RaboDirect Pro12 round 6: preview and predictions

Cardiff v Glasgow
Leigh Halfpenny makes his return from injury for Cardiff as the Blues seek to make amends from the 48-19 thumping they received last week from the hands of Ulster.
The Welsh star comes in for Dan Fish who drops to the bench while Alex Cuthbert and Sam Warburton are both unavailable and are replaced teenager Harry Robinson on the right wing and Josh Navidi at openside.
Ceri Sweeney will lead the attacks from fly-half after Stephen Jones and Rhys Patchell went off injured in the last couple of games.
Meanwhile, full-back Peter Murchie will make his 50th appearance for the Warriors as the Scots seek a third straight win over the Welshman.
Glasgow, who are on a run of three consecutive wins in the league, will be keen to carry on their form before a trip to Northampton and the reception of Ulster in the opening two rounds of the Heineken Cup.
Alex Dunbar and Peter Horne resume their centre pairing while Sean Lamont replace hamstring-injury victim DTH van der Merwe on the left wing.
Captain Al Kellock comes into the second row, John Barclay starts at openside and Ryan Wilson dons the No.8 jersey pushing new signing Josh Strauss to the blindside.
Cardiff: Halfpenny; Robinson, Evans, Roberts, James; Sweeney, Williams; Ma’afu, Williams, Bourrust; Down, Reed; Watts-Jones, Navidi, Pretorius (capt.).
Replacements: Breeze, Filise, Andrews, Cook, Copeland, Jones, Davies, Fish.
Glasgow: Murchie; Seymour, Dunbar, Horne, Lamont; Jackson, Pyrgos; Reid, Hall, Cusack, Ryder, Kellock (capt.); Strauss, Barclay, Wilson.
Replacements: Gillies, Fainga’anuku, Grant, Swinson, Fusaro, Matawalu, McGuigan, Hogg.
Prediction: Glasgow are on form and their back row power will be crucial. Cardiff needs a win before the Heineken Cup but they will struggle in set piece. I’m going for a fantastic four for the Warriors
Edinburgh v Treviso
Following two consecutive defeats to Leinster and the Dragons, club captain Greig Laidlaw comes back in Edinburgh starting XV for tonight’s clash against Treviso.
Scotland captain Ross Ford, David Denton and Roddy Grant also come back into the side while there is a first start of the season for scrum-half Chris Leck and man mountain Dimitri Basilaia at No.8.
In the back line, Matt Scott returns at outside centre with Lee Jones replaces Tom Brown on the right wing.
Match-winner Alberto di Bernardo, who kicked the last gasp penalty to clinch a 22-20 over the Scarlets, starts at fly-half replacing Kris Burton for the Italians.
Tobias Boates moves from scrum-half to wing with Italian international Fabio Semenzato coming in at No.9.
In the back row, Simone Favaro starts at blindside alongside Allessandro Zanni at openside and Robert Barbieri, who already scored four tries this season from No.8.
Edinburgh: Tonks; Jones, Scott, Atiga, Visser; Laidlaw (capt.), Leck; Jacobsen, Ford, Nel; Gilchrist, Cox; Denton, Grant, Basilaia
Replacements: Titterrell, Yapp, Niven, Talei, Rennie, Rees, Houston, Fife
Treviso: McLean; Iannone, Benvenuti, Sgarbi, Botes; Di Bernardo, Semenzato; Rizzo, Ghiraldini, Cittadini; Pavanello (capt.), Minto; Favaro, Zanni, Barbieri.
Replacements: Ceccato, De Marchi, Di Santo, Bernabò, Budd, Derbyshire, Burton, Toniolatti.
Prediction: Treviso are not going to lie down and take a beating but Edinburgh are back to full strength and they desperately need the win before the start of the Heineken Cup. I think they’ll do it.
Leinster v Munster
After a week off, Jamie Heaslip returns at No.8 for Leinster to captain the Heineken Cup champions on his 150th appearance for the province.
Brian O’Driscoll and Jonathan Sexton also return to the starting line-up at outside centre and fly-half while South African Heinke van der Merwe continues at loose-head as Cian Healy is unavailable with a bicep strain.
With only a week to go before the start of the Heineken Cup the Irish giants will be keen to forget their 34-6 defeat to Connacht last week and put on a big display.
But they face their great rivals Munster who are also looking for a good performance after losing 30-15 to the Ospreys lat Saturday.
Skipper Doug Howlett will make his 100th appearance for Munster in an unchanged back line, while there are six changes in the pack
Niall Ronan picked up a slight groin injury in training yesterday while Marcus Horan continues to recover from a cut under the eye that he received in a club game. That means a start for Dave Kilcoyne ahead of Wian du Preez who is named on the bench.
Elsewhere Donnacha Ryan and Peter O’Mahony return to the starting XV for the first time this season while Dave O’Calllaghan returns to blindside.
Leinster: Madigan; Conway, O’Driscoll, McFadden, Nacewa; Sexton, Reddan; Van der Merwe, Strauss, Ross; Browne, Toner; McLaughlin, Jennings, Heaslip
Replacements: Cronin, McGrath, Hagan, Denton, Murphy, Cooney, Reid, Carr
Munster: Hurley; Howlett (capt.), Earls, Laulala, Zebo; O’Gara, Murray; Kilcoyne, Sherry, Botha; Do. O’Callaghan, Ryan; Da. O’Callaghan, Dougall, O’Mahony.
