Kyle Sinckler to captain Harlequins against Ulster

David Skippers

There are two games on the Champions Cup schedule on Friday with Harlequins hosting Ulster and Racing 92 face Ospreys at Paris La Defense Arena.

Harlequins v Ulster

Kyle Sinckler will captain Harlequins for his first home appearance of the season, with Santiago Garcia Botta returning to the squad at loosehead prop following his recent wedding.

Will Evans returns to the side after being rested for the last two weeks, alongside the explosive Semi Kunatani at flanker and Alex Dombrandt at number eight. James Chisholm is back amongst the replacements following his rehabilitation from injury.

Argentine Martin Landajo starts alongside Brett Herron who makes his first Champions Cup appearance for the club with Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva also starting his first game for the quarters, on the opposite wing to the returning Cadan Murley.

Head of rugby Paul Gustard said: “We were disappointed to come away with the one-point loss in Ulster last weekend and we have been working hard this week to assess the critical few and put our energy into those.

“The players have taken good ownership of the week and driven the detail and energy. We look forward to welcoming Ulster to what we hope will be a noisy Stoop on Friday night.

“It is a great opportunity for a couple of our players who are returning from injury to move the jersey forward in what is a must win game for us if we are to have a chance of competing in this competition.”

Meanwhile, the Ulster coaching team have made two changes to the side that defeated Harlequins last Saturday in the first of two back-to-back games against the English Premiership team.

Versatile back Matt Faddes returns to the starting Ulster side on the right wing, joined in the back three by Jacob Stockdale, who retains his position at full-back, and Louis Ludik, who switches over to the left.

In the midfield, last week’s man of the match Stuart McCloskey is once again paired with Luke Marshall. The familiar half-back duo of Billy Burns and John Cooney is also retained.

The second change sees Kieran Treadwell return to start alongside captain Iain Henderson in the engine room. In the front-row, Eric O’Sullivan will start at loosehead prop, Rob Herring at hooker, and Marty Moore on the tighthead side. Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy and Marcell Coetzee all keep their places in the back-row.

On the bench, Adam McBurney, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor and Matthew Rea will provide the forwards backup, and David Shanahan, Bill Johnston and Craig Gilroy are the backline reinforcements.

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 James Lang, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Brett Herron, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Semi Kunatani, 6 Will Evans, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Kyle Sinckler (c), 2 Elia Elia, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Niall Saunders, 22 Paul Lasike, 23 Travis Ismaiel

Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Matt Faddes, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Sean Reidy, 5 Iain Henderson (c), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Matt Rea, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Craig Gilroy

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Cedric Marchat (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Patrick Dellac (France)

Racing 92 v Ospreys

Racing 92 have made six alterations to their starting line-up for this fixture against Ospreys at the Paris La Defense Arena after notching a 40-19 triumph in the corresponding fixture in Swansea last week.

There are three changes in the back-line, with Louis Dupichot coming in on the right wing in Teddy Thomas’ place while Ben Volavola takes over from Finn Russell at fly-half.

In the forwards, Boris Palu shifts from the openside flank to the second-row where he replaces Bernard le Roux and Palu will pack down alongside Donnacha Ryan in the second-row.

Palu’s place on the side of the scrum is taken by Baptiste Chouzenoux and there are two other new faces in the back-row with Yoan Tanga and Fabien Sanconnie replacing Antonie Claassen and Wenceslas Lauret at number eight and on the blindside flank respectively.

Meanwhile, Ospreys have made seven changes to their run-on side.

In the back-line, Cai Evans comes in for the suspended Dan Evans at full-back while Lesley Kim is preferred to Hanno Dirksen on the right wing.

There’s a brand new midfield combination with Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler replacing the injured Owen Watkin at outside centre and 20-year-old Kieran Williams makes his second start of the season at inside centre in place of Scott Williams. The final change in the back-line sees Shaun Venter replacing Aled Davies.

Up front, Sam Cross starts on the openside flank in place of Olly Cracknell while Lloyd Ashley comes in at lock as a replacement for Bradley Davies.

Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Louis Dupichot, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Boris Palu, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Georges Henri Colombe, 19 Dominic Bird, 20 Jordan Joseph, 21 Antoine Gibert, 22 Olivier Klemenczak, 23 Finn Russell

Ospreys: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Lesley Klim, 13 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 12 Kieran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Dan Lydiate (c), 5 Lloyd Ashley, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Guido Volpi, 20 Will Jones, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Luke Price, 23 Tom Williams

Venue: Paris La Defense Arena
Kick-off: 20:45 local (19:45 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Adam Leal (England), Philip Watters (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

Champions Cup