{"id":484536,"date":"2026-05-14T16:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/484536\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:02:13","slug":"urc-round-18-predictions-teams-kick-off-how-to-watch-referees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/484536\/","title":{"rendered":"URC round 18: Predictions, teams, kick-off, how to watch, referees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbarians<\/a><\/p>\n

The United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season concludes this weekend with three games taking place on Friday night and the remaining five scheduled on Saturday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check on all the team news, our predictions, how to watch and more below.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/b><\/p>\n

Cardiff Rugby v Stormers<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b> Stormers by 5<\/p>\n

Cardiff:<\/b> 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Ben Thomas, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 George Nott, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Danny Southworth
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Alun Lawrence, 20 Evan Lloyd, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Stef Emanuel, 23 Leigh Halfpenny<\/p>\n

Stormers:<\/b> 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adr\u00e9 Smith, 3 Neethling Fouch\u00e9 (c), 2 Andr\u00e9-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements:<\/b> 16 JJ Kotz\u00e9, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Jurie Matthee<\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off:<\/b> 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Andrew Brace (IRFU) 116th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Ben Connor (WRU), Lucas Yendle (WRU)
TMO:<\/b> Olly Hodges (IRFU)
How to watch:<\/b> S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Ulster v Glasgow Warriors<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b> Glasgow by 5<\/p>\n

Ulster:<\/b> 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Wilhelm De Klerk, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Bryn Ward, 7 Nick Timoney (c), 6 Joe Hopes, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom O\u2019Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Sam Crean
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Lorcan McLoughlin, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Ethan McIlroy<\/p>\n

Glasgow Warriors:<\/b> 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (c), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne, 8 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Ollie Smith<\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Affidea Stadium, Belfast
Kick-off:<\/b> 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR) 50th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Max Weston (IRFU), Sam Holt (IRFU)
TMO:<\/b> Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Live on:<\/b> Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Edinburgh v Connacht<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b> Connacht by 3<\/p>\n

Edinburgh:<\/b> 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Piers O\u2019Conor, 12 Findlay Thomson, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Euan McVie, 21 Tom Currie, 22 Charlie Shiel, 23 Jack Brown<\/p>\n

Connacht:<\/b> 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Harry West, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Eoin de Buitl\u00e9ar, 1 Billy Bohan
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Mikey Yarr, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 David O\u2019Connor, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Se\u00e1n Naughton<\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off:<\/b> 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU) 15th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Ian Kenny (SRU), Rob McDowell (SRU)
TMO:<\/b> Keith David (WRU)
How to watch:<\/b> Premier Sports, TG4, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Loose Pass: The \u2018nonsense\u2019 Henry Pollock argument that spells \u2018danger\u2019 and private equity America is coming to England<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday<\/b><\/p>\n

Sharks v Zebre Parma<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b><\/p>\n

Sharks:<\/b> 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 14 Jaco Williams, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (c), 11 Litelihle Bester, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Phatu Ganyane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Le Roux Malan<\/p>\n

Zebre Parma:<\/b><\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off:<\/b> 12.45 IRE & UK\/ 13.45 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Adam Jones (WRU) 50th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Griffin Colby (SARU), Sean Muller (SARU)
TMO:<\/b> Paul Larter (SRU)
How to watch:<\/b> SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Bulls v Benetton<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b><\/p>\n

Bulls:<\/b><\/p>\n

Benetton:<\/b><\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Kick-off:<\/b> 15.00 IRE & UK\/ 16.00 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Craig Evans (WRU) 74th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Christopher Allison (SARU), Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO:<\/b> Ben Breakspear (WRU)
How to watch:<\/b> SuperSport, Premier Sporst, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Leinster v Ospreys<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b><\/p>\n

Leinster:<\/b><\/p>\n

Ospreys:<\/b><\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off:<\/b> 17.15 IRE & UK\/ 18.15 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Ru Campbell (SRU) 4th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Peter Martin (IRFU), Dan Carson (IRFU)
TMO:<\/b> Dave Sutherland (SRU)
How to watch:<\/b> TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Bernard Jackman pinpoints Rieko Ioane\u2019s strengths and weaknesses during Leinster stint and reveals which position suits him best<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Scarlets v Dragons<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b><\/p>\n

Scarlets:<\/b><\/p>\n

Dragons:<\/b><\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
Kick-off:<\/b> 17.15 IRE & UK\/ 18.15 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Ben Whitehouse (WRU) 116th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Ben Connor (WRU), Carwyn Sion (WRU)
TMO:<\/b> Aled Griffiths (WRU)
How to watch:<\/b> S4C, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

Munster v Lions<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/b><\/p>\n

Munster:<\/b> 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Smith, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Se\u00e1n O\u2019Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O\u2019Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Michael Ala\u2019alatoa, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements:<\/b> 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Evan O\u2019Connell, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Ben O\u2019Donovan, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Kendellen<\/p>\n

Lions:<\/b><\/p>\n

Venue:<\/b> Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off:<\/b> 19.45 IRE & UK \/ 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee:<\/b> Andrea Piardi (FIR) 60th game
Assistant Referees:<\/b> Keane Davison (IRFU), Jonathan Erskine (IRFU)
TMO:<\/b> Stefano Penne (FIR)
How to watch:<\/b> Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Springboks prop set to miss the Rugby World Cup after doping suspension handed down<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season concludes this weekend with three games taking place on Friday night…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[112481,61008,44561,71791,85824,5882,18,112482,794,19,17,38909,22360,5599,5,112483,55409,112484,15057,132,112485,41016,42271,112486],"class_list":{"0":"post-484536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-benetton-treviso","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-cardiff-rugby","11":"tag-connacht","12":"tag-dragons","13":"tag-edinburgh","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-glasgow-warriors","16":"tag-home-page","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-leinster","20":"tag-lions","21":"tag-munster","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-ospreys","24":"tag-predictions","25":"tag-scarlets","26":"tag-sharks","27":"tag-sports","28":"tag-stormers","29":"tag-ulster","30":"tag-united-rugby-championship","31":"tag-zebre"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116573775165813663","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}