European Challenge Cup Round 3

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La Rochelle v Saracens
Location - Stade Marcel Deflandre
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13mph E Winds

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La Rochelle
15 Arthur Cestaro 14 Charles Lagarde 13 Charles Bouldoire 12 Kini Murimurivalu 11 Levani Botia Veivuke 10 Jules Lebail 9 Julien Berger 1 Jordan Seneca 2 Hikairo Forbes 3 Lekso Kaulashvili 4 Cobus Grobler 5 Leandro Cedaro 6 Nicolas Djebaili 7 Benoit Guyot 8 Jone Qovu Nailiko

Replacements: 16 Benjamin Geledan 17 Thomas Synaeghel 18 Vincent Pelo 19 Mathieu Tanguy 20 Zeno Kieft 21 Hamish Gard 22 Albert Vulivuli
23 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Nic Auterac	09. Henry Taylor
02. Jack Walker	10. Bernard Foley
03. Matius Diaz
04. Julian Pierre	11. Nathan Earle
05. Louis Deacon	12. Tom Taylor
06. Joe Batley	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Matt Hankin	14. Aaron Morris
08. Brad Shields	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Sam James 17. Fabien Barcella 18. Biyi Alo 19. Tom Jubb 20. Sam Underhill 21. Josh Sharpe 22. George Perkins 23. Charlie Kingsman

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Cardiff Blues v London Irish
Location - Cardiff Arms Park
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13mph E Winds

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Cardiff Blues

15 Rhys Patchell 14 Richard Smith 13 Adam Thomas 12 Gavin Evans 11 Geraint Walsh 10 Gareth Davies 9 Lloyd Williams 1 Sam Hobbs 2 Matthew Rees 3 Adam Jones 4 Jarrad Hoeata 5 Filo Paulo 6 Macauley Cook 7 Sam Warburton 8 Manoa Vosawai

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey 17 Gethin Jenkins 18 Scott Andrews 19 Josh Turnbull 20 Josh Navidi 21 Tavis Knoyle 22 Cory Allen 23 Dan Fish

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 London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. Ben Franks	09. Neil De Kock
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Jules Plisson
03. Will Collier
04. Tom Savage	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Stuart Hooper (c)	12. Alapati Leuia
06. Jordan Taufua	13. Mark Bennett
07. George Smith	14. Harry Robinson
08. David Sisi	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Gerard Ellis 17. Tom Smallbone 18. Rhodri Jones 19. SOBv2 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Rory Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Mark Jennings

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Edinburgh v London Welsh
Location - Murrayfield
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13mph E Winds

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Edinburgh

15 Greig Tonks, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Mike Coman (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tomas Leonardi, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson

Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Allan Dell, 18 John Andress, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Nick McLennan

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 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc (k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. George Skivington	11. Napoliono Nadolo
05. Sitaleki Timani	12. Kyle Godwin
06. James Haskell c.	13. Nick Tompkins
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. BJ Botha   19. Jamie Cudmore    20. Victor Vito 21. Ben Spencer  22. Remi Tales 23. Rob Horne

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Exeter Chiefs v Zebre
Location - Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13mph E Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Nic White
02. Sean Cronin	10. Camille Lopez
03. Phil Swainston
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Michael Paterson	12. Ian Madigan
06. Carl Fearns	13. George Lowe
07. Jacob Rowan	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Toby Faletau	15. Jean Marcel Buttin

16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Ryan Grant 18. Mike Ross 19. Tomas Lavanini 20. Carl Fearns 21. Chris Cook 22. Toby Flood 23. Richard Kahui

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Zebre

15 Hennie Daniller 14 Dion Berryman 13 Tommaso Iannone 12 Matteo Pratichetti 11 David Odiete 10 Edoardo Padovani 9 Brendon Leonard 1 Andrea Lovotti 2 Andrea Manici 3 Luca Redolfini 4 George Fabio Biagi 5 Marco Bortolami 6 Mauro Bergamasco 7 Valerio Bernabo 8 Samuela Vunisa

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani 17 Andrea de Marchi 18 Dario Chistolini 19 Andries Ferreira 20 Jacopo Sarto 21 Giulio Toniolatti 22 Leonardo Sarto 23 Kelly Haimona

