerson.

Replacements: Turner, Seiuli, Pieretto, Gray, Lokotui, G Horne, P Horne, Tagive.

Edinburgh v Ospreys – (kick off 2035 SA time)

Edinburgh: Hoyland; Graham, Bennett, Dean, Farndale; Van der Walt, Shiel; Schoeman, McInally (capt), Berghan, Toolis, Gilchrist, Bradbury, Crosbie, Haining.

Replacements: Cherry, Bhatti, Nel, Davidson, Watson, Nutton, Chamberlain, Taylor.

Ospreys: Evans; Protheroe, Watkin, Williams, Morgan; Myler, Webb; Smith, Parry, Botha, Beard, Wyn Jones, Cracknell, Tipuric (capt), Morris.

Replacements: Lake, Jones, Fia, Davies, Lydiate, Morgan-Williams, Thomas, Thomas-Wheeler.