Preview: Stade Français v Crociati

Stade Français have opted to blood a number of their rising stars in their Amlin Challenge Cup opener against Crociati on Thursday.

Stade Français have opted to blood a number of their rising stars in their Amlin Challenge Cup opener against Crociati on Thursday.

Arthur Joly and Hugues Briatte come into the pack, while Jules Plisson will make his debut at fly-half.

On the bench, Rémi Bonfils, 20-year-old English lock Daniel Wright and Benjamin Tardy will look to take their chance.

British stars Hugo Southwell, Ollie Phillips, Tom Palmer and James Haskell are also included in the squad to face the Parma-based visitors.

The teams:

Stade Français: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Martin Rodriguez, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Brian Liebenberg, 11 Ollie Phillips, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Noel Oelschig, 8 Hugues Briatte, 7 Pierre Rabadan (capt), 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Arnaud Marchois, 3 Arthur Joly, 2 Laurent Sempere, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Rémi Bonfils, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Damien Weber, 19 Daniel Wright, 20 James Haskell, 21 Anthony Burban, 22 Benjamin Tardy, 23 Julien Arias.

Crociati Rugby: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Michel Tobia, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Sebastian Damiani (capt), 11 Troy Woodman, 10 Marco Anversa, 9 James Ireland, 8 Uili Kolo'ofai, 7 Filippo Ferrarini, 6 Diego Delnevo, 5 Matteo Minari, 4 Dylan Sigg, 3 Marco Coletti, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Mattia Saccomani, 17 Iacopo Scarparo, 18 Francesco Pepoli, 19 Alessandro Maestri, 20 Marco Frati, 21 Marco Ricci, 22 Emanuele Passera, 23 Guiseppe Boggiani.

Date: Thursday, October 6
Kick-off: 19:45
Venue: Stade Jean Bouin
Referee: Dudley Phillips
Assistant referees: Paul Haycock, Kevin Beggs
Television match official: Tony Redmond