Irish Rugby

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Leinster have named Harry Byrne at fly-half for Sunday's Investec Champions Cup last-16 game against Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST) as Ireland number 10 Sam Prendergast is not named in the matchday 23.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen makes four changes in total from the team which started last week's 36-19 United Rugby Championship win over Scarlets.

Ryan Baird is selected in the second row as he makes his first appearance since October after recovering from a broken leg, while Jack Conan comes in at blind-side flanker.

Rieko Ioane is selected at centre as he replaces the injured Garry Ringrose and Hugo Keenan's return to full-back sees Jimmy O'Brien move to the left wing, with Joshua Kenny dropping out.

James Ryan continues to be unavailable because of a calf issue.

Alex Usanov is in line to make his Champions Cup debut off the bench, while scrum-half Luke McGrath will make his 250th appearance for the Irish province if he is called into action from the replacements.

Ciaran Frawley and Robbie Henshaw are among the other options available to Cullen among the substitutes.

Leinster: Keenan; T O'Brien, Ioane, Osborne, J O'Brien; Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong; J McCarthy, Baird; Conan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: G McCarthy, Usanov, Clarkson, Deeny, Deegan, McGrath, Frawley, Henshaw.

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Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth will make his first start since serving a 12-week ban for an eye gouge against Wales in November 2025.

The 34-year-old, who has won 141 caps for South Africa and is their most-capped Test international of all time, has been included in the Sharks team to face Connacht in the Challenge Cup round of 16 on Friday (20:00 BST).

The two-time World Cup winner was shown a straight red card in the 79th minute after making contact with the eye of Wales' Alex Mann in their thumping 73-0 win in Cardiff and was subsequently banned for three months.

He is one of seven Springboks to make the trip to Galway for the knock-out match as Sharks head coach JP Pietersen brings a relatively understrength side to the west of Ireland with captain Andre Esterhuizen, Siya Kolisi and Grant Williams among those not in the squad.

Connacht welcome back captain Cian Prendergast to their starting line-up as head coach Stuart Lancaster makes seven changes to the side following their 21-14 defeat to Ospreys last week.

The 26-year-old is joined by fellow Irish internationals Bundee Aki and Darragh Murray in the starting line-up with Finlay Bealham named in the replacements.

After missing their last two matches, full-back Sam Gilbert returns with Chay Mullins coming in on the wing, and Matthew Devine gets the nod at scrum-half as Ben Murphy drops out of the matchday squad altogether.

Sharks are unbeaten in their last two URC games, recording wins over Cardiff and Munster, but have only won six matches in the league this season while Connacht are on a winning run of five matches as they make a late dash for a play-off spot.

Stuart Lancaster's side also hold the upper hand on Sharks, having won four of their last five meetings.

Connacht: Gilbert; Jennings, Forde, Aki, Mullins; Ioane, Devine; Bohan, Heffernan, Illo; Joyce, Murray; Murphy, Hurley-Langton, Prendergast (capt)

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Dooley, Bealham, Murray, Boyle, Reilly, Naughton, Devine.

Sharks: Kunene; van der Merwe, Malan, Potgieter, Mapimpi; Smith, Braude; Nche, Swart, Koch; Etzebeth, Slabbert; Mavesere, Potgieter, Hatton (c).

Replacements: Bester, Mazibuko, Mdanda, Rahl, Tshituka, Everson, Masuku, Hooker.

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Ireland international Tadhg Beirne returns to the starting team for his first appearance for Munster since January as they face to Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup last-16 on Saturday [12:30 BST].

The 34-year-old is one of ten changes made by head coach Clayton McMillian to the starting team following their narrow 34-31 loss to the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship last week.

Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Ben O'Connor, Alex Nankivell and Alex Kendellen are the only players to survive.

McMillan is without Diarmuid Barron, Calvin Nash and Brian Gleeson after the trip sustained concussions in South Africa while Fineen Wycherley and Jean Kleyn are ruled out through injury.

Beirne, who was ever-present in Ireland's Triple Crown winning Six Nations campaign, partners recent international Test debutant Edwin Edogbo in the second row with Gavin Coombes fit to start in the back row after recovering from an illness last weekend.

