Six games are on the Champions Cup schedule on Saturday and the action kicks off with Glasgow hosting Leinster in an all-PRO14 affair.
Glasgow Warriors vs Leinster
Stuart Hogg returns to the Glasgow Warriors starting XV for their European Rugby Champions Cup clash against Leinster on Saturday.
The full-back hasn’t played since getting injured playing for the British & Irish Lions and having successfully undergone shoulder surgery this summer will feature at a sold-out Scotstoun Stadium for the first time this season.
He joins his fellow Lion Tommy Seymour in the back-three for his first game back, with Leonardo Sarto replacing Lee Jones on the wing.
Sam Johnson starts at outside centre with Ali Price, Finn Russell and Peter Horne dictating play inside of him.
George Turner is the only change in the forward pack, coming in for Fraser Brown, who was injured in the game against Exeter.
Pat MacArthur is the replacement hooker and Nick Grigg and Lee Jones are also named amongst the replacements after starting last Saturday.
Meanwhile, Leinster boss Leo Cullen has made a number of changes to the starting XV including the return of fly-half Johnny Sexton who has recovered from a dead leg. Sexton also takes over the captaincy from Isa Nacewa, who has not recovered in time from ankle injury.
Joey Carbery continues in the number 15 jersey for his sixth start of the season at full-back, with Barry Daly again selected on the left wing after his try scoring European debut last week at the RDS.
Having featured off the bench against Montpellier, Fergus McFadden starts on the right wing.
With Nacewa missing out, Noel Reid comes in at 12 as he did during the game last week when Nacewa was forced off after 35 minutes. Beside him Robbie Henshaw is selected in the number 13 jersey for the second game in a row.
At half-back Luke McGrath partners the returning Sexton.
There are two changes in the front row with Cian Healy and Seán Cronin coming in from the start to join Tadhg Furlong.
Behind them Devin Toner is again selected and is joined by Scott Fardy who returns to the second row having missed out on the game last weekend at the eleventh hour due to the birth of his son, August.
In the back row it’s as you were with Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan selected for the third game in succession.
On the bench there is a welcome return from ankle injury for Dan Leavy.
The teams:
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Samuel Johnson, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D'Arcy Rae, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Robert Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Lee Jones
Leinster: 15 Joey Carbery, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Michael Bent, 19 James Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Dave Kearney
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 13:00 BST (12:00 GMT)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Ludovic Cayre (France), Jonathan Dufort (France)
TMO: Philip Bonhoure (France)
Clermont vs Northampton Saints
Clermont have made one change to their backline for their home clash with Northampton as Isaia Toeava replaces Scott Spedding at full-back.
Up front Sitaleki Timani and Flip van der Merwe form a new lock partnership as the French side looks to back up last week's win at Ospreys.
Meanwhile, Courtney Lawes will make his 200th appearance for the Saints when they take on Clermont.
Having progressed through the Academy at Franklin’s Gardens, the hometown forward has been a lynchpin during one of the club’s most successful eras.
Also an England regular, Lawes’ 200 at Stade Marcel Michelin is another significant individual achievement in a 2017 that has already encompassed a first tour with the Lions and more recently the Premiership’s Player of the Month award for September.
The game also sees in half century milestones for Harry Mallinder (50 Saints appearances) and Ben Foden (50 Champions Cup appearances), with both earning themselves a cap for their respective achievements.
Elsewhere, Jamal Ford-Robinson makes his first start for the Saints on the tighthead, one of a number of changes to the starting XV.
Api Ratuniyarawa, Christian Day and Tom Wood also join the pack, while in behind Harry Mallinder, Nafi Tuitavake, Tom Collins and Nic Groom start in the backs.
Mitch Eadie (ankle), Rob Horne (calf), Lewis Ludlam (illness) and George North (knee) are unavailable for selection.
The teams:
Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 David Strettle, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Remi Lamerat, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Judicaël Cancoriet, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Flip Van Der Merwe, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphael Chaume
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Camille Gerondeau, 21 Charlie Cassang, 22 Peter Betham, 23 Nick Abendanon
Northampton: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ben Foden, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Tom Stephenson, 23 Ken Pisi
Venue: Stade Marcel-Michelin
Kick-off: 16:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Benetton Rugby vs Toulon
Benetton will hope to bounce back from last week's nilling at the hands of Bath when they host Toulon.
They name Jayden Hayward at full-back as Luca Sperandio moves to left wing in place of Tommaso Benvenuti while Edoardo Gori comes in at scrum-half.
Braam Steyn and Nasi Manu come into in the back-row while Dean Budd replaces Marco Fuser at lock.
Meanwhile, Toulon have named Chris Ashton in the unfamiliar position of full-back while Semi Radradra is on the wing for the trip to Italy.
Anthony Meric and Francois Trinh-Duc form the half-back pairing while Rudy Gahetau replaces Raphael Lakafia in the back-row.
The teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Nasi Manu, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Francesco Minto, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti
Toulon: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Semi Radradra, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Anthony Meric, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Rudy Gahetau, 6 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Swan Rebbadj, 3 Marcel Van Der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Mamuka Gorgodze, 20 Anthony Belleau, 21 Hugo Bonneval, 22 Vincent Clerc, 23 Jocelino Suta
Venue: Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Kick-off: 16:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald (England), Roy Maybank (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)
Leicester vs Castres
Gareth Owen and Valentino Mapapalangi have been drafted into the Leicester Tigers line-up for Saturday’s Champions Cup clash with Castres.
