Tigers and Montpellier at full strength for European final
Steve Borthwick has named the Leicester Tigers matchday squad for the European Challenge Cup final against Montpellier at Twickenham.
Tom Youngs will captain the side, starting alongside Ellis Genge and Dan Cole in the Leicester front-row, with Harry Wells and Calum Green as the second-row pairing.
Cyle Brink is at openside flanker, joining Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese in the Leicester back-row.
Richard Wigglesworth starts at scrum-half, joining fly-half George Ford as the half-backs for Tigers, and Dan Kelly links with Matías Moroni in the Leicester midfield.
Guy Porter, Nemani Nadolo and Freddie Steward make up an unchanged Tigers back three from the win over Harlequins last weekend.
Charlie Clare, Luan de Bruin, Cameron Henderson and Tommy Reffell are the forwards on the Leicester bench, with Ben Youngs, Zack Henry and Kini Murimurivalu as the replacement backs.
Speaking about the matchday squad named, Borthwick said: “It has been a squad-wide effort to get to this final, with more than 40 players representing Leicester Tigers in the European Challenge Cup this season.
“On Friday night, these 23 players have the privilege of representing everyone involved at Tigers, our supporters and Leicestershire.”
Minimal changes for Montpellier
Meanwhile, Montpellier have made two changes to the side that beat Bath in the Challenge Cup semi-final.
Jan Serfontein starts at centre and forms an all-South African midfield with the creative Johan Goosen.
The presence of Serfontein means that Arthur Vincent moves from centre to wing as Julien Tisseron is dropped from the matchday squad.
In the pack, the only alteration sees the experienced Fulgence Ouedraogo given the nod at blindside alongside Yacouba Camara and Alexandre Becognee in the back-row.
The front five is unchanged and contains three current or former France internationals in the shape of Paul Willemse, Mohamed Haouas and Guilhem Guirado.
Their bench is also packed with talent with Bismarck du Plessis, Titi Lamositele and Jacques du Plessis powerful units up front, while Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard and Gabriel N’gandebe provide pace and creativity in the backline.
The teams
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Guy Porter, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 George Ford, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Calum Green, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Cameron Henderson, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Zack Henry, 23 Kini Murimurivalu
Montpellier: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Arthur Vincent, 13 Johan Goosen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Vincent Rattez, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Alexandre Becognee, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Enzo Forletta
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Robert Rodgers, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Tyler Duguid, 20 Jacques du Plessis, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Gabriel N’gandebe
Date: Friday, May 21
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)