Round 17 of the United Rugby Championship (URC) gets underway on Friday evening with two games as the Sharks host the Ospreys before Munster tackle Ulster in Limerick.

Sharks v Ospreys

Sharks head coach John Plumtree has largely stuck with the team that defeated Ulster 22-19 in Belfast two weeks ago as he makes just three changes to his starting XV.

There’s just the one tweak to the pack with Dian Bleuler coming in for Ox Nche (illness) at loosehead prop, while Siya Masuku replaces Jordan Hendrikse at fly-half and Jurenzo Julius takes over from Lukhanyo Am at outside centre.

The latter two play off the bench, with Francois Venter and Yaw Penxe named as their replacements.

Technically, there is also a further change to the side up front as Springboks star Eben Etzebeth was a late withdrawal from the Ulster clash but now returns as captain.

He is joined in the pack by the likes of Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch and Siya Kolisi, while Jaden Hendrikse, Makazole Mapimpi, Andre Esterhuizen and Aphelele Fassi are in the backline.

After two vital overseas wins in successive weekends, the Sharks sit in fourth place on the URC table, seven points ahead of Cardiff, who face the rampant Bulls at Loftus on Saturday.

The Durban side needs just three points from the final two weekends to ensure a home quarter and semi-final, but in this penultimate round will be looking for a full house of points to nail down a top four place – or higher should other results go their way.

Meanwhile, Wales back-row Jac Morgan captains the Ospreys for this clash in Durban.

Gareth Thomas starts at loosehead prop, with Dewi Lake lining up at hooker and Tom Botha completing the front-row.

Will Spencer and Adam Beard start in the second-row while James Ratti lines up at six, Morgan takes up the other flank, and Morgan Morse starts at eight.

In the backline, Kieran Hardy starts at scrum-half with Dan Edwards at 10.

Keiran Williams partners Evardi Boshoff in the midfield while the back three sees Jack Walsh start at full-back with Keelan Giles on one wing and Dan Kasende on the other.

The teams

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Dian Bleuler
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Emmanuel Tshituka, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Francois Venter, 23 Yaw Penxe

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Ratti, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Spencer, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Steffan Thomas, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Will Griffiths, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Iestyn Hopkins

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 19:00 local (18:00 BST, 17:00 GMT)
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Morne Ferreira (SARU), Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Live on: SuperSport, BBC Wales, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

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Munster v Ulster

Munster have made five changes to the side that faced Cardiff in the last round as Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett and Diarmuid Kilgallen all come into the starting XV.

In the back three, Thaakir Abrahams moves from wing to full-back, where he is joined by Calvin Nash and the returning Kilgallen.

The rest of the backline remains unchanged as Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell continue their centre partnership with Jack Crowley and Craig Casey starting at fly-half and scrum-half, respectively.

Up front, Michael Milne makes his second start for Munster in as many appearances, and he is joined in the front-row by Niall Scannell and Archer.

Kleyn and captain Tadhg Beirne start together in the engine room with a back-row of O’Mahony, Hodnett and Gavin Coombes completing the side.

Among the replacements, Lee Barron is in line for his second Munster appearance after making his debut against the Bulls last month. Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern and Alex Kendellen complete the forward cover with Conor Murray and Seán O’Brien the backline replacements.

On the injury front, Oli Jager and Diarmuid Barron were unavailable due to knocks.

Meanwhile, Ulster captain Iain Henderson returns from injury to reinforce the second-row, partnering Cormac Izuchukwu in a massive clash with their rivals.

Rob Baloucoune is back on the wing after recovering from the injury sustained against the Stormers, while Michael Lowry has completed his return-to-play protocols after a concussion and starts at full-back.

In the front-row, Andrew Warwick and Scott Wilson pack down either side of hooker Rob Herring. In the back-row, Matty Rea is joined by Nick Timoney at openside and James McNabney at number eight.

Nathan Doak and Jack Murphy continue their half-back partnership, with Jude Postlethwaite and Stuart McCloskey combining in midfield. Jacob Stockdale lines up on the left wing, with Baloucoune on the right and Lowry at 15 to round out the back three.

Richie Murphy has gone with a 5:3 split on the bench, with Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor and David McCann covering the forwards. The backline replacements are Dave Shanahan, Stewart Moore and Werner Kok.

The teams

Munster: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Tom Ahern, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Alex Kendellen

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jack Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 James McNabney, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 David McCann, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Werner Kok

Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU), Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
Live on: RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

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