Darry Worthington runs the rule over the last set of regular-season fixtures of the 2019/20 PRO14 season.
Image copyright – Steve Haag Sports
While the two semi-final berths in Conference A have been decided with Leinster and Ulster already qualified there’s still a bit to play for this coming weekend as one of Munster or the Scarlets will join already qualified Edinburgh in advancing out of Conference B.
Munster are currently the favourites to do this as they need just two points from their clash with Connacht to go through to the next phase of the tournament.
Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors
Friday 28 August
To Win (80 Mins)
Draw 19/1
Handicap
Edinburgh (-3.5) 17/20
We start things off over in Scotland where Glasgow will be looking to cap off what has been a rather disappointing season but getting one over arch-rivals Edinburgh.
Dragons v Scarlets
Saturday 29 August
Dragons
Scarlets
*Handicap to be added upon release
The Scarlets will be on the hunt for a big bonus-point win when they take on domestic foes the Dragons. The visitors are still in with a shout of making the semi-finals but they’d need Connacht to do them a massive favour and beat Munster later in the weekend.
The two sides come into this one off the back of contrasting fortunes with the Scarlets beating the Cardiff Blues 32-12 and the drawing 20-20 with the Ospreys despite being a man to the good for the vast majority of the game.
Verdict: Scarlets (-)
I reckon we’ll see the Scarlets register a big win here. The overs points markets may well be worth a shout here as well so make sure you access the Live In-Play platform during this game.
Ulster v Leinster
Aviva Stadium
20:35
To Win (80 Mins)
Ulster 43/20
Leinster 4/10
Handicap
Leinster
We head to Ireland for our next fixture which will see undefeated Leinster take on Ulster at the Aviva Stadium. Both teams have nothing to play for here with Leinster having already secured top spot on the Conference A standings and Ulster having secured second place in the same conference.
With nothing on the line and the semi-finals a week away, expect both teams to make wholesale changes for this one.
The Irish duo head into this one for contrasting results as well with Leinster edging Munster 27-25 last weekend and Ulster going down 26-20 to Connacht.
Verdict: Leinster (-) 17/20
Leinster have one of the deepest squads in world rugby and I can see their second-stringers getting the job done here.
Munster v Connacht
To Win (80 Mins)
Munster 2/11
Handicap
*Handicap to be added upon release
The second of Sunday’s all-Irish fixtures will see Munster take on Connacht at the Aviva. Connacht, despite beating Ulster last weekend, are out of the running for a semi-final berth while Munster just need two points from this one to secure second place and an away semi-final.
Munster, unlike Connacht, suffered a defeat last weekend as they wend down 25-27 to Leinster. They gave a fantastic account of themselves in that fixture and should be able to take the win here if they play like they did last week.
I reckon this will be a cagey old affair with Munster know a win will be enough to book a semi. As such, I’m backing Connacht to remain inside a rather generous handicap.
Cardiff Blues v Ospreys
To Win (80 Mins)
Ospreys
*Handicap to be added upon release
We’ve got a dead rubber up next with Cardiff taking on the Ospreys. Both teams are out of the running for semi-finals berths so the shackles are well and truly off for this one.
In terms of last weekend’s results, the Ospreys managed to salvage a 20-20 draw against the Dragons despite only having 14 men on the field for the vast majority of the fixture, while Cardiff went down 32-12 to the Scarlets.
I was actually reasonably impressed by the Ospreys performance last week and I reckon they will give Cardiff a real run for their money on Sunday evening.
Zebre v Benetton Treviso
Sunday 30 August
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
To Win (80 Mins)
Draw 18/1
Treviso11/20
Zebre
The curtain will come down on the round-robin phase of the 2019/20 PRO14 season out in Italy where Zebre and Treviso will lock horns.
The two sides squared off last week and Zebre managed to get a rare win over their domestic rivals as they edged the game 13-17. It must be noted that Treviso fielded a rather week side last time around and we can expect a lot more of their first-stringers to be involved this week.
Verdict: Zebre (-) 17/20
