Preview: Champions Cup, Saturday

Editor

Six matches are scheduled in the Champions Cup on Saturday, with Castres and Exeter Chiefs getting the action underway at Stade Pierre-Fabre.

Castres v Exeter

Exeter chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has kept faith with most of his starting line-up in last weekend’s draw against Munster.

Injuries to Sam Skinner, Dave Dennis and Dave Ewers mean Baxter has been forced into changes in his starting pack.

Ollie Atkins and Wilhelm Van Der Sluys both come into the Exeter engine-room, the latter for his first European start for the club, while Tom Lawday gets his first-ever European start at number eight The back division, meanwhile, remains unchanged from a week ago.

Meanwhile, Castres have made four changes to their starting lineup from the side that suffered an opening day defeat to Gloucester last weekend.

Maama Vaipulu has come in for Alex Tulou at number eight, with the latter dropping to the bench while Steve Mafi replaces Christophe Samson in the second row.

Daniel Kotze is preferred ahead of Paea Fa’anunu at tighthead and Antoine Tichit returns to the side at the expense of Tudor Stroe at loosehead, who drops to the bench.

The teams:

Castres: 15 Armand Battle, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Baptiste Delaporte, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Paul Sauzaret, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Wilfried Hounkpatin, 19 Victor Moreaux, 20 Alex Tulou, 21 Yoann Le Bourhis, 22 Anthony Combezou, 23 Rory Kockott

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Gareth Steenson (c), 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Wilhelm Van Der Slums, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Toby Salmon, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill

Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Stade Pierre-Fabre
Kick-off: 13:00 BST (12:00 GMT)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Munster v Gloucester

The Munster team to face Gloucester at Thomond Park in the Champions Cup on Saturday afternoon has been named by Head Coach Johann van Graan.

There are four changes, all in the pack, to the side that drew 10-all away to Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup opener last weekend.

An all-new front row has been named with James Cronin, Rhys Marshall and John Ryan coming into the side.

The second row pairing of Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne is unchanged.

The final change to the team sees Tommy O’Donnell join captain Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander in the back row.

The backline remains the same with a back three of Mike Haley, Andrew Conway and Darren Sweetnam.

Rory Scannell and Dan Goggin form the centre partnership with Duncan Williams and Joey Carbery in the half-backs.

Kevin O’Byrne, Arno Botha and Alby Mathewson join the replacements with Mathewson returning from a knee injury sustained against Leinster earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Gloucester make two changes to their starting line-up, one in the backs and one in the pack.

Matt Banahan replaces Charlie Sharples on the wing while Ed Slater comes in for Gerbrandt Grobler in the second row and will skipper the side. Those changes apart, the starting line-up is the one that took the field against Castres Olympique last Sunday,

Grobler moves in to the replacements to accommodate Slater’s return and Gareth Evans, who was registered for European action this week, will provide the back-row cover on the bench.

The teams:

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Sammy Arnold

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Tom Marshall, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Ed Slater (c), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 Franco Marais, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Tom Hudson

Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 13:00 BST (12:00 GMT)
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Luc Ramos (France)
Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure (France)

Wasps v Bath

Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young has named an unchanged 23 as his side take on Bath Rugby at Ricoh Arena on Saturday in search of their first points on the board in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup.

Last weekend saw Wasps defeated at champions Leinster Rugby while Bath slipped to a narrow home loss against Toulouse.

And the Premiership counterparts go head-to-head on Saturday in an all-important European clash, which is part of a Double Header at Ricoh Arena as Wasps FC Ladies take on Richmond Women afterwards in the Tyrrells Premier 15s at 5.45pm.

Springbok Willie Le Roux, Josh Bassett and skipper Elliot Daly form a potent back-three while Juan de Jongh and Michael Le Bourgeois line up in the centres.

Lima Sopoaga and Joe Simpson form the half-back pairing with the latter set to make his 245th appearance in the Black and Gold.

In the pack, props Zurabi Zhvania and Kieran Brookes keep their places alongside hooker Tommy Taylor, who was the tournament’s top tackler in the first weekend with a whopping 26 hits.