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Bath Rugby v Stade Français
Location - Stade Jean-Bouin
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13mph E Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Benn Robinson	09. George Di Cothi
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Jake Cooper Woolley
04. Luke Charteris	11. Jamie Elliot
05. James Gaskell	12. Sam Hill
06. Luke Jones	13. Matt Hopper
07. Will Welch	14. Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. Edwin Maka	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Richard Hibbard 17. James Slipper 18. Ben Tameifuma 19. Graham Kitchener  20. Liam Messam 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Michele Campagnaro 23. George North

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Stade Français
15 Benjamin Dumas 14 Monty Ioane 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou 12 Jonathan Danty 11 Digby Ioane 10 Morne Steyn 9 Julien Tomas 1 Zak Taulafo 2 Zurabi Zhvania 3 Sofiane Chellat 4 Juan Cruz Guillemain 5 Paul Gabrillagues 6 Mathieu Ugena 7 Mathieu De Giovanni 8 Nicolas Garrault

Replacements: 16 Dany Priso 17 Adrien Oleon 18 Julien Nibert 19 Pierre Rabadan 20 Julien Dupuy 21 Vincent Mallet 22 Jeremy Sinzelle

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Mark

Team subject to change


 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc (k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. George Skivington	11. Napoliono Nadolo
05. Sitaleki Timani	12. Kyle Godwin
06. James Haskell c.	13. Nick Tompkins
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. BJ Botha   19. Jamie Cudmore    20. Victor Vito 21. Ben Spencer  22. Remi Tales 23. Rob Horne

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Nic Auterac	09. Henry Taylor
02. Jack Walker	10. Bernard Foley
03. Matius Diaz
04. Julian Pierre	11. Nathan Earle
05. Louis Deacon	12. Tom Taylor
06. Joe Batley	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Matt Hankin	14. Aaron Morris
08. Brad Shields	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Sam James 17. Fabien Barcella 18. Biyi Alo 19. Tom Jubb 20. Sam Underhill 21. Josh Sharpe 22. George Perkins 23. Charlie Kingsman

London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. Ben Franks	09. Neil De Kock
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Jules Plisson
03. Will Collier
04. Tom Savage	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Stuart Hooper (c)	12. Alapati Leuia
06. Jordan Taufua	13. Mark Bennett
07. George Smith	14. Harry Robinson
08. David Sisi	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Gerard Ellis 17. Tom Smallbone 18. Rhodri Jones 19. SOBv2 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Rory Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Mark Jennings

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Benn Robinson	09. George Di Cothi
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Jake Cooper Woolley
04. Luke Charteris	11. Jamie Elliot
05. James Gaskell	12. Sam Hill
06. Luke Jones	13. Matt Hopper
07. Will Welch	14. Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. Edwin Maka	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Richard Hibbard 17. James Slipper 18. Ben Tameifuma 19. Graham Kitchener  20. Liam Messam 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Michele Campagnaro 23. George North

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Nic White
02. Sean Cronin	10. Camille Lopez
03. Phil Swainston
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Michael Paterson	12. Ian Madigan
06. Carl Fearns	13. George Lowe
07. Jacob Rowan	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Toby Faletau	15. Jean Marcel Buttin

16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Ryan Grant 18. Mike Ross 19. Tomas Lavanini 20. Carl Fearns 21. Chris Cook 22. Toby Flood 23. Richard Kahui

La Rochelle 16-27 Saracens
Plenty of youth in the Sarries side but plenty of quality too. Not sure if the kids will get the bonus point in France though.

Cardiff Blues 17-19 London Irish
Tight game but the quality at fly half the difference.

Edinburgh 17-22 London Welsh
Welsh gone with a strong side and can see the back row and halfbacks giving them a good edge.

Chiefs 35-20 Zebre
Routine win for Exeter.

Bath 30-18 Stade Francais
French don't travel well and the impact of the Bath bench should see the bonus point late on.

La Rochelle 22 - 24 Saracens

Don't know enough about La Rochelle to justify giving them a win but I suspect this would be a very very close game in France. Sarries have just enough experience to give them a win.

Cardiff 23 - 24 London Irish

Another tough game for Irish but one which they win. A dangerous midfield with ball in hand and good control at half back serves them well.

Edinburgh 23 - 27 London Welsh

Welsh just a better side here. It is a good contest and a good win on the road.

Exeter 45 - 12 Zebre

Takes a little while to break Zebre down but flood gates will eventually open.

Bath 32 - 20 Stade Francais

Stade no mugs but not enough to push Bath close. Tougher prospect in Paris.

