Friday's PRO12 teams: Isa Nacewa to make 150th Leinster appearance
Thursday 15 September 2016 15:53, UK
A host of international stars return to club duty in the Guinness PRO12 on Friday night, while Isa Nacewa and WP Nel reach appearance milestones for Leinster and Edinburgh respectively.
Two sides with 100 per cent records meet at the Arms Park as Cardiff Blues host Glasgow, with Ulster also seeking a third successive victory when they entertain winless Scarlets.
Leinster travel to Scotland for the second time in seven days as they face Edinburgh at Murrayfield, and head coach Leo Cullen has rung the changes.
Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors (7pm)
Cardiff have recalled four Wales internationals with Sam Warburton and Josh Turnbull coming into a reshuffled pack.
Lloyd Williams starts at scrum-half in place of Tomos Williams while Matthew Morgan comes in for injured winger Dan Fish.
Glasgow hand a first competitive start to centre Nick Grigg with Ali Price and Rory Clegg forming a new half-back partnership.
Scotland international Josh Strauss is named at No 8 after recovering from injury with Ryan Wilson moving to openside.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams; 1 Gethin Jenkins (c), 2 Kristian Dacey, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 4 George Earle, 5 Josh Turnbull, 6 Sam Warburton, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 8 Josh Navidi.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Blaine Scully.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Ali Price; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 6 Rob Harley, 7 Ryan Wilson, 8 Josh Strauss.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Lewis Wynne, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Rory Hughes.
Ulster v Scarlets (7.05pm)
Ulster make eight changes as Ireland internationals Craig Gilroy, Paddy Jackson and Stuart McCloskey come into the backline along with All Black Charles Piutau.
Hooker Rob Herring makes his 100th appearance for the province and is joined in the front row by Callum Black and Rodney Ah You, while Peter Browne and Alan O'Connor form a new second-row partnership.
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Aled Thomas comes in at full-back for the Scarlets as they seek their first win of the season. Liam Williams shifts to the wing to accommodate Thomas' inclusion while Hadleigh Parkes partners Jonathan Davies in midfield.
Lewis Rawlins replaces Aaron Shingler in the back row after missing the defeat to Edinburgh due to illness.
Scarlets: 15 Aled Thomas, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens (c), 3 Werner Kruger, 4 Jake Ball, 5 David Bulbring, 6 Lewis Rawlins, 7 James Davies, 8 John Barclay.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Scott Williams, 23 Steff Hughes.
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Stuart Olding, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar; 1 Callum Black, Rob Herring (c), 3 Rodney Ah You, 4 Peter Browne, 5 Alan O'Connor, 6 Clive Ross, 7 Sean Reidy, 8 Robbie Diack.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Angus Lloyd, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Rob Lyttle.
Edinburgh v Leinster (7.35pm)
Leinster captain Isa Nacewa makes his 150th appearance for the province while a number of Ireland internationals return to their pack.
Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin and Mike Ross come into the front row with Devin Toner and Jamie Heaslip at lock and No 8 respectively.
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park makes his first start for Leinster with Zane Kirchner moving to full-back in place of the injured Rob Kearney.
WP Nel will captain Edinburgh on his 100th appearance for the club as they make two changes to the team that defeated the Scarlets last weekend.
Tonga international Viliami Fihaki makes his debut at No 8, prompting a switch to the blindside for Magnus Bradbury.
Hamish Watson starts at openside in place of John Hardie, who continues his return-to-play protocols after sustaining a head knock against the Scarlets.
Edinburgh: 15 Glenn Bryce, 14 Michael Allen, 13 Sasa Tofilau, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Tom Brown,10 Duncan Weir, 9 Nathan Fowles; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Ross Ford, 3 WP Nel, 4 Ben Toolis, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 6 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Viliami Fihaki.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Kevin Bryce, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Solomoni Rasolea, 23 Blair Kinghorn.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Isa Nacewa (c), 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Sean Cronin, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Mike McCarthy, 6 Jordi Murphy, 7 Dan Leavy, 8 Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Rory O'Loughlin.
