Preview: Champions Cup, Sunday
Three Champions Cup pool games take place on Sunday and the action starts with struggling Leicester Tigers facing Racing 92 at Welford Road.
Leicester vs Racing 92
Graham Kitchener and Gareth Owen return to the Leicester Tigers team for Sunday’s Champions Cup tie against Racing 92 at Welford Road.
Second-rower Kitchener missed out on the first leg of the back-to-back games with Racing in Paris last week and his introduction is the only change in the starting line-up, with Harry Wells reverting to the bench.
Owen is among the changes on the bench, replacing Matt Smith who suffered a dislocated shoulder during the 36-26 defeat in Paris. Facundo Gigena covers at prop in place of Campese Ma’afu.
Tigers interim head coach Geordan Murphy said: “I was disappointed that we couldn’t get more out of the game last week, but we take our positives and look at the areas where we fell down a bit and try to be better again this week.
“Most people in world rugby look at the Racing squad with real envy. They deserved their win last week and executed their opportunities when they came. Now we’re back at Welford Road and we have to look to take another step forward.”
Meanwhile, Racing 92 move Simon Zebo to full-back in place of Brice Dulin with Louis Dupichot coming in on the wing while Henry Chavancy is at 12.
There’s a new front-row as Guram Gogichashvili, Ole Avei and Ben Tameifuna start while former Munster lock Donnacha Ryan gets the nod in the engine room.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Jonah Holmes, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Ben White, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Will Spencer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Mike Williams, 21 Guy Thompson, 22 Ben Youngs, 23 Gareth Owen
Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Louis Dupichot, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Ole Avei, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Fabien Sanconnie, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Olivier Klemenczak, 23 Ben Volavola
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
Television match official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
England flanker Mark Wilson is among the returning stars for Newcastle Falcons as they prepare to host Edinburgh in Sunday’s Champions Cup clash.
Wilson comes into a side showing 11 changes from last weekend’s meeting between the two sides, wingers Vereniki Goneva and Sinoti Sinoti also returning in a team captained by fly-half Toby Flood.
Johnny Williams comes into the centres behind a pack which sees Kyle Cooper and Trevor Davison added to the front-row, Calum Green coming in at lock in front of a freshened-up back-row which sees the return of Wilson, Nemani Nagusa and Edinburgh old boy John Hardie.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has named a settled side to face the Falcons.
As Edinburgh look to build on last weekend’s bonus-point win over the Kingston Park outfit which elevated the capital side to the top of Pool 5, the team selection includes just two changes as Scotland internationalists Allan Dell and Luke Hamilton are named in the starting XV.
The capped duo come in to replace Jamie Ritchie – who drops out due to injury – and Pierre Schoeman, with the prop named among the replacements.
An unchanged back-three sees full-back Blair Kinghorn – a try-scorer in last weekend’s win over Falcons – named alongside wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham.
James Johnstone is once against named in midfield alongside Chris Dean, who keeps his place at inside centre after crossing the whitewash against Falcons a week ago.
Experienced Scotland scrum-half Henry Pyrgos and South-African fly-half Jaco van der Walt continue at half-back.
The inclusion of Dell at loosehead prop is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged front-row as WP Nel is selected alongside captain Stuart McInally.
Scotland locks Ben Toolis and Grant Gilchrist continue in the second-row, whilst Hamilton completes the back-row alongside Hamish Watson and Fijian number eight Viliame Mata.
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Toby Flood (c), 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 John Hardie, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Calum Green, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Sam Lockwood
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Sami Mavinga, 18 Jack Payne, 19 Glen Young, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Tom Arscott
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Luc Ramos (France)
Television match official: Éric Briquet-Campin (France)
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Montpellier vs Toulon
Montpellier head coach Vern Cotter has made two changes to his backline as they look to exact revenge over Toulon for last week’s defeat.
Jan Serfontein replaces Vincent Martin at centre with Arthur Vincent moving to the number 13 jersey. Ruan Pienaar comes in at scrum-half.
Up front Mikheil Nariashvili and Antoine Guillamon are in as fresh props while Paul Willemse and Jacques du Plessis do likewise as the locks.
Finally in the back-row, there is a start for Louis Picamoles at number eight, who captains the side for the French derby at GGL Stadium.
Meanwhile, Jonah Placid is handed a start at full-back for Toulon while Josua Tuisova comes in at inside centre. Francois Trinh-Duc is as the preferred option alongside Eric Escande in the half-backs as the visitors hope to build on that victory of last weekend.
There is a strong look to the front-row as Florian Fresia, Guilhem Guirado and Marcel van der Merwe pack down while Brian Alainu’uese and Swan Rebbadj come in at lock. The back-row sees Mamuka Gorgodze move to the flank alongside Jean Monribot and number eight Liam Messam.
The teams:
Montpellier: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Arthur Vincent, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Henry Immelman, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles (c), 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Antoine Guillamon, 2 Vincent Giudicelli, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Martin Devergie, 20 Benjamin Fall, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Yvan Reilhac, 23 Konstantine Mikautadze
Toulon: 15 Jonah Placid, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Filipo Nakosi, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Eric Escande, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Jean Monribot, 5 Swan Rebbadj, 4 Brian Alainu’uese, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Florian Fresia
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Mathieu Bastareaud, 21 Louis Carbonel, 22 Yoann Cottin, 23 Stephane Onambele Mbarga
Venue: GGL Stadium
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Brian MacNeice (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)