Four games take place on Sunday in round four of the European Champions Cup, starting with Wasps at home to La Rochelle.
Wasps v La Rochelle
Nathan Hughes returns to the Wasps team for this weekend’s clash against La Rochelle after recovering from a badly bruised knee sustained while representing England during the autumn internationals.
He joins last week’s try-scorer Thomas Young and James Haskell in the back row, while the front-five that operated so solidly in the set-piece at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre gets the opportunity to produce a repeat performance.
Behind the scrum, Willie Le Roux and Kyle Eastmond have recovered from illness to wear the No.15 and No.22 shirts respectively.
Jimmy Gopperth and Juan de Jongh are again paired in midfield, outside Dan Robson and Danny Cipriani.
Wingers Christian Wade and Elliot Daly complete the backline, while Eastmond, Joe Simpson and Gaby Lovobalavu will provide impact from the bench.
The Coventry-based outfit need a victory to keep their qualification hopes alive while Sunday’s opponents know that a win will effectively secure their passage in the knockout stages.
However, La Rochelle boss Patrice Collazo has decided to make a number of changes with Gabriel Lacroix, Paul Jordaan, Rene Ranger and Ryan Lamb replacing Jeremy Sinzelle, Pierre Aguillon, Vincent Rattez and Brock James respectively.
Top 14 Player of the Year Victor Vito moves to the bench – Kevin Gourdon coming in as his replacement – while Afa Amosa starts alongside Zeno Kieft at flanker.
Thomas Jolmes, Uini Atonio and Dany Priso retain their positions in the front-five but Hikairo Forbes and Romain Sazy come into the side, taking over from Pierre Bourgarit and Jason Eaton.
The teams:
Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Haskell, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Kyle Eastmond, 23 Gaby Lovobalavu
La Rochelle: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Alexi Bales, 8 Kevin Gourdon, 7 Afa Amosa, 6 Zeno Kieft, 5 Thomas Jolmes, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Hikairo Forbes, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Mohamed Boughanmi, 19 Gregory Lamboley, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Jean-Victor Goillot, 22 Brock James, 23 Pierre Boudehent.
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: George Clancy (Ire)
Assistant referees: Eddie Hogan-O’Connell (Ire), Jonathan Peak (Ire)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ire)
Ospreys v Northampton Saints
Hanno Dirksen’s suspension means that Steve Tandy has been forced to make a change on the right wing, with Ben John starting.
Other than that, the Ospreys have named an unchanged backline as Sam Davies retains his place over the returning Dan Biggar, who is on the bench.
There are also few alterations to the pack but Justin Tipuric gets his first start for the Welsh region since their loss to Clermont Auvergne back in October.
That means Olly Cracknell shifts to number eight as James King drops out of the 23 because of a shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, Northampton Saints’ interim head coach Alan Dickens has made five changes to the starting line-up for this weekend’s clash.
Saints travel to south Wales on Sunday looking to get back to winning ways after last weekend’s defeat saw the end of Jim Mallinder’s tenure at the Midlanders.
Courtney Lawes is rested and Dylan Hartley is out through illness, with Luther Burrell and Lewis Ludlam moving to the bench.
Tom Stephenson comes into inside centre in the only change to the starting backline having recovered from a hamstring injury, while Ben Foden captains the side on the wing.
Hooker Mikey Haywood packs down alongside Francois van Wyk and Jamal Ford-Robinson in the front row, and Michael Paterson comes in to partner David Ribbans in the engine room.
The final two changes are in the back row, with flankers Jamie Gibson and Tom Wood lining up either side of Teimana Harrison, who wears the number eight jersey again after an impressive showing last time out.
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Ben John, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Jeff Hassler; 10 Sam Davies, 9 Thomas Habberfield, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Paul James, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Ashley Beck
Northampton: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Luther Burrell, 23 Ken Pisi
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Ita)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Ita), Matteo Liperini (Ita)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Ita)
Clermont v Saracens
Clermont Auvergne have unsurprisingly made just two changes to the starting line-up for their game against Saracens.
The Top 14 outfit thrashed the two-time defending Champions Cup champions 46-14 on Monday and boss Franck Azema has kept faith with the majority of the team.
Flip van der Merwe and Peceli Yato do come into the side, however, replacing Sitaleki Timani and Judicaël Cancoriet, who drop out of the squad.
A repeat performance by Clermont this weekend will take them to the brink of qualification and put Sarries under pressure to win their final couple of matches.
The Londoners therefore bring in Alex Lozowski and Ben Spencer in place of Brad Barritt and Richard Wigglesworth respectively, while Nick Isiekwe starts on the blindside, replacing Schalk Burger.
Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Vincent Koch start in the front-row while Calum Clark switches to openside.
Will Skelton and George Kruis are once again partnered together in the second-row as Jackson Wray continues at number eight. Chris Wyles, Alex Goode and Sean Maitland make up the backline with Lozowski and Marcelo Bosch at centre as Owen Farrell continues at fly-half.
Academy products Ben Earl, Tom Whiteley, Nick Tompkins and Nathan Earle also make the bench alongside Christopher Tolofua, Richard Barrington, Juan Figallo and Burger.
The teams:
Clermont: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 David Strettle, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Isaiah Toeava, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Peceli Yato, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Flip Van Der Merwe, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Raphael Chaume, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Viktor Kolelishvili, 21 Charly Trussardi, 22 Peter Betham, 23 Nick Abendanon
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Nathan Earle
Venue: Stade Marcel-Michelin
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ire)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ire), John Carvill (Ire)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ire)
Leicester Tigers v Munster
Leicester Tigers welcome back Matt Toomua and Manu Tuilagi for the European Champions Cup fixture against Munster at Welford Road.
International centres Toomua and Tuilagi are reunited in the Tigers’ starting line-up, with Mathew Tait reverting to the full-back role in the absence of the injured Telusa Veainu.
Australia international hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, who arrived in Leicester this week, is included among the replacements for the Pool 4 fixture.
“We prepared well for last weekend but we didn’t deliver on the day and were beaten by a very committed Munster side,” said Tigers’ head coach Matt O’Connor.
“Now we are looking at a big reaction at home this week. Pool 4 is the tightest of all the groups in the competition and all four teams still have everything to play for.
“Matt and Manu have been training hard, they’re world-class operators and it’s great to have them back.”
Munster boss Johann van Graan has made two changes to their starting XV as they look to repeat their impressive performance from last weekend.
It’s a first European start for hooker Kevin O’Byrne as he and winger Darren Sweetnam are promoted from the bench this weekend.
Keith Earls and Niall Scannell are notable returnees from respective hamstring and thumb injuries and are included in the match-day 23.
Billy Holland again continues in the second-row having already started all 13 of Munster’s games so far this season.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Mike Williams, 6 Tino Mapapalangi, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Michael Fitzgerald, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Kyle Traynor
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Nick Malouf
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sam Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Brian Scott, 18 John Ryan, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Keith Earls
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini (Fra), Mathieu Noirot (Fra)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (Fra)
We have previewed the round four European Champions Cup action exclusively for our friends at Betsafe, and you can read the feature over at their website.
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