Five Champions Cup games take place on Saturday, starting with Montpellier and Benetton Rugby hosting Glasgow and Scarlets respectively.
Montpellier v Glasgow Warriors
Montpellier will be looking to make it back-to-back wins over Glasgow Warriors when they face off with them at Altrad Stadium on Saturday.
In team news, Gabriel N’gandebe is in for Benjamin Fall on the right wing while Benoit Paillaugue gets the start at scrum-half for Enzo Sanga.
Romain Ruffenach and Grégory Fichten are named in the front row, Konstantine Mikautadze starts at lock while the back row is unchanged.
Meanwhile, Ali Price will play his 50th game for Glasgow Warriors in the South of France this weekend.
Price starts inside of Pete Horne who is one of six changes Dave Rennie has made to the starting XV from last Friday’s fixture against the Frenchmen.
Scotland internationals Lee Jones, Alex Dunbar and Nick Grigg all come into the backline, joining Tommy Seymour and Ruaridh Jackson.
Fraser Brown returns from a head injury to start at hooker, with Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson packing down either side of him.
Kiran McDonald comes into the starting line-up to make his first start in the European Rugby Champions Cup, after coming off the bench last weekend. He joins Jonny Gray in the heart of the pack, while the loose forwards behind them remain unchanged.
Pat MacArthur also returns from injury and is named amongst the replacements.
Elsewhere, the club can confirm that Sam Johnson fractured his jaw in Friday’s reverse fixture against Montpellier. Johnson has successfully undergone surgery and is expected to be out of action for at least ten weeks. Leo Sarto is undergoing investigation following a shoulder injury sustained in the same match.
The teams:
Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Gabriel N’gandebe, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Kelian Galletier, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Nicholaas van Rensburg, 3 Johannes Jonker, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Grégory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Mikheil Nariashvili, 18 Mohamed Haouas, 19 Julien Delannoy, 20 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 21 Enzo Sanga, 22 Henry Immelman, 23 Timoci Nagusa
Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Samu Vunisa, 7 Matt Smith, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Kiran McDonald, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Siosiua Halanukonuka, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Niko Matawalu
Venue: Altrad Stadium
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: JP Doyle (Eng)
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys (Eng), Simon McConnell (Eng)
TMO: Graham Hughes (Eng)
Benetton Rugby v Scarlets
Benetton will be keen to build on last week’s impressive performance in defeat when they host Scarlets at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
The Italians make two changes to their backline as Luca Morisi and Tito Tebaldi come in at inside centre and scrum-half for Alberto Sgarbi and Giorgio Bronzini respectively.
In the pack, Federico Zani and Luca Bigi are named in the front row, Dean Budd comes in at lock while Braam Steyn and Nasi Manu are called into the back row.
Meanwhile, Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has made four changes to the side that secured a bonus-point victory over Benetton Rugby at Parc y Scarlets last weekend.
The second leg of the back-to-back Champions Cup clashes will see Scarlets take on the Italians at their Stadio Comunale di Monigo home, looking for a victory to keep the campaign on track.
Scott Williams, Dan Jones, Rob Evans and Will Boyde all make a return to the starting XV. Fly-half Rhys Patchell is ruled out with concussion.
The teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Cherif Traore, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Nacho Brex
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Paul Asquith, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Will Boyde, 7 James Davies, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steven Cummins, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 John Barclay, 20 Joshua Macleod, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Hadleigh Parkes, 23 Steff Hughes
Venue: Stadio Comunali di Monigo
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Romain Poite (Fra)
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon (Fra), Francois Bouzac (Fra)
TMO: Brian MacNiece (Ire)
Leinster v Exeter Chiefs
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has been forced into one personnel change and one positional change for the return fixture against Exeter.
With Rhys Ruddock ruled out with a hamstring injury it means that the man that replaced him early in the second half last week, Josh van der Flier, starts at the Aviva Stadium.
With Van der Flier coming in, it means a swap to the blindside for Seán O’Brien with Van der Flier then taking the number seven jersey from the Tullow man.
Otherwise it’s as you were.
Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden and captain Isa Nacewa are the back three with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose again partnered in midfield.
Elsewhere, Luke McGrath and Johnny Sexton will again start in the half-backs.
In the pack, Cian Healy, Seán Cronin and Tadhg Furlong form an all-Irish front row, with Devin Toner and Scott Fardy behind them.
