IRISH RUGBY SUPPORTERS would have hoped to be more heavily invested in the World Cup for the rest of the month but with Andy Farrell’s squad home from France, attention can turn to the URC, which kicks-off for the 2023/24 season this weekend.
The league has at times struggled to capture the imagination over the years but the latest iteration has been a huge success, with the URC quickly proving to be a competitive, entertaining league full of twists and high-quality contests.
Still, the format and structure of the competition has been far from perfect but the good news is that this season, the URC is simplifying it’s qualification system for the Champions Cup. Now the top eight sides will all qualify for the Champions Cup as the league adopts a more straightforward, merit-based approach. Previously, the winners of the regional ‘Shields’ were awarded a place in the Champions Cup, as the desire for representation across the nations only served to over-complicate things.
All four Irish provinces will hope to be in the mix this season, but all four face interesting questions. How will Connacht adjust to life without Andy Friend? How will Leinster handle the departures of Johnny Sexton and Stuart Lancaster? Can Munster build on last season’s URC title win and can Ulster finally deliver on their potential under Dan McFarland?
Here, we take a look at how the provinces are shaping up for the new campaign ahead of the opening round of fixtures:
Connacht
It’s been a summer of significant change for Connacht, with Andy Friend moving on after five years at The Sportsground. Pete Wilkins, who has been working alongside Friend since 2017, now steps up to lead a new coaching team, which includes former Leinster and Australia player Scott Fardy as defence coach, Mark Sexton, brother of Johnny, as assistant attack and skills coach and Connacht legend John Muldoon in charge of lineout and maul.
On the pitch, the province will be looking to build on some positive signs of progress last season. A difficult schedule saw Connacht lose four of their opening five fixtures but the province recovered to make the play-offs, their season ending with a semi-final defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town.
The pre-season hasn’t been ideal. Santiago Cordero is a statement signing but the Argentinian is unlikely to feature until April after suffering a serious knee injury in August.
Still, this afternoon’s clash with the Ospreys [KO 3pm] presents a good opportunity to get off to a winning start. Connacht won both ties against the Welsh side in 2022 and have named a strong side for the opener. There are six summer signings in line to debut, with Joe Joyce, JJ Hanrahan and Andrew Smith all in the starting team, and Tadgh McElroy, Seán O’Brien and Liam McNamara on the bench.
CONNACHT: Andrew Smith; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Cathal Forde, Byron Ralston; JJ Hanrahan, Caolin Blade (captain); Denis Buckley, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jack Aungier; Oisín Dowling, Joe Joyce; Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Jarrad Butler.
Replacements: Tadgh McElroy, Peter Dooley, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Niall Murray, Seán O’Brien, Colm Reilly, Jack Carty, Liam McNamara.
OSPREYS: Max Nagy; Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Garyn Phillips, Ethan Lewis, Tom Botha; Rhys Davies, Will Griffiths; James Ratti, Justin Tipuric (captain), Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Lewis Lloyd, Rhys Henry, Ben Warren, Huw Sutton, Harri Deaves, Luke Davies, Jack Walsh, Dom Morris.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Leinster
Like Connacht, Leinster go into the new season with some big personalities gone from the changing room. Ireland’s World Cup exit signalled the end of Johnny Sexton’s playing career, and the province will hope his absence doesn’t lead to a drop in standards. The out-half has been the driving force at Leinster for the last decade and as Dan Sheehan put it last weekend, “you might be playing fecking Dragons or Zebre, and on a Monday he’ll be screaming at people to make sure standards are set.”
If that wasn’t enough, Stuart Lancaster is also gone, joining Racing 92 over the summer after seven years in Dublin. South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber will arrive to fill his position after the World Cup, but it will be interesting to see how Leinster handle this period of transition.
Last year was a heartbreaking one for Leinster, who ended the season trophyless for the second time running. The Champions Cup remains the big one for them, but recapturing the league title will have taken on heightened significance after the last couple of years.
They open with a tricky trip to play Glasgow on Sunday [KO 4pm]. Interestingly, Leo Cullen has opted to play Ciarán Frawley at fullback, with Harry Byrne starting at 10. The highly-rated Sam Prendergast starts on the bench, and it will be fascinating to watch how the battle for that 10 shirt unfolds as the season progresses. Dynamic loosehead Jack Boyle is another young player to watch, as is number eight James Culhane, who impressed during his time with the Ireland U20s.
GLASGOW: Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Steyn (captain); Tom Jordan, Jamie Dobie; Oli Kebble, Angus Fraser, Zander Fagerson; Greg Peterson, Scott Cummings; Gregor Brown, Rory Darge, Henco Venter.
Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Nathan McBeth, Lucio Sordoni, Alex Samuel, Ally Miller, Thomas Gordon, George Horne, Duncan Weir.
LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley; Tommy O’Brien, Liam Turner, Charlie Ngatai, Jordan Larmour; Harry Byrne, Luke McGrath; Jack Boyle, John McKee, Thomas Clarkson; Ross Molony, Jason Jenkins; Max Deegan, Scott Penny (captain), James Culhane.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Paddy McCarthy, Rory McGuire, Brian Deeny, Rhys Ruddock, Cormac Foley, Sam Prendergast, Will Connors.
