Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Blaine Scully will captain Cardiff Blues for the first time when they travel to meet Leinster at the RDS Arena on Saturday. The Eagles co-captain starts on the wing in the Round 18 match against the league leaders. The Blues are well out of the playoff hunt but are only two points behind Connacht for a chance at Champions Cup qualification via the playoff route.
Scarlets host Edinburgh in Llanelli on Friday evening but have left Canadian wing DTH van der Merwe on the bench. Sitting in 5th place on the table, Scarlets are four points shy of Ulster’s final playoff spot position and will consider this match a must-win.
Two other Saturday matches will feature Americas players, both games in Italy. Basement dwellers Zebre welcome Munster to Stadio Lanfranchi with a trio of Argentines in their match day squad. Bruno Postiglioni starts at loosehead prop with Serafin Bordoli again at flyhalf. Guillermo Roan will cover tighthead prop from the bench.
Meanwhile in Treviso there will be another mismatch as second-place Ospreys take on second-last Benetton at the Stadio Monigo. Canadian forward Tyler Ardron will occupy a reserve spot for the visitors while fellow Ontario native Robert Barbieri runs out at No 8 for the home team. New signing Alberto Porolli is set to make his Pro 12 debut as a replacement prop for Treviso.