Tom Farrell will start alongside Nankivell in the midfield with Thaakir Abrahams and Diarmuid Kilgallen taking their place on the wings while there could be a debut for former New Zealand U-20 scrum half Ben O'Donovan, who is named amongst the replacements following his recent signing from Canterbury.

"It's an opportunity to play for some silverware," McMillan said ahead of the game.

"I think it's three games from here to the final of Challenge Cup and we have every intention of putting our best foot forward to try and do that.

"It won't be easy, but that's where our mindset is at.

"In the URC, the table is congested and there's no easy games and everyone's going to be scrapping for an opportunity to get into the top eight. So, I guess our overall mindset is from this point in, it's knockout rugby and that's the way we're approaching it."

Munster: O'Connor; Abrahams, Farrell, Nankivell, Kilgallen; Crowley, Casey; Loughman, Barron, Ryan; Edogbo, Beirne (c); O'Donoghue, Kendellen, Coombes.

Replacements: N Scannell, Milne, Ala'alatoa, Ahern, Quinn, O'Donovan, O'Brien, Hodnett.

Jana McCabe
BBC Sport NI journalist

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said his side "were a bit wasteful at times" during their 28-12 United Rugby Championship victory over Zebre in Parma.

Despite the home side being reduced to 14 men after Simone Gesi's straight red card just before the half-hour mark, it was a tight and tense match.

The bonus-point win moves Murphy's side up to third position in the URC table as they return to winning ways ahead of their Challenge Cup fixture against Ospreys at the Affidea Stadium.

"We expected it to be really physical over here and that is what we got," Murphy said.

"I suppose the red card early in the game gave us a bit more of an advantage and I thought from our point of view, we have to look after the ball better as we were a bit wasteful at times.

"But very happy to get four tries. Coming over here is always very difficult."

Player of the Match Werner Kok, who scored the bonus-point try, believed that the turning point in the game was the start of the second half.

Ulster scored three tries after the restart with Rob Herring, Zac Ward and Kok all able to cross the line.

"We stopped playing when they went down to 14 and we tried to regroup again and the boys stuck together and played as a team," Kok said.

"I think the energy from the kick-off [in the second half] was the turning point. The boys stuck in there and that was the turning point for me."

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Ulster's Ethan McIlroy feels the United Rugby Championship [URC] is as competitive as it's ever been and "we'll have to be at our best" to get back to winning ways at Zebre on Saturday [19:45 GMT].

Last weekend, Connacht's victory in Belfast saw them remain ninth in the standings, but they are just seven points off third-place Ulster.

With the margins tight, the race for the play-offs looks set to produce some twists and turns over the final five rounds of games and although Ulster take on the bottom-placed side this weekend, McIlroy insists it will not be a straightforward assignment.

"Compared to when I first came in, the league is so competitive," the 25-year-old told BBC Sport NI.

"There's no game you go into where you can expect to win if you're not at your best as every game is so tough.

"The Italians are doing so well internationally and that's filtering down to their club sides, so it will be a tough challenge this week and we'll have to be at our best of we want to get the win."

It is a tough run to the play-offs for Ulster as after this week's trip to Parma and a European Challenge Cup tie against Ospreys, they host Leinster and travel to Munster before finishing up at home against the Stormers and Glasgow, who currently occupy the top two places in the URC.

It will be all hands on deck for Richie Murphy's squad in their bid to compete for silverware but McIlroy feels they have the personnel to finish the season on a high.

"There is no easy game and no break from it, so it will take the larger part of our squad to get through that as there will be knocks," McIlroy added.

"We are still confident in ourselves. We took learnings from the Connacht game and if we take those into the rest of the season, we'll be able to finish strong and compete for the first two spots."

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Ireland internationals Stuart McCloskey and Nick Timoney return for Ulster against Zebre on Saturday (19:45 GMT) with James Humphreys making his first start.

Six Nations Player of the Tournament nominee McCloskey will be partnered by the returning James Hume with Timoney back in at openside flanker as Richie Murphy makes 10 changes to the side that lost to Connacht last week.