La Rochelle 18 Saracens 25
Cardiff Blues 20 London Irish 22
Edinburgh 20 London Welsh 25
Exeter Chiefs 40 Zebre 16
Bath Rugby 30 Stade Francais 24

La Rochelle 10-25 Sarries
Experience in key positions for Sarries and Auterac's form seals a good win.

Edinburgh 18-24 Welsh
Welsh's half backs and back row partnerships gets the win away from home.

Chiefs 42-15 Zebre
Easy win for Chiefs and front row impact off bench seals a couple of penalty tries late on.

Bath 32-25 Stade
Backline and bench makes the difference here for Bath.

La Rochelle 18 - 22 Saracens
Cardiff Blues 23 - 28 London Irish
Edinburgh 25 - 30 London Welsh
Exeter Chiefs 38 - 9 Zebre
Bath Rugby 24 - 18 Stade Francais

All games have got some good experienced players out and AP teams all pick up wins.

La Rochelle 15 - 22 Saracens

A few youngsters for Sarries but in some key positions like 10 and 12 they have much better players and ease to an away win

Blues 23 - 29 Irish

Irish much better in the tight 5 and with some very attacking backs they put a good score on.

Chiefs 44 - 12 Zebre

Outclass Zebre, with a very strong team especially the backrow and backline. Score for fun

Bath 30 - 13 Stade

Stade have lost their way and Bath have a young, inexperienced pack but an excellent backline that will easily win

La Rochelle 19-25 Saracens

Can't say I know much about LR, but Saracens have a solid pack out there with Foley running the show, I reckon the young backs could have a good runout. Decent win

Blues 22-27 Irish

Strong front 5 for Irish, back rows about evens. Like the look of the Irish backs though, and they will have too much for the Blues when the benches empty, with some quality there

Edinburgh 20 - 33 London Welsh

LW have the beating of Edinburgh in the front 5, and by a mile in the back row and backs. Can't see how they don't pick up the bonus point

Exeter 44-10 Zebre

This ones a mismatch, Chiefs will score whenever they please and Zebre just cannot hope to keep up. Fearns is starting and on the bench Flux, but no bother there

Bath 29-23 Stade

Bath back line looks lethal, can't see Stade starving them of enough ball to keep this one close. Bath bench has some real impact too

Cardiff Blues 15 - 28 London Irish

Cardiff not great, Irish with enough throughout their selection.

Edinburgh 12 - 24 London Welsh

Welsh win without too much effort, Edinburgh not in great form.

Exeter Chiefs 34 - 3 Zebre

Routine win against a poor Zebre outfit.

Bath Rugby 22 - 15 Stade Francais

Toughest game of the round against a Stade team playing well, enough for Bath though.

La Rochelle 16-25 Sarries
Blues 22-25 Irish
Edinburgh 18-32 Welsh 
Exeter 42-6 Zebre

La Rochelle 15 - 28 Saracens 

La Rochelle have proven to be a tough side in the Top14, but like most French sides aren't paying much attention to the Challenge cup and Sarries will walk this to some degree. 

Cardiff Blues 20 - 26 London Irish 

Blues pose a threat to Irish, but Irish have a strong side out with some experienced guys leading the youthful exuberance to take the win away from home. 

Edinburgh 25 - 28 London Welsh

Closest game of the round with Edinburgh putting up a decent fight at home. Welsh have got their big guns back however and will put a shift in to take the result back to oxfordshire.

Bath Rugby 24 - 20 Stade Francais 


Stade have brought a decent side to the Rec, but as we know they don;'t travel so well. Bath have a solid enough side to win, with some added firepower from their bench to help take them over the line.

La Rochelle 12-25 Sarries
Blues 22-27 Irish
Edinburgh 21-32 Welsh
Exeter 42-15 Zebre
Bath 30-21 Stade

Think that gives me a BP?

RESULTS:

La Rochelle 16 (T:1 C:1 P:3)
Saracens 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)

Cardiff Blues 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)
London Irish 31 (T:4 C;4 P:1)

Edinburgh 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)
London Welsh 33 (T:4 C:2 P:3)

Exeter Chiefs 47 (T:5 C:5 P:4)
Zebre 13 (T:1 C:1 P:2)

Bath 34 (T:4 C:4 P:2)
Stade Francais 19 (T:1 C:1 P:4)

BONUS:

Full: Everyone