Preview: Toulouse v Lyon

Editor

Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola has made a host of changes to his starting line-up for Thursday’s Challenge Cup clash with Lyon at Stade Ernest Wallon.

Yoann Huget and Yann David are the only survivors from the run-on side which suffered a home loss to Castres in the Top 14 at the weekend.

Huget shifts to full-back from left wing, however, where he replaces Thomas Ramos with Sofiane Guitoune wearing the number 11 jersey while Wandile Mjekevu comes in for Cheslin Kolbe on the right wing.

In midfield, David is joined by Jarrod Poi, who takes over from Florian Fritz while Romain Ntamack and Jean-Marc Doussain replace Zack Holmes and Antoine Dupont as the starting half-back pairing.

In the forwards, Selevasio Tolofua takes over from Gillian Galan at number eight with Carl Axtens and Louis Madaule preferred to Francois Cros and Tala Gray as the two flankers.

Rynhardt Elstadt and Florian Verhaeghe are the starting locks and come in for Joe Tekori and Yoann Maestri.

In the front row, Dorian Aldegheri and Rodrigue Neti replace Charlie Faumuina and Lucas Pointud as the two props while Julien Marchand starts at hooker with Leonardo Ghiraldini dropping to the bench.

Meanwhile, Lyon coach Pierre Mignoni has also rung the changes to his starting line-up with scrum-half Jonathan Pélissié the only player left from the run-on side which lost to Toulon at the weekend.

He forms a half-back pairing with Mike Harris, who replaces Frederic Michalak while Theo Belan and Pierre-Louis Barassi take over from Rudi Wulf and Thibaut Regard in midfield.

In the back three, Quentin Gobet starts at full-back in place of Jean-Marcellin Buttin while Timilai Rokoduru and Jone Tuva replace Toby Arnold and Delon Armitage on the wings.

In the pack, Taiasina Tuifua makes way for Deon Fourie at number eight while Tanginoa Halaifonua and Dylan Cretin take over from Liam Gill and Julien Puricelli as the starting flankers.

Francois van der Merwe and Josh Bekhuis replace Hendrik Roodt and Etienne Oosthuizen in the second row while Clément Ric and Hamza Kaabèche come in for Francisco Gomez Kodela and Albertus Buckle as the starting props and Virgile Lacombe packs down at hooker in place of Mickael Ivaldi.

The teams:

Toulouse: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Jarrod Poi, 12 Yann David, 11 Sofiane Guitoune, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Carl Axtens, 6 Louis Madaule, 5 Rynhardt Elstadt, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Rodrigue Neti 
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Daniel Mienie, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Antoine Dupont, 23 Lucas Tauzin

Lyon: 15 Quentin Gobet, 14 Timilai Rokoduru, 13 Theo Belan, 12 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 11 Jone Tuva, 10 Mike Harris, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Deon Fourie, 7 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Hamza Kaabèche 
Replacements: 16 Enzo Pakihivatau, 17 Stéphane Clement, 18 Guram Papidze, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Tai Tuifua, 21 Adrien Seguret, 22 Rudi Wulf, 23 Frédéric Michalak

Venue: Stade Ernest Wallon
Kick-off: 20:45 local time (19:45 GMT)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England), Peter Allan (England)
TMO: Shaun Davey (England)