Preview: Montpellier v Newcastle

Newcastle look ahead to a second successive weekend of facing up to a formidable French test as they travel to Montpellier on Thursday.

Newcastle look ahead to a second successive weekend of facing up to a formidable French test as they travel to Montpellier for Thursday's Amlin Challenge Cup clash.

The 22-16 home win over Bourgoin got the English club off to a flier in their bid to make the tournament knock-out stages for a sixth successive season.

But the Falcons' head coach Alan Tait knows the French outfit in fourth place in the Top 14 – including wins over Toulouse and Racing Metro – will be yet another step up.

For their part Montpellier went to Exeter Chiefs' Sandy Park in Round One and went home with a 20-13 victory against the newcomers.

Tait has made a few changes to the team that beat Bourgoin at Kingston Park last Thursday. Andy Henderson comes in for the injured Gcobani Bobo, while Chris Pilgrim, Kieran Brookes and Redford Pennycook replace Micky Young, Micky Ward and Mark Wilson respectively.

The other major change is that of Joel Hodgson getting his first senior start, fitting in at fly-half for the injured Jeremy Manning. Finally, the young Tom Catterick gains a place on the bench as he continues to recover from injury.

The teams:

Montpellier: 15 Pierre Bérard, 14 Quentin Doumayrou, 13 Seta Tuilevuka, 12 Grant Rees, 11 Dimitri Pelo, 10 Santiago Fernandez, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Johan Wasserman, 6 Vassili Bost (c), 5 Goncalo Uva, 4 Lionel Dargier, 3 Kevin Kervarec, 2 Joan Caudullo, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 George Jgenti, 18 Sébastien Petit, 19 Marc Giraud, 20 Adrien Tomas, 21 Raphael Lagarde, 22 Florian Nicot, 23 Michel Macurdy.

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Luke Fielden, 13 Luke Eves, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Chris Pilgrim, 8 Allister Hogg (c), 7 Redford Pennycook, 6 Brent Wilson, 5 Glen Townson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Joe Graham, 1 Grant Shiells.
Replacements: 16 Rob Vickers, 17 Darren Fearn, 18 James Hall, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Micky Young, 22 James Fitzpatrick, 23 Tom Catterick.

Date: Thursday, 14 October
Venue: Stade Yves du Manoir, Montpell
Kick-off: 20:45 (19:45 BST)
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)