URC round eight: Predictions, teams, kick-off times, how to watch and referee appointments

The United Rugby Championship (URC) season gets back underway on Friday with two games before there’s another four matches on Saturday.

Here’s the team news, match officials, predictions and how to watch the action.

Friday

Cardiff v Dragons

Prediction: Cardiff by 20

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Harri Millard, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Rhys Barratt
Replacements:16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 George Nott, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 James Botham, 22 Johan Mulder, 23 Jacob Beetham

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (cc), 14 Huw Anderson, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Che Hope, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter (cc), 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 George Roberts, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Sam Scarfe, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Harri Keddie, 21 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 22 Rhodri Williams, 23 David Richards

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK / 16.00 ITA / 17.00 SA
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Ben Connor (WRU), Amber Stamp-Dunstan (WRU)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)
Live on: BBC Wales, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Scarlets v Ospreys

Prediction: Draw

Scarlets: 15 Ellis Mee, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Eddie James, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Joe Roberts, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Taine Plumtree, 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Ryan Elias (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Josh Morse, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Tristan Davies, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Elis Price, 23 Macs Page

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Ryan Conbeer, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Willians, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 James Ratti, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Huw Sutton, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Steffan Thomas
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Iestyn Hopkins

Venue: Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli
Kick-off: 17.30 IRE & UK / 18.30 ITA / 19.30 SA
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Carwyn Sion (WRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
Live on: S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Saturday

Zebre v Benetton

Prediction: Benetton by 5

Zebre Parma: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Giulio Bertaccini, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 David Odiase, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Bautista Stavile, 5 Leonard Krumov (c), 4 Giacomo Ferrari, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Alessandro Ortombina, 20 Matteo Canali, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Malik Faissal, 23 Giovanni Licata

Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Michele Lamaro (c), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Riccardo Favretto, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 21 Federico Ruzza, 22 Louis Werchon, 23 Rhyno Smith

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 14.30 IRE & UK / 15.30 ITA / 16.30 SA
Referee: Clara Munarini (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Federico Vedovelli (FIR), Lorenzo Pedezzi (FIR)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
Live on: Sky Italia, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors

Prediction: Glasgow by 10

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Cammy Scott, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Harri Morris, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Jack Brown

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Kyle Steyn (capt), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Angus Fraser, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Rory Darge, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Dan Lancaster

Venue: Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 15.00 IRE & UK / 16.00 ITA / 17.00 SA
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Rob McDowell (SRU), Jonny Mackenzie (SRU)
TMO: David Sutherland (SRU)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Connacht v Ulster

Prediction: Ulster by 7

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Daniel Ryan, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen (c), 7 Cian Prendergast, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Hugh Gavin

Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney (c), 6 David McCann, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Sam Crean
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Jude Postlethwaite

Venue: Dexcom Stadium, Galway
Kick-off: 17.30 IRE & UK / 18.30 ITA / 19.30 SA
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referees:  Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU), Max Weston (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Munster v Leinster

Prediction: Munster by 12

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Tadhg Beirne (c), 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 John Ryan, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Fineen Wycherley, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Dan Kelly, 23 John Hodnett

Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Andrew Osborne

Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK / 20.45 ITA / 21.45 SA
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Keane Davison (IRFU), Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

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

READ MORE: Ranking the 15 best Test debutants in 2025: All Blacks’ ‘big success’ edges out rising Springboks star with England also well represented