Owen is in line to play in his first Champions Cup tie for the club after previous appearances in Europe with Ospreys and Scarlets, replacing Matt Smith at centre this week.
Back-rower Mapapalangi is involved for the first time at this level as he starts in place of Mike Williams who is serving a one-match ban after the Round 1 fixture against Racing 92 last weekend.
These are the only two changes to the starting line-up from the Pool 4 trip to Paris last Saturday, during which Tigers claimed a bonus point in a 22-18 defeat.
Scrum-half Sam Harrison returns to the matchday squad and is named among the replacements alongside internationals Pat Cilliers, Dan Tuohy and Mathew Tait.
Castres drew their first pool game, against Munster, and bring Armand Batlle, Thomas Combezou and Yohan Le Bourhis into their backline for Julien Dumora, Robert Ebersohn and Benjamin Urdapilleta.
Up front Mihaita Lazar, Damien Tussac and Marc-Antoine Rallier come in as fresh legs in the front-row, Steve Mafi moves up to lock while Anthony Jelonch and Alex Tulou are brought into the back-row.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Nick Malouf, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Luke Hamilton, 6 Valentino Mapapalangi, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Greg Bateman, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Dan Tuohy, 20 Brendon O’Connor, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mathew Tait
Castres: 15 Armand Batlle, 14 Taylor Paris, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 11 David Smith, 10 Yohan Le Bourhis, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Damien Tussac, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Mihaita Lazar
Replacements: 16 Jody Jenneker, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Eric Sione, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Baptiste Delaporte, 21 Florian Vialelle, 22 Kylian Jaminet, 23 Ludovic Radosavljevic
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Munster vs Racing 92
Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus makes three changes from the side that drew in Castres last weekend.
The first of the changes is seen in the front row where Rhys Marshall comes in at hooker for Niall Scannell who misses out with a thumb injury.
Jean Kleyn makes a return from the neck injury he sustained in PRO14 action against Glasgow Warriors to start in the second row.
While a neck complaint sees Tyler Bleyendaal also miss this weekend’s action with Ian Keatley taking charge at fly-half.
Named again at openside, Tommy O’Donnell will win his 150th Munster cap with the province playing their 160th game of the competition – a Champions Cup record.
Crossing for a try in last weekend’s Munster A victory in Swansea, should he feature off the bench, replacement hooker Kevin O’Byrne will make his European debut.
Meanwhile, Pat Lambie makes his first European start at full-back for Racing 92 while Anthony Tuitavake and Louis Dupichot are at centre and wing respectively. Maxime Machenaud is at scrum-half with Dan Carter named at 10.
Eddy Ben Arous, Camille Chat and Ben Tameifuna come into the front-row, with Antonie Claassen in at number eight for the Round 2 game.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Liam O'Connor, 18 John Ryan, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Andrew Conway
Racing 92: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Anthony Tuitavake, 11 Louis Dupichot, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 20 Edwin Maka, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Albert Vulivuli
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Simon McConnell (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Saracens vs Ospreys
Saracens make three changes to the starting line-up that defeated Northampton Saints.
Schalk Brits and Juan Figallo rotate with Jamie George and Vincent Koch in the Saracens front-row, whilst in the backline, Duncan Taylor comes into the side for Marcelo Bosch who misses the game after sustaining as precaution after he left the field with a head injury against Northampton.
On the bench, Will Skelton could make his first appearance of the season after making a permanent move to Allianz Park in the summer, looking to add to the 8 appearances that he made in an impressive loan spell during the 2016/17 season.
Up front, Schalk Brits comes into the side for Jamie George at hooker with Mako Vunipola continuing at loosehead – Vincent Koch rotates with Juan Figallo with the Argentine tighthead named to start. At lock, Nick Isiekwe and George Kruis continue to partner each other in the heart of the Saracens engine room, with Maro Itoje (blindside flanker) and Jackson Wray (number eight) joining Calum Clark (openside flanker) in the Saracens back row.
Fly-half Owen Farrell continues at fly-half after passing the 600 point mark in Champions Cup rugby in Saracens defeat of Northampton and he is partnered by Richard Wigglesworth in the halves.
Elsewhere in the Saracens backline, Brad Barritt will skipper the side from inside centre with Duncan Taylor partnering him in midfield. In the back three, Alex Goode is named at full-back with Chris Wyles (left wing) and Liam Williams (right wing) also named.
Meanwhile, Ospreys have named their side for the daunting trip to Allianz Park but are without Dan Baker, Ashley Beck, Olly Cracknell, Hanno Dirksen, Ben John, Brian Mujati, Scott Otten, Rory Thornton, Eli Walker and Rhys Webb due to injuries.
Jeff Hassler comes in on the wing in place of Keelan Giles while Thomas Habberfield is in for Webb at scrum-half.
Adam Beard replaces Bradley Davies at lock while James King is at eight in place of Baker, who is also ruled out.
The teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Nick Tompkins
Ospreys: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Cory Allen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Thomas Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Paul James, 18 Ma'afu Fia, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Sam Davies, 23 James Hook
Venue: Allianz Park
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
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