Owen Farrell to captain stronger Saracens side

David Skippers

Saracens Owen Farrell

There are six Champions Cup matches scheduled to take place on Saturday with the Pool 4 clash between Saracens and Munster at Allianz Park the standout fixture.

Benetton v Lyon

Benetton have made a number of changes to their side following their 28-0 defeat to Lyon in the reverse fixture.

Leonardo Sarto is the only player to keep his spot in the backline with Jayden Hayward, Ratuva Tavuyara and Monty Ioane among those to come into the XV.

Up front, Giovanni Pettinelli and Sebastian Negri maintain their places in the back-row, but Toa Halafihi is taken out of the 23 with Braam Steyn starting at number eight.

Elsewhere, prop Tiziano Pasquali is the only other player who started last weekend to be retained.

For Lyon, they have followed a similar formula to their opponents with Pierre Mignoni making mass changes to the team.

Jean-Marcellin Buttin is the only player to keep his place behind the scrum, while the pack also sees several other alterations.

Patrick Sobela, Killian Geraci, Clément Ric and Jeremie Maurouard remain from last week, but they are joined by Loann Goujon, Liam Gill, Etienne Oosthuizen and Vivien Devisme.

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Ratuva Tavuyara, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Braam Steyn, 7 Giovanni Pettinelli, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Ira Herbst, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Cherif Traore
Replacements: 16 Federico Zani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Michele Mancini Parri, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Antonio Rizzi

Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Ethan Dumortier, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Rudi Wulf, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Pato Fernandez, 9 Jonathan Pélissié (c), 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Patrick Sobela, 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Killian Geraci, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Vivien Devisme
Replacements: 16 Badri Alkhazashvili, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Hamza Kaabèche, 19 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 20 Virgile Bruni, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Xavier Mignot, 23 Jonathan Wisniewski

Venue: Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Kick off: 13:45 local (12:45 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: JP Doyle (England), Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
TMO: Sean Davey (England)

Connacht v Gloucester

Ireland international Jack Carty is set to start at full-back for Connacht in their Champions Cup clash with Gloucester on Saturday.

Carty is part of a back three that includes Niyi Adeolokun and John Porch on the wings.

Conor Fitzgerald and Caolin Blade also renew their half back partnership while Bundee Aki and Kyle Godwin start in midfield.

In the forwards, captain Jarrad Butler will make his 50th appearance in a Connacht jersey. The openside is named in a back-row that includes the returning Eoin McKeon at blindside and Paul Boyle at number eight.

Having played all 80 minutes in his last three outings, lock Quinn Roux steps out so Ultan Dillane and Joe Maksymiw are named to start in the second row. 20-year-old academy player Niall Murray is included among the replacements for the first time.

In the front-row, Dave Heffernan comes back in at hooker with Peter McCabe and Dominic Robertson-McCoy at loosehead and tighthead respectively.

Meanwhile, Lewis Ludlow will captain Gloucester against Connacht at the Sportsground on Saturday in the second leg of the Champions Cup double-header.

Gloucester faced the same opposition at Kingsholm last Sunday, and make several changes to their starting line-up – only Louis Rees-Zammit, Mark Atkinson, Ollie Thorley, Fraser Balmain, Gerbrandt Grobler and Ruan Ackermann retain their places in the starting line-up.

However, several starters from last weekend – Franco Marais, Franco Mostert, Ben Morgan, Joe Simpson, Danny Cipriani and Chris Harris – are named amongst the replacements.

The teams:

Connacht: 15 Jack Carty, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 John Porch, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 2 David Heffernan, 1 Peter McCabe
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Stephen Kerins, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Robin Copeland

Gloucester: 15 Matt Banahan, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Todd Gleave, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Chris Harris

Venue: The Sportsground
Kick off: 12:45 GMT
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco Baqué (France), Adrien Descottes (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)

Montpellier v Toulouse

Montpellier head coach Xavier Garbajosa has made 10 alterations to his run-on side to take on Toulouse in their Champions Cup match at the GGL Stadium in Montpellier.

Thomas Darmon starts at full-back in Henry Immelman’s place and he is joined in the back three by wings Nemani Nadolo and Vincent Martin, who replaces Gabriel N’Gandebe.

Yvan Reilhac comes in at outside centre at Arthur Vincent’s expense and Reilhac will form a centre combination with World Cup winner Frans Steyn while Johan Goosen and Kahn Fotuali’i replace Anthony Bouthier and Benoit Paillaugue at fly-half and scrum-half respectively.

In the forwards, Julien Bardy and Fulgence Ouedraogo are the starting flanks and they join Louis Picamoles in the back-row.

In the tight five, Konstantine Mikautadze replaces Paul Willemse at lock while Mohamed Haouas and Grégory Fichten take over from levan Chilachava and Mikheil Nariashvili as the starting props.

Meanwhile, another Springbok World Cup winner, Cheslin Kolbe, returns to Toulouse’s starting line-up after playing off the replacements bench when Les Rouge et Noir beat Montpellier last weekend.

