Pool 4 and Pool 1 conclude on Sunday as crucial games take place at Welford Road, Thomond Park, Ricoh Arena and Stade Marcel Deflandre.
Leicester Tigers vs Racing 92
International prop Dan Cole will reach the landmark of 50 European Cup appearances for Leicester Tigers.
Cole is joined in the Tigers line-up by fellow England squad men Jonny May, Ben Youngs and George Ford for the Pool 4 encounter at Welford Road. Ford is named as captain after leading Tigers in their last home game, against London Irish a fortnight ago.
Manu Tuilagi and Matt Toomua also return to the starting line-up after missing the defeat against Castres Olympique in the south of France last weekend.
Tigers head coach Matt O’Connor said: “We have obviously not done as well as we would have liked in Europe this season but this is a huge opportunity to put in a big performance against one of the premier teams in the tournament in front of our own fans at Welford Road.
“Racing have a lot of world-class players in the group, they are chasing a place in the quarter-finals and we need to put out a big performance against a team of that quality.”
Meanwhile, for Racing, Brice Dulin, Teddy Thomas and Joe Rokocoko line up in the back three while Henry Chavancy and Virimi Vakatawa form the midfield combination.
Remi Tales and Maxime Machenaud pair up as the half-back combination while Leone Nakarawa, Yannick Nyanga and Wenceslas Lauret combine as the loose trio.
Manuel Carizza, Donnacha Ryan, Ben Tameifuna, Camille Chat and Eddy Ben Arous pack down in the tight five.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Nick Malouf, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Mike Fitzgerald, 20 Valentino Mapapalangi, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Adam Thompstone
Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Rémi Tales, 9 Maxime Machenaud (c), 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Dan Carter, 23 Louis Dupichot
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
Television match official: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Munster vs Castres
Munster head coach Johann van Graan has kept faith with the same XV that started the defeat to Racing 92 for this weekend’s clash with Castres.
The southern province, who suffered a 34-30 loss in Paris last weekend, have named an unchanged team for the first time this season as they face French opposition again in their final Pool 4 game in the European Champions Cup at Thomond Park on Sunday.
It means that captain Peter O’Mahony has recovered from an ankle knock to captain the side. The only adjustment to the matchday 23 sees Kevin O’Byrne replaced on the bench by Niall Scannell, who returns after sustaining a rib injury in the PRO14 defeat to Ulster on New Year’s Day.
Meanwhile, for Castres, Geoffrey Palis, Kylian Jaminet and David Smith form the back three combination while Thomas Combezou and Robert Ebersohn combine in the midfield. Julien Dumora and Rory Kockott are the half-back pairing.
Alex Tulou, Steve Mafi and Yannick Caballero form the loose trio while Thibault Lassalle and Alexandre Bias are the locks. Damien Tussac, Jody Jenneker and Antoine Tichit scrum down in the front-row.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Wootton
Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Kylian Jaminet, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 David Smith, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Steve Mafi, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Thibault Lassalle, 4 Alexandre Bias, 3 Damien Tussac, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Victor Moreaux, 20 Baptiste Delaporte, 21 Yohan Domenech, 22 Yohan Le Bourhis, 23 Afusipa Taumoepeau
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 16:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Dewi Phillips (Wales)
Television match official: Jonathan Mason (Wales)
Wasps vs Ulster
Juan de Jongh returns to Wasps’ line-up after recovering from a hamstring injury.
The Springbok international, who limped off in the early stages of his club’s Premiership defeat by Saracens a fortnight ago, partners Kyle Eastmond in the home midfield.
Director of rugby Dai Young has made one further change to the matchday 23 that lost to Harlequins last week, with former England U20 flanker Jack Willis replacing the suspended James Haskell.
Hookers Tom Cruse and Ashley Johnson swap bench and starting roles, as do openside flankers Guy Thompson and Thomas Young.
Thompson and Willis are joined in the back-row for a final time by Nizaam Carr, who is shortly to return to Cape Town following the end of his successful loan spell in Coventry.