The back row sees O’Brien and Van der Flier joined by try scorer from last week, Jack Conan.
On the bench, there are two changes with Andrew Porter in line to make his Champions Cup debut should he be introduced, while Dan Leavy has shaken off a hamstring injury to take his place in the matchday 23.
Meanwhile for Exeter, a rib injury means Phil Dollman misses out this weekend, so Australian international Lachie Turner is recalled to first team duty at full-back. The other change to the Chiefs backline sees England international Jack Nowell come in on the wing for James Short, who drops to the bench.
Up front, Ben Moon and Tomas Francis will pack down in the front-row alongside Luke Cowan-Dickie, while behind Sam Skinner is given the nod at lock ahead of Jonny Hill, while Sam Simmonds will don the eight jersey with Thomas Waldrom named amongst the replacements.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 James Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Jordan Larmour
Exeter: 15 Lachlan Turner, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tom Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Tom Waldrom, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Sam Hill, 23 James Short
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (Fra)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (Fra), Jean-Luc Rebollal (Fra)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
Racing 92 v Castres
Racing 92 will look to exact revenge over Castres for last weekend’s 16-13 defeat when they meet at Stade Yves du Manoir on Saturday.
The Paris side make changes to their side as Brice Dulin, Teddy Thomas and Joe Rokocoko drop out of the team, with Louis Dupichot, Anthony Tuitavake and Virimi Vakatawa taking their places.
Bernard le Roux takes the place of Boris Palu on the flank, Donnacha Ryan replaces Manuel Carizza at lock while Cedate Gomes Sa comes in at tighthead in place of Ben Tameifuna.
For Castres, Julien Caminati and Kylian Jaminet will start at full-back and left wing respectively, taking the places of Armand Batlle and David Smith, while Yohan Le Bourhis and Rory Kockott replace Benjamin Urdapilleta and Ludovic Radosavljevic as the half-back combination.
Alex Tulou and Steve Mafi are named in the back-row, Loic Jacquet and Christophe Samson form a new lock partnership while there is also a new front-row with Yohan Montes, Tudor Stroe and Marc-Antoine Rallier included.
The teams:
Racing 92: 15 Juan Imhoff, 14 Louis Dupichot, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Anthony Tuitavake, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Rémi Tales, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Edwin Maka, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Wenceslas Lauret, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Antoine Gibert, 23 Joe Rokocoko
Castres: 15 Julien Caminati, 14 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Kylian Jaminet, 10 Yohan le Bourhis, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Steve Mafi, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Yohan Montes, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Tudor Stroe
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Eric Sione, 19 Alexandre Bias, 20 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 21 Yohan Domenech, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Thomas Combezou
Venue: Stade Yves du Manoir
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (Eng), Paul Dix (Eng)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (Eng)
Bath v Toulon
Matt Banahan will make his 250th appearance for Bath against Toulon in the European Rugby Champions Cup on Saturday at the Rec.
Banahan, who made his debut for the club in 2006, marks his milestone on the left wing, with Aled Brew on the right. Anthony Watson continues at full-back after scoring in the narrow 24-20 defeat in the reverse fixture last weekend at the Stade Mayol.
Jonathan Joseph lines up at outside centre alongside Ben Tapuai, with Chris Cook partnering Rhys Priestland in the half-back combination.
There are no changes in the front row, with Beno Obano, Tom Dunn and Max Lahiff looking to assert their authority in the scrum. Charlie Ewels returns to the starting line-up at second row, and will feature alongside Elliott Stooke.
Francois Louw returns to take his place at openside flanker, with captain Matt Garvey at blindside and Paul Grant switching back to number eight.
Meanwhile, Toulon have moved Chris Ashton from full-back to wing for the return match, with Hugo Bonneval in the number 15 jersey. Semi Radradra drops out of the side in an otherwise unchanged backline.
In the pack, Guilhem Guirado and Marcel van der Merwe come into the front-row and Facundo Isa gets the nod on the flank in place of Raphael Lakafia.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Paul Grant, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Michael Van Vuuren, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jack Wilson
Toulon: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Facundo Isa, 6 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Marcel Van Der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Laurent Delboulbès, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Raphael Lakafia, 20 JP Pietersen, 21 Swan Rebbadj, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Juandre Kruger
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wal)
Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wal), Gwyn Morris (Wal)
TMO: Neil Hennessy (Wal)
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