Toulouse have made seven changes in all to their starting line-up including a couple of positional switches. Kolbe replaces Yoann Huget on the right wing while Pita Ahki comes in at inside centre where he takes over from Romai Ntamack, who shifts to fly-half where he takes over from Zack Holmes.

The second positional switch is in the back-row where captain Jerome Kaino moves to the blindside flank from number eight with Selevasio Tolofua starting at the base of the scrum.

In the second-row, Richie Gray takes over from Joe Tekori and the Scotland international will pack down alongside Rory Arnold.

The final changes are in the front-row with Paulo Tafili and Peato Mauvaka replacing Dorian Aldegheri and Julien Marchand at tighthead prop and hooker respectively.

The teams:

Montpellier: 15 Thomas Darmon, 14 Vincent Martin, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Louis Picamoles (c), 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Bismarck Du Plessis, 1 Grégory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Youri Delhommel, 17 Mikheil Nariashvili, 18 Antoine Guillamon, 19 Caleb Timu, 20 Enzo Sanga, 21 Kevin Kornath, 22 Jan Serfontein, 23 Julien Le Devedec

Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Francois Cros, 6 Jerome Kaino (c), 5 Richie Gray, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Paulo Tafili, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Clément Castets, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Pierre Pages, 22 Zack Holmes, 23 Lucas Tauzin

Venue: GGL Stadium
Kick off: 16:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Aled Evans (Wales)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Saracens v Munster

Owen Farrell will captain a Saracens side strengthened by several returning England internationals.

Meanwhile, Max Malins and Joel Kpoku have been named in the starting XV for a Champions Cup fixture for the first time.

Academy graduate Malins has had a long road back from injury and starts at full-back and lock Kpoku takes the four jersey after featuring from the bench in all three of Sarries’ 2019/20 pool matches.

The duo are two of 20 players that are English-qualified in the Men in Black’s match day 23.

Number eight Billy Vunipola is back in the Saracens fold and partners Ben Earl and Nick Isiekwe in the back-row. The two 21-year-olds made their 50th and 75th club appearances respectively last time out.

Mako Vunipola and Jamie George return to the front-row alongside 2019 Rugby World Cup winner Vincent Koch while George Kruis links up with Kpoku in the boiler room to complete the changes in the pack.

Fresh from making his 100th outing for Saracens, Alex Lozowski is joined by Nick Tompkins in the centre and inside them will be half-backs Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell – the latter captaining the side.

Elliot Daly switches to the wing for the first time at Allianz Park and Sean Maitland takes a spot on the other flank to complete the back three.

On the bench, Tom Woolstencroft and Calum Clark are back from injury.

For Munster, there is one change to the side that defeated Saracens last week as tighthead prop John Ryan comes into the starting XV to make his 150th appearance for the province.

Mike Haley, Andrew Conway and Keith Earls are named in the back three with Rory Scannell and Chris Farrell continuing their centre partnership.

Conor Murray and JJ Hanrahan are in the half-backs with James Cronin, Niall Scannell and Ryan packing down in the front-row.

The second-row pairing of Jean Kleyn and Billy Holland are unchanged along with the back-row of Tadhg Beirne, captain Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander.

Dan Goggin and Tommy O’Donnell have been drafted into the replacements with Goggin set to make his 50th Munster appearance.

Nick McCarthy is in line to make his first Champions Cup appearance for Munster.

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joel Kpoku, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Josh Ibuanokpe, 19 Calum Clark, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Manu Vunipola, 23 Duncan Taylor

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Peter O’Mahony (c), 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Dan Goggin, 23 Tommy O’Donnell

Venue: Allianz Park
Kick off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalons (France), Jonathan Dufort (France)
TMO: Éric Gauzins (France)

Leinster v Northampton Saints

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named his matchday squad for Saturday’s crucial Pool 1 Champions Cup encounter with Northampton Saints at the Aviva Stadium.

With captain Johnny Sexton ruled out earlier this week through a knee injury, Scott Fardy will captain the side and is one of five changes to the starting XV announced by Cullen.

It’s the same back three that played last week at Franklin’s Gardens with Jordan Larmour at full-back, Dave Kearney on the right wing and James Lowe on the left.

There is no change either in the centre with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose at 12 and 13.

It’s a new half-back partnership though with Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne starting.

In the pack, Rónan Kelleher misses out on selection through injury (hand), so James Tracy comes in at hooker, with Cian Healy at loosehead prop and Tadhg Furlong also starting this week at tighthead.

Fardy comes in from the start and captains the side from the second-row alongside James Ryan.

And it’s same again in the back-row with Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris all retained from the start.

On the bench there is potentially a European debut for Skerries man Ciarán Frawley.

Meanwhile, Tom Wood will captain Northampton Saints on his 200th appearance for the Premiership club as the men in Black, Green and Gold attempt to reverse last weekend’s home defeat to Leinster.

