Champions Cup - Double Headers

Pool 1
Northampton & Leinster
Lyon & Benetton

Pool 2
Exeter & Sale
Glasgow & La Rochelle

Pool 3
Ulster & Quins
Clermont & Bath

Pool 4
Racing & Ospreys
Munster & Saracens

Pool 5
Toulouse & Montpelier
Connacht & Gloucester

Date: Fri 06 December 2019 KO: 19:45 Venue: Recreation Ground

BATH RUGBY
15. Tom Homer, 14. Semesa Rokoduguni, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Jamie Roberts, 11. Ruaridh McConnochie, 10. Rhys Priestland, 9. Chris Cook, 1. Beno Obano , 2. Tom Dunn, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Josh McNally, 5. Elliott Stooke, 6. Mike Williams, 7. Josh Bayliss, 8. Francois Louw (c).

Replacements: 16. Jack Walker , 17. Lewis Boyce, 18. Christian Judge, 19. Matt Garvey, 20. Rhys Davies, 21. Will Chudley, 22. Freddie Burns, 23. Aled Brew,


ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE

15. Nick Abendanon, 14. Samuel Ezeala, 13. Isaiah Toeava, 12. George Moala, 11. Alivereti Raka, 10. Camille Lopez, 9. Morgan Parra (c), 1. Loni Uhila, 2. Yohan Beheregaray, 3. Rabah Slimani, 4. Arthur Iturria, 5. Sitaleki Timani, 6. Alexandre Fischer, 7. Alexandre Lapandry, 8. Fritz Lee.

Replacements: 16. John Ulugia, 17. Giorgi Beria, 18. Davit Zirakashvili, 19. Julien Ruaud, 20. Faifili Levave, 21. Greig Laidlaw, 22. Peter Betham, 23. Apisai Naqalevu,


Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
AR1: Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
AR2: Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Date: Sat 07 December 2019 KO: 13:00 Venue: Franklin's Gardens

Northampton Saints

15. Ahsee Tuala, 14. Tom Collins, 13. Matt Proctor, 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Cobus Reinach, 1. Alex Waller (c), 2. Mikey Haywood, 3. Ehren Painter, 4. Alex Moon, 5. Api Ratuniyarawa, 6. Tom Wood, 7. Jamie Gibson, 8. Teimana Harrison.
Replacements: 16. Michael Van Vuuren, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Lewis Ludlam, 21. Connor Tupai, 22. James Grayson, 23. Piers Francis,

Leinster Rugby

15. Jordan Larmour, 14. Dave Kearney, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (c), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Cian Healy, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Andrew Porter, 4. Devin Toner, 5. James Ryan, 6. Rhys Ruddock, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris.

Replacements: 16. James Tracy, 17. Ed Byrne, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Scott Fardy, 20. Max Deegan, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Rob Kearney,



Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
AR1: Ludovic Cayre (France)
AR2: Cedric Marchat (France)
TMO: Patrick Dellac (France)

Broadcasters: C4 / Virgin Media / BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Date: Sat 07 December 2019 KO: 14:00 Venue: Matmut Stadium de Gerland

LYON
15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14. Toby Arnold, 13. Thibaut Regard, 12. Charlie Ngatai, 11. Xavier Mignot, 10. Jonathan Wisniewski, 9. Baptiste Couilloud (c), 1. Raphael Chaume, 2. Jeremie Maurouard, 3. Clément Ric, 4. Killian Geraci, 5. Hendrik Roodt, 6. Dylan Cretin, 7. Patrick Sobela, 8. Carl Fearns.

Replacements: 16. Mickael Ivaldi, 17. Xavier Chiocci, 18. Demba Bamba, 19. Loann Goujon, 20. Liam Gill, 21. Jonathan Pélissié, 22. Pato Fernandez, 23. Rudi Wulf,

BENETTON RUGBY

15. Luca Sperandio, 14. Angelo Esposito, 13. Tommaso Benvenuti, 12. Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11. Leonardo Sarto, 10. Antonio Rizzi, 9. Tito Tebaldi, 1. Nicola Quaglio, 2. Federico Zani, 3. Tiziano Pasquali, 4. Niccolò Cannone, 5. Federico Ruzza, 6. Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 7. Giovanni Pettinelli, 8. Toa Halafihi.

