{"id":670720,"date":"2026-05-14T16:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/670720\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:15:11","slug":"urc-round-18-predictions-teams-kick-off-how-to-watch-referees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/670720\/","title":{"rendered":"URC round 18: Predictions, teams, kick-off, how to watch, referees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbarians<\/a><\/p>\n

The United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season concludes this weekend with three games taking place on Friday night and 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

Cardiff Rugby v Stormers<\/p>\n

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

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Ben Thomas, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 George Nott, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Danny Southworth
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Alun Lawrence, 20 Evan Lloyd, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Stef Emanuel, 23 Leigh Halfpenny<\/p>\n

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adr\u00e9 Smith, 3 Neethling Fouch\u00e9 (c), 2 Andr\u00e9-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotz\u00e9, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Jurie Matthee<\/p>\n

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU) 116th game
Assistant Referees: Ben Connor (WRU), Lucas Yendle (WRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
How to watch: S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Ulster v Glasgow Warriors<\/p>\n

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

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Wilhelm De Klerk, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Bryn Ward, 7 Nick Timoney (c), 6 Joe Hopes, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom O\u2019Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Sam Crean
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Lorcan McLoughlin, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Ethan McIlroy<\/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 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Ollie Smith<\/p>\n

Venue: Affidea Stadium, Belfast
Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR) 50th game
Assistant Referees: Max Weston (IRFU), Sam Holt (IRFU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Edinburgh v Connacht<\/p>\n

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

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Piers O\u2019Conor, 12 Findlay Thomson, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Euan McVie, 21 Tom Currie, 22 Charlie Shiel, 23 Jack Brown<\/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 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Eoin de Buitl\u00e9ar, 1 Billy Bohan
Replacements: 16 Mikey Yarr, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 David O\u2019Connor, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Se\u00e1n Naughton<\/p>\n

Venue: Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU) 15th game
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (SRU), Rob McDowell (SRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
How to watch: Premier Sports, TG4, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Loose Pass: The \u2018nonsense\u2019 Henry Pollock argument that spells \u2018danger\u2019 and private equity America is coming to England<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

Sharks v Zebre Parma<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/p>\n

Sharks: 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 14 Jaco Williams, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (c), 11 Litelihle Bester, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Emmanuel 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 Deon Slabbert, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Le Roux Malan<\/p>\n

Zebre Parma:<\/p>\n

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 12.45 IRE & UK\/ 13.45 ITA & SA
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU) 50th game
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), Sean Muller (SARU)
TMO: Paul Larter (SRU)
How to watch: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Bulls v Benetton<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/p>\n

Bulls:<\/p>\n

Benetton:<\/p>\n

Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK\/ 16.00 ITA & SA
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU) 74th game
Assistant Referees: Christopher Allison (SARU), Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
How to watch: SuperSport, Premier Sporst, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Leinster v Ospreys<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/p>\n

Leinster:<\/p>\n

Ospreys:<\/p>\n

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17.15 IRE & UK\/ 18.15 ITA & SA
Referee: Ru Campbell (SRU) 4th game
Assistant Referees: Peter Martin (IRFU), Dan Carson (IRFU)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (SRU)
How to watch: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Bernard Jackman pinpoints Rieko Ioane\u2019s strengths and weaknesses during Leinster stint and reveals which position suits him best<\/a><\/p>\n

Scarlets v Dragons<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/p>\n

Scarlets:<\/p>\n

Dragons:<\/p>\n

Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
Kick-off: 17.15 IRE & UK\/ 18.15 ITA & SA
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU) 116th game
Assistant Referees: Ben Connor (WRU), Carwyn Sion (WRU)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)
How to watch: S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Munster v Lions<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/p>\n

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Smith, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Se\u00e1n O\u2019Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O\u2019Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Michael Ala\u2019alatoa, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Evan O\u2019Connell, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Ben O\u2019Donovan, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Kendellen<\/p>\n

Lions:<\/p>\n

Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR) 60th game
Assistant Referees: Keane Davison (IRFU), Jonathan Erskine (IRFU)
TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)
How to watch: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Springboks prop set to miss the Rugby World Cup after doping suspension handed down<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season concludes this weekend with three games taking place on Friday night…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670721,"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-670720","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\/670720","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=670720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}