Ireland stars returns to Leinster’s XV

David Skippers

Leinster's Garry Ringrose catches the ball during the European Champions Cup quarter final match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

The Champions Cup pool stage continues on Friday with Leinster, Gloucester, Clermont-Auvergne, Bordeaux-Bègles and Sale Sharks hosting Northampton Saints, Ulster, Munster, Dragons and Edinburgh respectively.

Here are the teams but check out Planet Rugby’s preview of this weekend’s Champions Cup action in ‘The short side.’

Leinster v Northampton Saints

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Hugo Keenan, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 James Ryan, 4 Ryan Baird, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Dan Leavy

Northampton Saints: 15 Tom Collins, 14 Ryan Olowofela, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 George Furbank, 9 Tom James, 8 Shaun Adendorff, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller (c)
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Matt Proctor

Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Gloucester v Ulster

Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Seb Nagle-Taylor, 21 Toby Venner, 22 George Barton, 23 Henry Trinder

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Matt Faddes, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns (c), 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Sean Reidy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Matt Rea, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Ethan McIlroy

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant Referees: Tom Foley (England), Phil Watters (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Clermont Auvergne v Munster

Clermont Auvergne: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 12 George Moala, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Camille Lopez (c), 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Clement Lanen, 6 Judicaël Cancoriet, 5 Peceli Yato, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Etienne Fourcade, 1 Peni Ravai
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pélissié, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Thibaud Lanen, 20 Edward Annandale, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Tim Nanai-Williams, 23 Tavite Veredamu

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Shane Daly, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Peter O’Mahony (c), 6 Gavin Coombes, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 John Ryan, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Billy Holland, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Jack O’Donoghue

Venue: Stade Marcel-Michelin
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Cayre (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Bordeaux-Bègles v Dragons

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Yoram Moefana, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Mahamadou Diaby (c), 6 Cameron Woki, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Thierry Paiva
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Zakaria El Fakir, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Jules Gimbert, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Pablo Uberti

Dragons: 15 Josh Lewis, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Davies (c), 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Conor Maguire, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Aneurin Owen, 23 Owen Jenkins

Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Tual Trainini (France), Cedric Marchat (France)
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin (France)

Sale Sharks v Edinburgh

Sale Sharks: 15 Sam James, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk (c), 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Cobus Wiese, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Matthew Postlethwaite, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 James Phillips, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Connor Doherty, 23 Luke James

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Jack Blain, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 WP Nel, 19 Andries Ferreira, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Nathan Chamberlain, 23 James Johnstone

Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Ian Tempest (England)), John Meredith (England)
TMO: Claire Hodnett (England)