Northampton’s director of rugby Chris Boyd has made eight changes to the side that were defeated by the PRO14 champions last time out, with Northampton needing a victory to keep their hopes of topping Pool One alive.

Flanker Wood will lead out Saints at the Aviva Stadium and is joined in the back-row by Jamie Gibson and Lewis Ludlam, with the latter wearing the number eight jersey for the first time since his club debut.

Meanwhile, there are four further changes to the tight five as Francois van Wyk, Michael van Vuuren and Paul Hill all come into a new-look front-row – with Hill bringing up a century of club appearances in the process – and Alex Coles slots into the engine room alongside Fiji international Api Ratuniyarawa.

Dan Biggar remains to marshal the backline but is joined by 20-year-old scrum-half Connor Tupai, who makes his first Heineken Champions Cup start.

Andrew Symons returns to Saints’ midfield to partner Matt Proctor, and there is one further change in the back three as wing Ollie Sleightholme joins Taqele Naiyaravoro and Ahsee Tuala.

Meanwhile hooker Sam Matavesi is poised to make his Northampton debut off the bench if he is introduced to the action, with club captain Alex Waller, James Grayson, and Fraser Dingwall all also named amongst the replacements.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Scott Fardy (c), 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Rob Kearney

Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Andrew Symons, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Connor Tupai, 8 Lewis Ludlam, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Tom Wood (c), 5 Alex Coles, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Michael van Vuuren, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Lewis Bean, 20 JJ Tonks, 21 James Mitchell, 22 James Grayson, 23 Fraser Dingwall

Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Dewi Phillips (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Glasgow Warriors v La Rochelle

Loosehead prop Aki Seiuli will make his first start in a Glasgow Warriors jersey this weekend, as head coach Dave Rennie makes five changes to the starting XV for the visit of La Rochelle on Saturday evening.

Fellow loosehead Alex Allan is also in line for a milestone appearance, with the Scotland international set to make his 100th club appearance from the replacements bench.

Former Highlanders prop Seiuli is the only alteration to the starting pack, after Rennie’s men claimed a thrilling 27-24 victory at the Stade Marcel Deflandre last weekend.

Scotland duo Fraser Brown and Zander Fagerson pack down alongside the New Zealander in the front-row, the latter having played the full 80 minutes in the south-west of France on Saturday.

Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray combine once more in the engine room, following an all-action showing from the pair in La Rochelle.

Club co-captains Ryan Wilson and Callum Gibbins flank number eight Matt Fagerson to complete the pack, in a back-row with over 200 club appearances between them.

Adam Hastings continues at fly-half after contributing 12 points and a cross-field kick assist last time out, with Ali Price coming into the side to start at scrum-half.

An all-new midfield pairing sees Stafford McDowall start at inside-centre for his first European start of the campaign, Huw Jones doing likewise in the number 13 jersey.

Kyle Steyn’s impact from the replacements bench last weekend sees him partner fellow try-scorer Niko Matawalu on the wings, as Tommy Seymour continues at full-back.

Centurion-to-be Allan is joined on the bench by fellow front-rowers George Turner and Adam Nicol, with Rob Harley covering the back-five of the scrum.

Tom Gordon continues in the number 20 shirt after making his European debut for the club last weekend, as George Horne rotates to the bench as scrum-half cover.

Nick Grigg and Ruaridh Jackson complete the replacements, the latter coming into the matchday 23 after missing last weekend’s clash in France.

Meanwhile, La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has rung the changes after last weekend’s narrow home defeat to the Warriors in the corresponding fixture. O’Gara has made 12 changes in all including a positional switch as Les Rochelais go in search of their first win in this season’s competition.

In the backline, Jules Favre and Marc Andreu replace Vincent Rattez and Pierre Boudehent on the wings while Brieuc Plessis-Couillaud and Levani Botia are the starting centres in place of Jérémy Sinzelle and Pierre Aguillon and Brock James takes over from Jules Plisson as the starting fly-half.

Up front, Grégory Alldritt takes over from Victor Vito at number eight while Kevin Gourdon shifts from open to blindside flank where he replaces Zeno Kieft and Gourdon will also captain the side in Vito’s absence.

The other alterations sees Thomas Lavault coming in for Thomas Jolmes in the second-row and there’s a brand new front-row with Facundo Bosch (hooker) packing down between the props, Sila Puafisi and Reda Wardi.

The teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Tommy Seymour, 14 Niko Matawalu, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Ryan Wilson , 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Aki Seiuli
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Tom Gordon, 21 George Horne, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Ruaridh Jackson

La Rochelle: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Jules Favre, 13 Brieuc Plessis-Couillaud, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Brock James, 9 Alexi Bales, 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Kevin Gourdon (c), 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Thomas Lavault, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Facundo Bosch, 1 Reda Wardi
Replacements: 16 Brendan Lebrun, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Vincent Pelo, 19 Rémi Leroux, 20 Zeno Kieft, 21 Thomas Berjon, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Pierre Aguillon

Venue: Scotstoun
Kick off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Benetton Treviso