Replacements: 16. Hame Faiva, 17. Cherif Traore, 18. Marco Riccioni, 19. Eli Snyman, 20. Marco Barbini, 21. Charly Trussardi, 22. Ian McKinley, 23. Luca Morisi,


Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
AR1: Andrew Jackson (England)
AR2: Wayne Falla (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Broadcasters: beIN SPORTS / BT Sport / DAZN

Date: Sat 07 December 2019 KO: 15:15 Venue: Kingspan Stadium

ULSTER RUGBY

15. Jacob Stockdale, 14. Louis Ludik, 13. Luke Marshall, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Craig Gilroy, 10. Billy Burns, 9. John Cooney, 1. Eric O'Sullivan, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Marty Moore, 4. Alan O'Connor, 5. Iain Henderson (c), 6. Sean Reidy, 7. Jordi Murphy, 8. Marcell Coetzee.

Replacements: 16. Adam McBurney, 17. Andy Warwick, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Matt Rea, 21. David Shanahan, 22. Bill Johnston, 23. Matt Faddes,


HARLEQUINS

15. Ross Chisholm, 14. Travis Ismaiel, 13. Michele Campagnaro, 12. James Lang, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Danny Care, 1. Joe Marler, 2. Elia Elia, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Stephan Lewies, 5. Tex Cavubati , 6. Semi Kunatani, 7. Chris Robshaw (c), 8. Alex Dombrandt.

Replacements: 16. Jack Musk, 17. Nick Auterac, 18. Simon Kerrod, 19. Dino Lamb, 20. Tom Lawday, 21. Martin Landajo, 22. Francis Saili, 23. Vereniki Goneva

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
AR1: Keith Allen (Scotland)
AR2: Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Date: Sat 07 December 2019 KO: 16:15 Venue: Stade Marcel Deflandre

LA ROCHELLE

15. Kini Murimurivalu, 14. Vincent Rattez, 13. Jérémy Sinzelle, 12. Pierre Aguillon, 11. Pierre Boudehent, 10. Jules Plisson, 9. Alexi Bales, 1. Dany Priso, 2. Jean-Charles Orioli, 3. Ramiro Herrera, 4. Thomas Jolmes, 5. Mathieu Tanguy, 6. Zeno Kieft, 7. Kevin Gourdon, 8. Victor Vito (c).

Replacements: 16. Brendan Lebrun, 17. Reda Wardi, 18. Sila Puafisi, 19. Thomas Lavault, 20. Paul Boudehent, 21. Tawera Kerr Barlow, 22. Brock James, 23. Brieuc Plessis-Couillaud,


GLASGOW WARRIORS

15. Tommy Seymour, 14. Niko Matawalu, 13. Nick Grigg, 12. Samuel Johnson, 11. DTH van der Merwe, 10. Adam Hastings, 9. George Horne, 1. Alex Allan, 2. Fraser Brown, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Scott Cummings, 5. Jonny Gray, 6. Ryan Wilson, 7. Callum Gibbins (c), 8. Matt Fagerson.

Replacements: 16. George Turner, 17. Aki Seiuli, 18. Adam Nicol, 19. Robert Harley, 20. Tom Gordon, 21. Ali Price, 22. Peter Horne, 23. Kyle Steyn,


Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
AR1: Adam Leal (England)
AR2: Phil Watters (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

Broadcasters: beIN SPORTS / FR2 / BT Sport

Date: Sat 07 December 2019 KO: 17:30 Venue: Liberty Stadium

OSPREYS

15. Dan Evans, 14. Hanno Dirksen, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Scott Williams, 11. Luke Morgan, 10. Marty McKenzie, 9. Aled Davies, 1. Nicky Smith, 2. Scott Otten, 3. Ma'afu Fia , 4. Adam Beard, 5. Bradley Davies, 6. Dan Lydiate (c), 7. Olly Cracknell, 8. Morgan Morris.