Looking ahead to the round six clash, Young said his team must focus on delivering an improved all-round performance.
“Plenty always goes on during the final weekend of the European Cup pool stages,” he said. “But we have to concentrate on our game with Ulster, pure and simple.
“We have plenty to put right from the last few weeks, and have been working hard on those things in training.
“We can only control events at the Ricoh. A number of things must happen for us to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals, but it all starts with us beating Ulster.”
Meanwhile, there are just three personnel changes and two positional switches to the Ulster starting XV that registered an impressive 20-13 win versus La Rochelle last weekend.
Darren Cave, Kieran Treadwell and Kyle McCall are the three new faces included by the coaching team.
With Craig Gilroy ruled out after fracturing his cheekbone against the French, Cave is selected at outside centre, with Louis Ludik moving to occupy the right wing berth.
Christian Lealiifano has been named at fly-half for what will be his final game before returning to play Super Rugby for the Brumbies. John Cooney, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale and Charles Piutau will complete the backline.
Treadwell’s inclusion at lock alongside Alan O’Connor results in Iain Henderson moving to the back-row next to Sean Reidy and Nick Timoney. Rory Best will be flanked by McCall and Rodney Ah You in the front-row.
Wiehahn Herbst has recovered from a calf injury sustained against Leinster earlier this month and is named among the replacements. Rob Herring, Andy Warwick, Matty Rea and Chris Henry are the other forwards in the squad.
Rob Lyttle, who scored two tries for Ulster A in a bonus point win over Cornish Pirates last weekend, has earned a place on the bench alongside Dave Shanahan and Johnny McPhillips.
A bonus-point victory would confirm Ulster as group winners, regardless of La Rochelle’s result against bottom side Harlequins, while a win of any nature would see Ulster progress as one of the best runners up.
The teams:
Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 Jack Willis, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Brendan Macken
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nathan Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Kyle McCall
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Matt Rea, 20 Chris Henry, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Jonny McPhillips, 23 Rob Lyttle
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Ludovic Cayre (France), Jonathan Dufort (France)
Television match official: Eric Briquet-Campin (France)
La Rochelle vs Harlequins
Kini Murimurivalu starts at full-back for La Rochelle with Rene Ranger and Vincent Rattez lining up on the wings. Paul Jordaan and Pierre Aguillon form the midfield combination while Jeremy Sinzelle and Alexi Bales combine as the half-back pairing.
Victor Vito lines up at the back of the scrum while Kevin Gourdon and Levani Botia will flank. Mathieu Tanguy and skipper Jason Eaton lock down in the second-row while Uni Antonio, Pierre Bourgarit and Dany Priso are in the front-row.
Meanwhile, there are four changes to the Harlequins starting XV that overturned a 21-point deficit to defeat Wasps at the Stoop in Round 5.
Marcus Smith starts at fly-half as James Lang moves to inside centre in place of Jamie Roberts, who suffered a concussion last weekend. In the outside backs Ian Prior and Ross Chisholm are named to start following injuries to Mike Brown (eye) and Charlie Walker (ribs).
Amongst the forwards, Mat Luamanu is recalled into the back-row after Renaldo Bothma underwent surgery on a broken arm, in an otherwise unchanged pack.
On the bench, Joe Marchant and Aaron Morris are named as replacements as they both return from long term injuries.
The teams:
La Rochelle: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Rene Ranger, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Pierre Aguillon, 11 Vincent Rattez, 10 Jérémy Sinzelle, 9 Alexi Bales, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Levani Botia, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Jason Eaton (c), 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Lekso Kaulashvili, 18 Mohamed Boughanmi, 19 William Demotte, 20 Romain Sazy, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Benjamin Noble, 23 Eliott Roudil
Harlequins: 15 Ian Prior, 14 Ross Chisholm, 13 Alofa Alofa, 12 James Lang, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Archie White, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Ben Glynn, 4 George Merrick, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward (c), 1 Lewis Boyce
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Dino Lamb, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Joe Marchant, 23 Aaron Morris
Venue: Stade Marcel Deflandre
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
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