Preview: Edinburgh unchanged for Montpellier decider
Pool 5 of the Champions Cup takes centre stage on Friday with Edinburgh versus Montpellier at Murrayfield a crucial encounter in deciding qualification.
Edinburgh v Montpellier
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has named an unchanged side for Friday’s winner-takes-all encounter with French giants Montpellier in the Champions Cup at Murrayfield.
Victory would secure what would be the capital side’s first appearance in the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club rugby competition since 2012. A win would also maintain the team’s unbeaten home record so far this season and extend the club’s winning run to seven games in all competitions.
The matchday 23 contains all 12 Edinburgh players named this week in Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad for the forthcoming Six Nations.
Try-scorers in the south of France last weekend – wing Darcy Graham, fullback Blair Kinghorn and centre James Johnstone – form the spine of a back division that also includes Scotland call-up Chris Dean and South African duo Duhan van der Merwe and Jaco van der Walt. Henry Pyrgos once again partners Van der Walt at half-back.
Captain Stuart McInally packs down in a formidable front-row alongside props Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel, whilst Ben Toolis and Grant Gilchrist continue their partnership in the second-row.
Offload kings Bill Mata and Jamie Ritchie are named in the back-row along with the relentless Hamish Watson.
Ahead of the momentous fixture, head coach Cockerill said: “We’ve given ourselves the opportunity to finish top of the group and to be at home in the quarter-finals, so I want us to take that opportunity.
“We’re going to go out there, gumshields in, sleeves rolled up and we’re going to get in the middle of it and see where we get to.”
Meanwhile, Bismarck du Plessis returns to the Montpellier line-up for the encounter on Friday as Vern Cotter makes five changes to the side.
The backline which impressed against Newcastle Falcons remains largely intact but Cotter has decided to bring in Jan Serfontein for Yvan Reilhac at centre.
The New Zealander has also bolstered the pack with Yacouba Camara, Fulgence Ouedraogo and Jacques du Plessis coming into the team.
They replace Kevin Kornath, Kelian Galletier and Konstantin Mikautadze as the Frenchmen look to gain a victory which will take them into the quarter-finals.
Montpellier are three points behind Edinburgh and a win at Murrayfield will secure their place in the knockout stages.
The teams:
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 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
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 Jacques du Plessis, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Grégory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Usha Tcheisvhili, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Kelian Galletier, 20 Yvan Reilhac, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Vincent Martin, 23 Paul Willemse
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England), Peter Allan (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Newcastle Falcons v Toulon
Fiji number eight Nemani Nagusa returns to Newcastle Falcons’ side for Friday’s Champions Cup visit of French club Toulon.
The summer signing started in the Falcons’ last two victories over Bath and Northampton but left the field early into the Champions Cup defeat against Edinburgh. Nagusa is also joined by fit-again winger Sinoti Sinoti for the final group-stage clash.
The Falcons make just one further change as fit-again hooker George McGuigan comes in for Kyle Cooper, while positional switches see Tom Arscott moving from wing to full-back, Gary Graham sliding from blindside to openside and Ryan Burrows moving from number to blindside.
Newcastle defeated the three-time Champions Cup winners 26-25 when they met on the French Rivera back in October, and were also victorious by a 6-3 margin the last time Toulon visited Kingston Park during the 2011/12 Challenge Cup.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s game, defence coach John Wells said: “People on the outside might view this as a dead rubber, but for us it’s incredibly important in helping generate the momentum which is going to take us through the back half of the Premiership season.
“It’s a chance to do a home-and-away double against a side who have won the Champions Cup three times in the past six years, even if by their own high standards they’ve had a fairly miserable season this time round.”
For Toulon, head coach Patrice Collazo has named a centre partnership of Julian Savea and Josua Tuisova to face Newcastle at Kingston Park.
As a result, Mathieu Bastareaud drops to the bench while Francois Trinh-Duc is out of the squad completely. Anthony Belleau and Rhys Webb provide the cover at half-back with Yoann Cottin and Louis Carbonel given an opportunity in the XV.
Mathieu Smaili retains his place at full-back but this weekend he is joined by Daniel Ikpefan and Filipo Nakosi in the back three.
Up front, there are also mass changes with Romain Taofifenua and Stephane Onambele the only players to retain their places in the pack.
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Toby Flood (c), 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Gary Graham, 6 Ryan Burrows, 5 Glen Young, 4 Will Witty, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Sami Mavinga, 18 David Wilson, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Michael Young, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Zach Kibirige
Toulon: 15 Mathieu Smaili, 14 Daniel Ikpefan, 13 Josua Tuisova, 12 Julian Savea, 11 Filipo Nakosi, 10 Louis Carbonel, 9 Yoann Cottin, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Stephane Onambele, 6 Jean Monribot, 5 Romain Taofifenua (c), 4 Mamuka Gorgodze, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Bruce Devaux
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Matthieu Loudet, 19 Corentin Vernet, 20 Anthony Belleau, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Rhys Webb, 23 Juandré Kruger
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mike English (Wales), Aled Evans (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)