Replacements: 16. Ifan Phillips, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Gheorghe Gajion, 19. Marvin Orie, 20. Sam Cross, 21. Shaun Venter, 22. Luke Price, 23. Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler,


RACING 92

15. Simon Zebo, 14. Teddy Thomas, 13. Virimi Vakatawa, 12. Henry Chavancy (c), 11. Juan Imhoff, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Maxime Machenaud, 1. Eddy Ben Arous, 2. Teddy Baubigny, 3. Cedate Gomes Sa, 4. Bernard Le Roux, 5. Donnacha Ryan, 6. Wenceslas Lauret, 7. Boris Palu, 8. Antonie Claassen.

Replacements: 16. Kevin Le Guen, 17. Hassane Kolingar, 18. Ali Oz, 19. Fabien Sanconnie, 20. Yoan Tanga, 21. Teddy Iribaren, 22. Ben Volavola, 23. Olivier Klemenczak,


Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
AR1: Rob O'Sullivan (Ireland)
AR2: Eddie Hogan O'Connell (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Date: Sat 07 December 2019 KO: 17:30 Venue: Thomond Park

MUNSTER RUGBY

15. Mike Haley, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Chris Farrell, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Keith Earls, 10. JJ Hanrahan, 9. Conor Murray, 1. James Cronin, 2. Niall Scannell, 3. Stephen Archer, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Billy Holland, 6. Tadhg Beirne, 7. Peter O'Mahony (c), 8. CJ Stander.

Replacements: 16. Kevin O'Byrne, 17. Liam O'Connor, 18. John Ryan, 19. Fineen Wycherley, 20. Jack O'Donoghue, 21. Nick McCarthy, 22. Sam Arnold, 23. Arno Botha,


SARACENS

15. Matt Gallagher, 14. Roti Segun, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Brad Barritt (c), 11. Alex Lewington, 10. Manu Vunipola, 9. Ben Spencer, 1. Richard Barrington, 2. Jack Singleton , 3. Titi Lamositele, 4. Will Skelton, 5. Maro Itoje, 6. Nick Isiekwe, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Jackson Wray.

Replacements: 16. Kapeli Pifeleti, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Josh Ibuanokpe, 19. Joel Kpoku, 20. Sean Reffell, 21. Tom Whiteley, 22. Max Malins, 23. Nick Tompkins,


Referee: Romain Poite (France)
AR1: Pierre Brousset (France)
AR2: Vincent Blasco Baqué (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Date: Sun 08 December 2019 KO: 13:00 Venue: Kingsholm Stadium

GLOUCESTER RUGBY

15. Tom Marshall, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Ollie Thorley, 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Joe Simpson, 1. Val Rapava Ruskin , 2. Franco Marais, 3. Fraser Balmain, 4. Gerbrandt Grobler, 5. Franco Mostert, 6. Ruan Ackermann, 7. Jake Polledri, 8. Ben Morgan (c).

Replacements: 16. Todd Gleave, 17. Josh Hohneck, 18. Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19. Alex Craig, 20. Lewis Ludlow, 21. Callum Braley, 22. Billy Twelvetrees, 23. Matt Banahan,


CONNACHT RUGBY

15. John Porch, 14. Niyi Adeolokun, 13. Bundee Aki, 12. Peter Robb, 11. Kyle Godwin, 10. Jack Carty, 9. Caolin Blade, 1. Denis Buckley, 2. Tom McCartney, 3. Finlay Bealham, 4. Joe Maksymiw, 5. Quinn Roux, 6. Eoghan Masterson, 7. Colby Fainga'a, 8. Jarrad Butler (c).

