{"id":658059,"date":"2026-05-08T16:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/658059\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:26:11","slug":"predictions-teams-kick-off-how-to-watch-referees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/658059\/","title":{"rendered":"Predictions, teams, kick-off, how to watch, referees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United Rugby Championship (URC) returns this weekend with Round 17 seeing three matches take place on Friday night with the remaining five scheduled on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Check on all the team news, our predictions, how to watch and more below.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff<\/p>\n

Prediction: Glasgow by 14<\/p>\n

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (c), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Ally Miller, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Patrick Schickerling, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Macenzzie Duncan, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Ollie Smith<\/p>\n

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Josh Adams, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Rhys Barratt
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 George Nott, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Ioan Lloyd<\/p>\n

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium (Glasgow)
Kick-off: 19:45 IRE & UK \/ 20:45 ITA & SA
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU, 39th game)
Assistant Referees: Ru Campbell (SRU), David Sutherland (SRU)
TMO: Colin Stanley (IRFU)
How to watch: Premier Sports, BBC Wales, SuperSport, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Ulster v Stormers<\/p>\n

Prediction: Stormers by 2<\/p>\n

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 14 Ethan McIlroy, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Tom O\u2019Toole, 2 James McCormick, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Eric O\u2019Sullivan, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Wilhelm De Klerk<\/p>\n

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Wandisile Simelane, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adr\u00e9 Smith, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Andr\u00e9-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Paul de Villiers, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Jurie Matthee<\/p>\n

Venue: Affidea Stadium (Belfast)
Kick-off: 19:45 IRE & UK \/ 20:45 ITA & SA
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 60th game)
Assistant Referees: Padraic Reidy (IRFU), Jack MacNeice (IRFU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
How to watch: Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Stormers copy Springboks\u2019 hooker ploy amid injury crisis as Evan Roos equals legend\u2019s record<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

Bulls v Zebre Parma<\/p>\n

Prediction: Bulls by 25<\/p>\n

Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Jeandre Rudolph, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Marco van Staden, 1 Jan Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Stedman Gans<\/p>\n

Zebre Parma: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Martin Roger Farias, 9 Thomas Dominguez, 8 Giovanni Licata (c), 7 Davide Odiase, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Franco Carrera, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Giampietro Ribaldi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Luca Franceschetto, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Samuele Locatelli, 22 Alessandro Fusco, 23 Migael Prinsloo<\/p>\n

Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium (Pretoria)
Kick-off: 12:45 IRE & UK \/ 13:45 ITA & SA
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 115th game)
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), Dylen November (SARU)
TMO: Adam Jones (WRU)
How to watch: SuperSport, Premier Sports, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Sharks v Benetton<\/p>\n

Prediction: Sharks by 5<\/p>\n

Sharks: 15 Jaco Williams, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (c), 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Phatu Ganyane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Nicholas Hatton, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Litelihle Bester<\/p>\n

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Alessandro Izekor, 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Giulio Marini, 4 Niccol\u00f2 Cannone (c), 3 Marcos Gallorini, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Destiny Aminu
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Mattia Midena, 20 So\u2019otala Fa\u2019aso\u2019o, 21 Federico Ruzza, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Federico Zanandrea<\/p>\n

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park (Durban)
Kick-off: 15:00 IRE & UK \/ 16:00 ITA & SA
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU, 20th game)
Assistant Referees: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU), Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)
TMO: Craig Evans (WRU)
How to watch: SuperSport, Premier Sports, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Sharks gamble on teen sensation\u2019s positional switch amid fly-half rumours while Siya Kolisi starts<\/a><\/p>\n

Ospreys v Scarlets<\/p>\n

Prediction: Ospreys by 3<\/p>\n

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Ratti, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Steffan Thomas
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Keelan Giles, 23 Evardi Boshoff<\/p>\n

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Macs Page, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (c, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Jac Price, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Josh Morse, 18 Harri O\u2019Connor, 19 Dan Davis, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 23 Ioan Jones<\/p>\n

Venue: Electric Brewery Field (Bridgend)
Kick-off: 17:30 IRE & UK \/ 18:30 ITA & SA
Referee: Ben Connor (WRU, 8th game)
Assistant Referees: Carwyn Sion (WRU), Gareth Newman (WRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
How to watch: S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Leinster v Lions<\/p>\n

Prediction: Leinster by 10<\/p>\n

Leinster: 15 Ciar\u00e1n Frawley, 14 Joshua Kenny, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Jimmy O\u2019Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 James Culhane, 7 Will Connors, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 John McKee, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Hugh Cooney, 23 Hugo Keenan<\/p>\n

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Erich Cronje, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morn\u00e9 van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Kelly Mpeku<\/p>\n

Venue: Aviva Stadium (Dublin)
Kick-off: 17:30 IRE & UK \/ 18:30 ITA & SA
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU, 28th game)
Assistant Referees: Keane Davison (IRFU), Suart Gaffikin (IRFU)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
How to watch: Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Dragons v Edinburgh<\/p>\n

Prediction: Dragons by 5<\/p>\n

Dragons: 15 Angus O\u2019Brien (cc), 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Ben Carter (cc), 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Harri Ackerman, 23 Huw Anderson<\/p>\n

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mosese Tuipulotu, 12 Findlay Thomson, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Tom Currie, 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Glen Young, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Liam McConnell, 21 Magnus Bradbury, 22 Charlie Shiel, 23 Piers O\u2019Conor<\/p>\n

Venue: Rodney Parade (Newport)
Kick-off: 19:45 IRE & UK \/ 20:45 ITA & SA
Referee: Filippo Russo (FIR, 9th game)
Assistant Referees: Lucas Yendle (WRU), Marcus Caudle (WRU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
How to watch: Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

Connacht v Munster<\/p>\n

Prediction: Connacht by 3<\/p>\n

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Harry West, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Billy Bohan
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitl\u00e9ar, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Se\u00e1n Naughton<\/p>\n

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Michael Ala\u2019alatoa, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Conor Bartley, 19 Jack O\u2019Donoghue, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Ben O\u2019Donovan, 22 Se\u00e1n O\u2019Brien, 23 Alex Kendellen<\/p>\n

Venue: Dexcom Stadium (Galway)
Kick-off: 19:45 IRE & UK \/ 20:45 ITA & SA
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU, 15th game)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (IRFU), Sam Holt (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)
How to watch: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, URC.tv and FloRugby<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Leinster great claims Leo Cullen \u2018is wasting his time\u2019 and the selection \u2018risk\u2019 they need to take before facing Bordeaux in the final<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United Rugby Championship (URC) returns this weekend with Round 17 seeing three matches take place on Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,178371,36177,45840,179194,4027,58385,201597,818,6265,4127,136041,44,193328,7708,760,59697,1042,85,134440,178372,134441,136780],"class_list":["post-658059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-benetton-treviso","tag-bulls","tag-cardiff-rugby","tag-connacht","tag-dragons","tag-edinburgh","tag-glasgow-warriors","tag-home-page","tag-leinster","tag-lions","tag-munster","tag-news","tag-ospreys","tag-predictions","tag-rugby","tag-scarlets","tag-sharks","tag-sports","tag-stormers","tag-ulster","tag-united-rugby-championship","tag-zebre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}