Lock Will Rowlands was also a standout tackler last weekend, making 23 tackles and not missing one, and he again starts this weekend alongside James Gaskell in the second row.

Brad Shields and Nizaam Carr are named in the back row with Thomas Young, who made the most turnovers of any player in the competition (five) in the first round.

Meanwhile, Joe Cokanasiga returns to the Bath starting line-up.

Cokanasiga starts on the left wing with Semesa Rokoduguni on the other flank and Darren Atkins moving to full-back to complete the back three.

Jackson Willison continues at outside centre and will be joined in the midfield by Max Wright, who came on as a replacement last weekend against Toulouse.

Will Chudley makes his competitive debut for the club, as the scrum-half links up with Freddie Burns in the half-back pairing.

Jack Walker comes in at hooker, with Nathan Catt and Henry Thomas taking their places at loosehead and tighthead prop respectively. Dave Attwood and Charlie Ewels form the second row combination, whilst there is an unchanged back row for the trip to Coventry. Tom Ellis and Francois Louw remain at six and seven, with Zach Mercer completing the pack.

Ross Batty marks his return to the first team squad, with the hooker is named among the replacements for the European clash.

Tom Dunn, Rhys Priestland and Jamie Roberts are all unavailable for selection for this tomorrow’s game. Dunn has sustained a small fracture to his right eye and is expected to be out for three-four weeks.

Priestland sustained knee ligament damage during last weekend’s game and is likely to be sidelined for six-eight weeks. Roberts underwent return to play protocols after being knocked out against Toulouse, but has not recovered in time to take his place in the squad.

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Elliot Daly (c), 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Rob Miller

Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Max Wright, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Max Green, 22 Alex Davies, 23 Tom Homer

Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:15 BST (14;15 GMT)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
Television match official: Éric Briquet-Campin (France)

Edinburgh v Toulon

Head Coach Richard Cockerill has made just one change to his Edinburgh side as they face three-times Champions Cup winners Toulon at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Jaco van der Walt starts at fly-half in the place of Simon Hickey – who drops to the bench – as Edinburgh host their first Heineken Champions Cup fixture since January 2014.

There are two alterations to the bench as Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy graduate, Luke Crosbie, joins scrum-half Nathan Fowles among the replacements.

An unchanged back-three sees fullback Blair Kinghorn named alongside wingers Dougie Fife – a try-scorer in last weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup opener in Montpellier – and Darcy Graham.

In the midfield, Matt Scott – fresh off being named in the Scotland squad for the 2018 Autumn Tests – is partnered by James Johnstone. Henry Pyrgos is selected at scrum-half alongside Van der Walt, who makes only his third start of the season after facing Connacht and Leinster earlier in the season.

An all Scotland tight-five sees hooker and captain Stuart McInally pack down alongside WP Nel and Allan Dell in the front-row, whilst Ben Toolis and Grant Gilchrist continue their partnership in the second-row.

After another all-action performance against Montpellier, Fijian star Bill Mata starts at number eight, with Scotland internationalists Hamish Watson and Magnus Bradbury completing the back-row.

Meanwhile, Toulon head coach Patrice Collazo has rung the changes to his starting line-up after last week’s defeat at home to Newcastle Falcons.

In the backline, Hugo Bonneval comes in at full-back in place of Daniel Ikpefan with Malakai Fekitoa and Mathieu Bastareaud replacing JP Pietersen and Anthony Belleau in midfield.

Belleau shifts to fly-half where he takes over from Francois Trinh-Duc while Anthony Meric is preferred to Eric Escande at scrum-half.

In the forwards, Florent Vanverberghe starts at number eight with Raphael Lakafia moving to the side of the scrum and Swan Rebbadj shifts from lock to the blindside flank while Juandre Kruger packs down in the second-row alongside Romain Taofifenua.