McCloskey and Timoney were given last week off following their exploits on the international stage while Hume was absent for Ulster's first home defeat of the season with concussion.

With first-choice fly-half Jack Murphy out with a rib injury and Jake Flannery also unavailable, Murphy has turned to Humphreys who has made one appearance for Ulster this season - coming off the bench in their Challenge Cup defeat to Cardiff in December.

The son of former Ulster fly-half and current IRFU technical director David, the 24-year-old featured four times last season and starts alongside Conor McKee in a new half-backs partnership with Nathan Doak named among the replacements.

There is also a full-back alteration as Ethan McIlroy replaces Mike Lowry.

Werner Kok and Zac Ward start on the wings as the only backs to keep their place in the side from that 26-19 loss.

Experienced prop Eric O'Sullivan comes into the front row with academy product Tom McAllister making his second start for the province either side of Rob Herring in an all-changed front three as Australia international Angus Bell is named on a strong Ulster bench.

Iain Henderson captains the side from the second row and is partnered by Joe Hopes.

David McCann retains his place at blindside flanker, with Timoney replacing Marcus Rea at openside.

Ulster: McIlroy; Kok, Hume, McCloskey, Z Ward; Humphreys, McKee; O'Sullivan, Herring, McAllister; Henderson, Hopes; McCann, B Ward, Timoney.

Replacements: James McCormick, Angus Bell, Scott Wilson, Matthew Dalton, Juarno Augustus, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson Ben Moxham

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI journalist

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Ulster hooker Rob Herring is expecting a "physical battle" when they travel to face Zebre in the United Rugby Championship [URC] on Saturday [19:45 GMT].

The northern province head to Italy off the back of defeat by Connacht last weekend, but sit third in the standings as the URC reaches the final five round of games before the play-offs.

Zebre remain bottom of the table following their defeat by the Scarlets but Herring insists they can take nothing for granted in Parma this week.

"You have to get over those losses pretty quickly as we have a tough game away from home this week," the 35-year-old told BBC Sport NI.

"We probably got a bit lucky on the table with other teams doing us favours, so to come out of it in third is great, but we have a tough run-in starting with this one.

"Their set-piece attack is good and they are a very physical team in defence.

"At home they seem to lift it up another level so it is going to be a physical battle and we have to get that right, especially away from home where we have to bring our own energy."

Herring felt Ulster "just weren't ourselves" in attack against Connacht and says the focus will be on "imposing our game on other teams like we have throughout most of the season".

Those performances throughout the campaign contributed to an increased representation in Ireland's Six Nations squad with seven featuring in the victory over Wales.

The knock-on effect meant there were opportunities for some younger players to make their mark for Ulster and Herring feels that can boost their push for silverware this season.

"In my time here, I don't think we've ever had seven guys in a Six Nations team and I thought all of the Ulster boys played well throughout the tournament," he reflected.

"I think that's coming from the environment we have here and confidence they brought into [Ireland] camp.

"It's probably a new problem for Ulster to have so many, but then it gives young guys the opportunity to step up and show what they've got.

"If you want to be a team competing at the end of the season, that's what you need."

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Ireland duo Stuart McCloskey and Nick Timoney have returned to training with Ulster ahead of Saturday's United Rugby Championship match against Zebre (19:45 GMT).

Fresh off the back of helping Ireland lift the Triple Crown, neither McCloskey nor Timoney were involved in Richie Murphy's squad that was defeated by Connacht last weekend.

David Shanahan and James Hume, who both missed the 26-19 loss through concussions, are now fit for selection.

Charlie Irvine (lower leg), Sam Crean (knee), Jack Murphy (ribs) and Scott Wilson (shoulder) will continue to have their fitness assessed before the match in Parma.

However, the side will be without Cormac Izuchukwu (concussion), James McNabney (knee), Stewart Moore (knee), Jude Postlethwaite (hand), Robert Baloucoune (elbow), Rory McGuire (shoulder) and Jake Flannery (shoulder).

Ulster sit third in the table and will aim to return to winning ways when they travel to face the side bottom of the URC.

Zebre have lost their past four fixtures and currently have 12 points.