Replacements: Varley, Du Preez, Archer, Holland, Butler, Williams, Keatley, Downey.
Prediction: With the big boys back and fresh you’d think Leinster are in another league and at home against Munster they can’t afford to have an off day. It’ll be brutal but they’ll come on top.
Scarlets v Dragons
Thirteen month after he suffered a broken leg, Wales international Morgan Stoddart has been named on the bench for the Scarlets ahead of tonight’s game.
The game will also see South African lock Joe Snyman make his debut for the province with wing George North returning to the starting XV after a week off.
After a storming start of the season, centre Jonathan Davies is given a rest ahead of the Scarlets opening Heineken Cup clash against Clermont next week while Aled Thomas is given a chance at fly-half replacing Rhys Priestland.
Nic Cudd will make his debut at openside for the Dragons against his former team in the only change from the team that beat Edinburgh 32-12 last week.
Captain Lewis Evans moves to bindside to accomodate Cudd who is replacing Welsh start Dan Lydiate who suffered a dislocated and broken ankle against the Scots last week.
Scarlets: L. Williams; North, Maule, S. Williams, Fenby; Thomas, Knoyle; John, Rees, Lee; Timani, Snyman; Shingler, Turnbull, McCusker (capt.).
Replacements: Owens, Hopkins, Manu, Kelly, Murphy, Davies, Priestland, Stoddart.
Dragons: D. Evans; Hughes, Leach, Tuilagi, Prydie; Stef. Jones, J. Evans; Price, Stev. Jones, Way; Nimmo, A. Jones; L. Evans (capt.), Cudd, Faletau.
Replacements: Gustafson, Coundley, Buck, Groves, Brown, Davies, Smith, Harries.
Prediction: The Dragons will be keen to confirm their new found form but the Scarlets will come out ready to fight after last week shock defeat at Treviso and a week before facing French giants Clermont. The men in red will win.
Ulster v Connacht
One week before the start the Heineken Cup, Ulster have name a strong side to face Connacht.
Ireland hooker Rory Best is set for his first start since last year’s Heineken Cup final while  Johann Muller, Stephen Ferris and Paddy Wallace are also called back in the starting XV.
After a brilliant start back with Ulster, Tommy Bowe is set to make his homecoming for the province first game at Ravenhill since the tragic death of Nevin Spence.
Connacht head-coach Eric Elwood has made four changes in the forwards from the team who dominated Leinster 34-6 last Saturday.
Brett Wilkinson replaces Denis Buckley at loose-head while Ronan Loughney returns at tighthead for Nathan White.
In the back row, Dave Gannon replaces Eoin McKeon at blindside while former Ulster flanker Willie Faloon will captain the side from openside.
After making his convincing debut last week, Scot Dan Parks carries on at fly-half with Miah Nikora on the bench.
Ulster: Payne; Bowe, Cave, Wallace, Trimble; Jackson, Marshall; Court, Best, Afoa; Muller (capt.), Tuohy; Ferris, Henry, Williams;
Replacements: Herring, Black, Macklin, Stevenson, McComish, Heaney, Marshall, Gilroy.
Connacht: Henshaw; O’Halloran, Griffin, McSharry, Vainikolo; Parks, Marmion; Wilkinson, Flavin, Loughney; Swift, McCarthy; Gannon, Faloon (capt.), Naoupu.
Replacements: Harris-Wright, Buckley, White, Muldoon, O’Connor, Moore, Nikora, Fifita.
Prediction: Ulster remains the only undefeated team in the competition and they have strengthen their team from last week rout in Cardiff. It’ll be another convincing win just before the Heineken Cup.
Zebre v Ospreys
Talismanic playmaker Luciano Orquera is sidelined for the Italians newcomers with a sprained ankle and is replaced by Alberto Chiesa in the No.10 jersey.
In the only other change to the startin XV, Emiliano Caffini comes in at blindside for Filippo Cristiano.
The Italiansare still looking for a win but they earned their first ever league point last week with a 22-19 defeat in Glasgow.
Hooker Richard Hibbard will make his 150th appearance for the Ospreys if he comes off the bench tonight.
Hibbard is on the bench as Scott Baldwin gets the nod at hooker and will pack down alongside Wales prop Adam Jones, who will make his first start of the season from tighthead.
Jonathan Thomas comes in at No.8 to replace the injured Justin Tipuric as the Champions look to secure a third consecutive win after a disappointing start of the season and three defeats in the first three rounds.
Zebre: Halangahu; Venditti, Pratichetti, Garcia (capt.), Sinoti; Chiesa, Chillon; Aguero, Giazzon, Redolfini; Geldenhuys, Van Vuren; Caffini, Bergamasco, Van Schalkwyk.
Replacements: Festuccia, Perugini, Tripodi, Ferrarini, Sole, Martinelli, Benettin, Sarto.
Ospreys: Fussell; Dirksen, Beck, Bishop, Walker; Biggar, Fotuali’i; Bevington, Baldwin, A. Jones; Wyn-Jones (capt.), Evans; Ry. Jones, Lewis, Thomas.
Replacements: Hibbard, D. Jones, Jarvis, Bearman, Stowers, Webb, Ro. Jones, Spratt
Prediction: The Champs are back and without Orquera, Zebre will do very well to even get a point out of the game.
NICK VERDIER