URC, Round Nine - teams and predictions

12/30/2024 08:40 AM

NEW YEAR'S DAY PREVIEW: Cardiff will look to cement their place in the top three when Round Nine of the United Rugby Championship concludes on Wednesday.

Back-to-back Welsh derby wins against the Dragons (31-23 at Arms Park and 24-22 at Rodney Parade) saw Cardiff move into third place with 26 points from eight starts - behind an unbeaten Leinster (43 points with nine from nine) and defending champions Glasgow Warriors (33 - six wins from nine starts).

Cardiff hosts an erratic Ospreys at Arms Park in one of two Welsh derbies on New Year's Day.

Ospreys' form has been spotty, at best - recording wins over Scarlets, Lions and Edinburgh, with losses to Montpellier and Zebre sandwiched in between.

Coming off that win at Rodney Parade last week, Cardiff will be confident of bagging at least a win at home.

"It's a case of dust yourselves down and go again [after Boxing Day]," Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt said.

"The Ospreys are a good side and that had a great win against the Scarlets before Christmas.

"At the moment, all derbies are tight games with four teams who are quite evenly matched.

"It's about coming out on the right side of those little moments.

"We will need to be at our best but we are looking forward to getting back in front of our home crowd at the Arms Park.

"The game is already sold out and it promises to be a great occasion.

"These are the games everyone wants to be a part of and there is a real sense of excitement in the group."

Ospreys coach Mark Jones said: "Both teams will be on a high after the first-round Christmas derbies and we're expecting another close-fought fixture in this one.

"Cardiff has had a strong start to the season and will be looking to build on that, but our focus is on our performance and giving a strong account of ourselves on the day."

* The other New Year's Day Welsh derby sees Scarlets - coming off back-to-back losses - 15-17 to Glasgow Warriors and 22-23 to Ospreys - host the basement-dwelling Dragons at Parc y Scarlets.

"The boys have been able to spend some time with their families over Christmas and have come in ready for another massive challenge," Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel said.

"We know the Dragons are going to be competitive and are going to be physical, like they were against Cardiff on Boxing Day.

"Home games are always vitally important, regardless of who you play and we want to put in a big performance in front of our fans."

Dragons backs coach Matt O'Brien said: "We're looking forward to getting back out on the field and improving on our last performance.

"There was a lot of good in the game with Cardiff, but also some clear areas that we need to address if we're to get a positive result in Llanelli.

"Scarlets have had some good results this season, particularly at home where they have won the last three, stretching back to the start of October.

"We will need to be at our best, but it's a New Year's Day derby and challenge we are all looking forward to."

All of Wednesday's teams and predictions are below ...

Cardiff v Ospreys
(Arms Park, Cardiff - Kick-off: 15.00, 15.00 GMT)

Prediction

Teams

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Ben Thomas (captain), 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Kieron Assiratti, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Danny Southworth.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Taulupe Faletau, 22 Aled Davies, 23 Rory Jennings.

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (captain), 5 James Fender, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 James Ratti, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Evardi Boshoff.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (Wales)

Scarlets v Dragons
(Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli - Kick-off: 17.15, 17.15 GMT)

Prediction

Teams

Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Archer Holz, 19 Vaea Fifita Taylor, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Eddie James.

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Jared Rosser, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Huw Anderson, 10 Angus O'Brien (captain), 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ryan Woodman, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Nick Thomas, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Che Hope, 22 Will Reed, 23 Harry Wilson.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales) , Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)