Elliot Daly back for Leinster clash, Sean O’Brien on bench

Editor

Two games round out the Champions Cup pool stage on Sunday as Wasps play host to reigning champions Leinster while Toulouse face off with Bath.

Wasps vs Leinster

Elliot Daly is restored to the starting line-up for Wasps’ final Champions Cup clash of the season with Leinster at Ricoh Arena on Sunday.

Daly returns after a compulsory week off due to his involvement in England‘s November internationals, while Gaby Lovobalavu is handed his first Wasps start since November in place of Juan de Jongh (shoulder).

Recent Wales call-up Thomas Young is also out with a shoulder knock and is replaced by Nizaam Carr, with Jake Cooper-Woolley swapping with Will Stuart at tighthead in the starting XV.

Back-row Ben Morris is back in the squad amongst the replacements, as is winger Marcus Watson, who could make his first appearance in the Black and Gold since November after suffering an ankle injury.

Ashley Johnson also returns from an abdominal injury to be named on the bench.

Meanwhile, Leinster boss Leo Cullen keeps faith with the same back three that scored two tries between them in the win over Toulouse last weekend with Jordan Larmour at full-back and Adam Byrne and Dave Kearney on the wings.

Robbie Henshaw returns from a hamstring injury to take his place in the centre alongside Garry Ringrose. It’s the Westmeath man’s first game since late October for Leinster.

At half-back Jamison Gibson-Park comes in to partner Ross Byrne.

In the pack Jack McGrath comes into the front-row alongside Seán Cronin and Tadhg Furlong and there is a change in the second-row too with Devin Toner taking his place alongside James Ryan having recovered from an ankle injury.

There is no change from last week in the back-row with Rhys Ruddock again leading the side from blindside flanker.

On the bench Seán O’Brien is also returning from injury and is in line for his first Leinster game since October.

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gaby Lovobalavu, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Nizaam Carr, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Marcus Watson

Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Hugh O’Sullvan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Rory O’Loughlin

Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Keith Allen (Scotland)
Television match official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Toulouse vs Bath

Toulouse will be hoping Leinster slip up at Wasps as they look to finish on top of Pool 1, with their final game seeing them play host to Bath.

Ugo Mola makes one alteration to his backline as Zack Holmes replaces Thomas Ramos at fly-half for the meeting at Stade Ernest Wallon.

Up front there is also a solitary tweak as Francois Cros drops out of the squad and is replaced by Louis-Benoît Madaule in Toulouse’s back-row.

Meanwhile, Jacques van Rooyen and Anthony Perenise line up either side of Jack Walker in the Bath front-row for the trip to France.

Luke Charteris will captain the side from second-row alongside Dave Attwood while Francois Louw and Josh Bayliss line up at blindside and openside flanker respectively, with Zach Mercer completing the pack from number eight.

Chris Cook comes into the side at scrum-half and will feature alongside Rhys Priestland in the half-back pairing.

Max Clark switches from outside to inside centre and will be joined by Jonathan Joseph in the midfield, as the England international marks his return to action.

Darren Atkins and Semesa Rokoduguni occupy the wing positions, with Tom Homer completing the backline at full-back.

The teams:

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Louis Madaule, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand (c), 1 Clément Castets
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Piula Faasalele, 20 Alban Placines, 21 Selevasio Tolofua, 22 Sébastien Bézy, 23 Thomas Ramos

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Darren Atkins, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Josh Bayliss, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Luke Charteris (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Michael van Vuuren, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Alex Davies, 23 Max Wright

Venue: Stade Ernest Wallon
Kick-off: 16:15 (15:15 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
Television match official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)