There is also a brand new front-row with Sebastien Taofifenua and Florian Fresia the starting props and Anthony Etrillard packs down at hooker.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Dougie Fife, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Luke Crosbie, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Chris Dean

Toulon: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Mathieu Bastareaud (c), 11 Julian Savea, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Anthony Meric, 8 Florent Vanverberghe, 7 Raphael Lakafia, 6 Swan Rebbadj, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Sebastien Taofifenua, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Florian Fresia
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Daniel Ikpefan, 21 Francois Trinh-Duc, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Rudy Gahetau

Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 15:15 BST (14:15 GMT)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Ian Tempest (England), Simon McConnell (England)
Television match official: David Grashoff (England)

Saracens v Lyon

Saracens have made five changes for Saturday’s Champions Cup match against Lyon at Allianz Park.

Richard Barrington and Jackson Wray come in for the injured Vunipolas at loosehead prop and number eight respectively, while Nick Tompkins replaces the suspended Alex Lozowski.

Liam Williams returns on the wing in place of David Strettle and Ben Spencer gets the nod at nine.

Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Ben Earl, Schalk Burger and Marcelo Bosch are additions to the bench.

Meanwhile, Lyon have rung the changes after their defeat to Cardiff Blues last weekend.

In the back-line, Jean-Marcellin Buttin comes in at full-back for Charlie Ngatai while Jean-Marcellin Buttin replaces Noa Nakaitaci on the left wing while Adrien Seguret takes over from Thibaut Regard at inside centre.

Up front, Deon Fourie comes in at number eight where he replaces Loann Goujon and Dylan Cretin takes over from Julien Puricelli on the blindside flank and Cretin will also captain the side.

In the second-row, Etienne Oosthuizen is preferred to Hendrik Roodt while Clément Ric and Hamza Kaabèche are the starting props and Jeremie Maurouard will pack down at hooker.

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Mike Rhodes, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements:
16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Ben Earl, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Alex Lewington

Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Adrien Seguret, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Deon Fourie, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Dylan Cretin (c), 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Hamza Kaabèche
Replacements:
16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Richard Choirat, 19 Francois van der Merwe, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 22 Xavier Mignot, 23 Quentin Delord

Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Allianz Park
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Racing 92 v Ulster

Racing 92 have made three changes to their starting line-up after last weekend’s win away at the Scarlets.

There is just one alteration to the back-line with Teddy Thomas replacing Joe Rokocoko on the right wing.

Amongst the forwards, Bernard Le Roux comes in to the run-on side on the openside flank in place of Baptiste Chouzenoux while Dominic Bird takes over from Donnacha Ryan at lock.

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has named his matchday squad for the first ever meeting with Racing 92 in Saturday’s Champions Cup Round Two fixture.

McFarland has made just three personnel changes to the starting XV that defeated Leicester at Kingspan Stadium last weekend.

Marty Moore, who impressed on his debut as a first half replacement last Saturday, while Kieran Treadwell has been brought into the second-row. The third change sees David Shanahan replacing the injured John Cooney at scrum-half.

Rory Best will captain the side from the front-row, alongside Moore and Andy Warwick. Iain Henderson will partner Treadwell in the engine room, and the back-row of Marcell Coetzee, Jordi Murphy and Nick Timoney is retained.

Apart from Shanahan, the backline remains unchanged with Billy Burns at fly-half, Jacob Stockdale and Craig Gilroy on the wings, Stuart McCloskey and Will Addison in midfield, and Abbey Insurance Ulster Academy prospect Michael Lowry at full-back.

Adam McBurney, Eric O’Sullivan and Ross Kane cover the front-row from the bench, with Alan O’Connor and Sean Reidy included as the additional forward options. Jonny Stewart is in line for his European bow if called upon as he joins Johnny McPhillips and Angus Kernohan among the backline replacements.

The teams:

Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Olivier Klemenczak, 12 Henry Chavancy (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Xavier Chauveau, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements:
16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Fabien Sanconnie, 20 Jordan Joseph, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Léonard Paris

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 David Shanahan 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements:
16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Adam O’Connor, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 James Stewart, 22 Johhny McPhillips, 23 Angus Kernohan

Date: Saturday, OCtober 20
Venue: Paris La Defense Arena
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16;30 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television match official: Ian Davies (Wales)