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Munster
Naturally, there’s plenty of excitement around Munster given just how well last season went. After a slow start to their campaign, Graham Rowntree’s side took off and were crowned URC champions after a supremely impressive end to the season, winning some tough games in South Africa before downing Leinster at the Aviva and upsetting the Stormers in Cape Town.
With Rowntree keen to bring through young talent, they found success earlier than most would have expected. The challenge now is to build on that. The leadership and experience of Keith Earls will be missed, but others look ready to make this team their own. It’s a massive year for Jack Crowley, who looks primed to own the 10 shirt with both Munster and Ireland. With Crowley not yet back in the fold after Ireland’s World Cup campaign, Joey Carbery starts this evening’s meeting with the Sharks [KO 5.15pm] and gets an early chance to remind everyone of his talents after a difficult end to the season last year.
He’s joined in the half-backs by academy scrum-half Ethan Coughlan, who makes his first start for Munster. Coughlan is one of five academy players in the match-day 23, with Edwin Edogbo also in the first 15 and Kieran Ryan, Brian Gleeson and Shay McCarthy set to make their senior debuts off the bench. New signing Alex Nankivell is among the replacements after arriving from New Zealand last weekend, while Tom Ahern is set for his first competitive appearance in a year after a shoulder injury.
If Munster can push through more young players while building on last season’s success, it could be another memorable year at Thomond Park.
MUNSTER: Shane Daly; Andrew Conway, Antoine Frisch, Rory Scannell, Calvin Nash; Joey Carbery, Ethan Coughlan; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Stephen Archer; Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue (captain), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Kieran Ryan, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Brian Gleeson, Neil Cronin, Alex Nankivell, Shay McCarthy.
SHARKS: Boeta Chamberlain; Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Francois Venter (captain), Marnus Potieter; Curwin Bosch, Cameron Wright; Ntuthuko Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Coenie Oosthuizen; Emile van Heerden, Reniel Hugo; James Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi, George Cronje.
Replacements: Dan Jooste, Dian Bleuler, Hanro Jacobs, Vincent Tshituka, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Zee Mkhabela, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Aphelele Fassi.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
Ulster
Ulster often promise so much only to fall short, and this season, Dan McFarland will hope they have better luck on the injury front as they bid to finally deliver on their potential. Things never really took off for Ulster last season and their home quarter-final defeat to Connacht was a hugely underwhelming end to the campaign.
The province have often teased at taking the next step in their development and one look at the team selected for today’s trip to play Zebre Parma [KO 1pm] highlights the talent Ulster have so often had to plan without. At fullback, there’s a first competitive start since 2021 for Will Addison. He’s joined in the back three by Michael Lowry – who has been almost exclusively used as a 15 in recent seasons – and Jacob Stockdale. Keep those three fit, and Ulster can cause any team problems. And that’s before adding Robert Baloucoune, who misses out this weekend, to the mix.
Hooker Tom Stewart is rewarded for his breakthrough season last year by being handed the captaincy today, while there’s a first competitive start for new signing Dave Ewers in the back row. The half-back pairing of Jake Flannery and Nathan Doak provides another glimpse at Ulster’s potential future. The signature of Springbok Steven Kitshoff is a real coup, and the prop might even have a second World Cup winners medal in his pocket by the time he arrives in Belfast.
The talent is there, it’s just a question of whether Ulster can find consistency.
ZEBRE PARMA: Lorenzo Pani; Ben Cambriani, Fetuli Paea, Enrico Lucchin, Simone Gesi; Geronimo Prisciantelli, Gonzalo Garcia; Paolo Buonfiglio, Luca Bigi, Juan Pitinari; David Sisi, Andrea Zambonin; Guido Volpi, Giacomo Ferrari, Giovanni Licata (captain).
Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi, Muhamed Hasa, Riccardo Genovese, Matteo Canali, Bautista Stavile, Alessandro Fusco, Tiff Eden, Scott Gregory.
ULSTER: Will Addison; Michael Lowry, James Hume, Angus Curtis, Jacob Stockdale; Jake Flannery, Nathan Doak; Andy Warwick, Tom Stewart (captain), Greg McGrath; Matty Rea, Kieran Treadwell; Dave Ewers, Marcus Rea, David McCann.
Replacements: John Andrew, Callum Reid, James French, Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, Dave Shanahan, Billy Burns, Stewart Moore.
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
********
URC fixtures:
Saturday:
Zebre Parma v Ulster
Stadio Lanfranchi
1pm, Premier Sports/URC TV
Connacht v Ospreys
The Sportsground
3pm, TG4/Premier Sports/URC TV
Munster v Hollywoodbets Sharks
Thomond Park
5.15pm, TG4/Premier Sports/URC TV
Sunday:
Glasgow Warriors v Leinster
Scotstoun Stadium
4pm, RTÉ/Premier Sports/URC TV
