Gloucester boosted as England back-row returns while Gareth Davies is back for Scarlets

Round Two of the 2023/24 Challenge Cup campaign kicks off on Friday night with two matches as Gloucester and the Scarlets take on Clermont-Auvergne and Black Lion in their respective matches.

Gloucester v Clermont-Auvergne

Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington has been boosted by the return of former European Player of the Year, Zach Mercer, from injury ahead of schedule for Friday’s Challenge Cup clash with Clermont Auvergne at Kingsholm.

International stars including Santi Carreras and Louis Rees-Zammit also return to the starting XV for Gloucester, after being rested in last week’s trip to Georgia in their first game of the tournament.

Harry Elrington, Santi Socino and Fraser Balmain return to form the front-row with Matias Alemanno joining Freddie Clarke in the second-row.

Clarke is the only player to retain his starting sport from last Saturday’s win over Black Lion as Skivington is forced to balance his squad between the two Challenge Cup fixtures.

Mercer returns to the back-row alongside Jack Clement and club captain, Lewis Ludlow, who penned a fresh deal at Kingsholm this week.

Stephen Varney and Carreras start at half-backs, with Mx Llewellyn and Chris Harris lining up in the centre.

Rees-Zammit wears the number 15 shirt at full-back, and is flanked by Ollie Thorley and Jonny May on the wing.

Jamal Ford-Robinson and Kirill Gotovtsev impressed at scrum-time in Georgia, and are included on the bench. George McGuigan, Cam Jordan and Ben Donnell also wait in the wings for the forwards.

Charlie Chapman, Seb Atkinson and Lloyd Evans are the backs replacements.

Meanwhile, Clermont-Auvergne have rung the changes to their starting line-up after kickstarting their campaign with an impressive home victory over Edinburgh last weeked.

In the backline, Pierre Fouyssac and Léon Darricarrere take over from Julien Heriteau and George Moala as the preferred cente combination, while Jules Plisson and Baptiste Jauneau are preferred to Anthony Belleau and Sebastien Bezy as the halfback combination.

In the forwards, Fritz Lee comes into the run-on side at number eight while Pita Gus Sowakula moves to the blindside flank while Marcos Kremer replaces Peceli Yato on the openside.

In the tight five, Tomas Lavanini is the only survivor from that win over Edinburgh. He is joined in the second-row by Thibault Lanen, who comes in for Rob Simmons while Yohan Beheregaray (hooker) packs down alongside Daniel Bibi Biziwu and Rabah Slimani in the front-row.

The teams

Gloucester: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Steve Varney, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cameron Jordan, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Seb Atkinson, 23 Lloyd Evans

Clermont: 15 Alex Newsome, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Pierre Fouyssac, 12 Léon Darricarrere, 11 Thomas Roziere, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Baptiste Jauneau, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pita-Gus Sowakula, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Thibault Lanen, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Yohan Beheregaray, 1 Daniel Bibi Biziwu
Replacements: 16 Etienne Fourcade, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Henzo Kiteau, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Killian Tixeront, 21 Sebastien Bezy, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 George Moala

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)

Scarlets v Black Lion

Wales international Gareth Davies is one of five changes to the Scarlets side for Friday night’s Challenge Cup Round Two clash with Georgian side Black Lion at Parc y Scarlets.

Davies takes over the captain’s armband for the crucial Pool Three tie having sat out last weekend’s loss out in France to Castres.

Behind the scrum, the back three of Tom Rogers, Steff Evans and Ryan Conbeer remains the same. In midfield, Eddie James has come through his return-to-play protocols and partners Johnny Williams, while Davies links up with Ioan Lloyd at half-back.

There are three changes to the pack.

Shaun Evans comes in at hooker to replace Ryan Elias and packs down in between the props, Steff Thomas and Joe Jones.

Alex Craig has recovered from injury to reunite with Jac Price in the second-row, while Tongan international Vaea Fifita is back at number eight, coming in for the injured Carwyn Tuipulotu. Ben Williams and Teddy Leatherbarrow make up the rest of the back-row.

On the bench, new signing Eduan Swart is named in the squad for the first time. Second-row Ed Scragg is also set for his competitive home debut.

Meanwhile, Black Lion have made six alterations to their run-on side after suffering a narrow loss against Gloucester last weekend.

There are three changes in the backs with Miriani Modebadze replacing Luka Tsirekidze at full-back, while Tornike Kakhoidze and Otar Lashkhi come into the starting XV at the expense of Giorgi Kveseladze and Sandro Todua at outside centre and left wing respectively.

In the forwards, Luka Ivanishvili makes the switch from the blindside flank to number eight – where he takes over from Ilia Spanderashvili – while Giorgi Kervalishvili will wear the nbumber six jersey.

In the second-row, Grigor Kerdikoshvili replaces Mikheil Babunashvili while in the front-row Beka Mamrikashvili starts at hooker where he comes in for Irakli Kvatadze.

The teams

Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Eddie James, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies (c), 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 6 Ben Williams, 5 Jac Price, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Joe Jones, 2 Shaun Evans, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Ed Scragg, 20 Morgan Jones, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Ioan Nicholas

Black Lion: 15 Miriani Modebadze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Tornike Kakhoidze, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Otar Lashkhi, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Tengiz Peranidze, 8 Luka Ivanishvili, 7 Sandro Mamamtavrishvili, 6 Giorgi Kervalishvili, 5 Grigor Kerdikoshvili, 4 Nodar Cheishvili, 3 Giorgi Chkhartishvili, 2 Beka Mamrikashvili, 1 Dato Abdushelishvili
Replacements: 16 Gela Makharashvili, 17 Aliko Shamilishvili, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Demuri Epremidze, 20 Saba Kurtanidze, 21 Giorgi Margalitadze, 22 Giorgi Jobava, 23 Luka Tsirekidze

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Jeremy Rozier (France)
Assistant Referees: Vivien Praderie (France), Thomas Chereque (France)
TMO: Patrick Dellac (France)

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