Replacements: 16. Jonny Murphy, 17. Matthew Burke, 18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19. Ultan Dillane, 20. Robin Copeland, 21. Stephen Kerins, 22. Conor Fitzgerald, 23. Tom Daly,


Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
AR1: Maxime Chalon (France)
AR2: Pierre-Baptiste Nuchy (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Date: Sun 08 December 2019 KO: 15:15 Venue: AJ Bell Stadium

SALE SHARKS
15. Simon Hammersley, 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Sam James, 12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11. Marland Yarde, 10. Robert du Preez, 9. Faf De Klerk, 1. Coenie Oosthuizen, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Willgriff John, 4. Bryn Evans, 5. James Phillips, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Ben Curry, 8. Jono Ross (c).

Replacements: 16. Curtis Langdon, 17. Ross Harrison, 18. Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19. Matthew Postlewhaite, 20. Cameron Neild, 21. Will Cliff, 22. Luke James, 23. Denny Solomona,


EXETER CHIEFS

15. Stuart Hogg, 14. Jack Nowell, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Sam Hill, 11. Ian Whitten, 10. Joe Simmonds, 9. Nic White, 1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Harry Williams, 4. Dave Dennis (c), 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Dave Ewers, 7. Jacques Vermeulen, 8. Sam Simmonds.

Replacements: 16. Elvis Taione, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Marcus Street, 19. Jannes Kirsten, 20. Don Armand, 21. Jack Maunder, 22. Gareth Steenson, 23. Olly Woodburn,


Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
AR1: Thomas Charabas (France)
AR2: Sebastien Minery (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Saints would have wanted to host Leinster with all players available, unfortunately they have some key players missing and the visitors look far too strong.

Would be funny if Lyon's 6 got himself sent off for a dumb thing, otherwise this game is a bt meh.

Quins have a few injuries, most notably in the second row and will struggle in Belfast.

La Rochelle will not want a second home defeat, but their team does not look strong.

Racing should be far too strong for Ospreys.

Sarries rest a pile of key players yet still send a strong squad to Thomond Park. Should still be a home win though.

Gloucester look stronger than Connacht on paper, but are in poor form.

Sale have picked the strongest side available to them, Exeter the same it seems.

Be interesting to see how McKenzie goes for Ospreys. I didn't know Dan Evans was fit again, so that's good news too. I guess he came back last week, if they're on about him remaining unchanged.

Edit; Just read he did, along with Luke Morgan.

Great post LT. Saints vs Leinster to be the game of the weekend for me. It might have been Munster vs Saracens, but Sarries aren't really taking this competition seriously, and still have a hell of a team going to Ireland.

I'm also interested to see how Marty McKenzie goes. I wonder if he's had a quiet word in Aled Davies' ear about the inaccurate and slow service he's been giving him at training.

Is that Sarries a 1.5 team or is it a second string?

Is there a rule for players playing for two teams in the same year in Europe.

Have to assume Nakarawa might do it. Might Bristol take him in for the rest of the season.

Brendan wrote:Is that Sarries a 1.5 team or is it a second string?

Not second string exactly, but for various reasons is missing Daly, Goode, Williams, Maitland, Taylor, Farrell, Wigglesworth, Mako, George, Koch, Figallo, Kruis, Rhodes, BillyV

Clermont have gone for power in the midfield to compensate for a lighter pack than they would have liked. Suspension to Vaahamahina, concussion protocol for Jedrasiak (after the illegal challenge by the Ulster full-back) and long term injury absence for Jacobus Van Tonder means that all 108 kg of Artur Itturai has had to move back into the row. Fischer, a young and explosive flanker comes into the back row in his place but Yato is injured, or being rested.
Luckily for Les Jaunard the Bath pack is also below full strength with Ewels and Mercer now long term absentees alongside the still unavailable Faletau.
Jonathan Joseph is fit to play so that could be an interesting battle between the England star and  the former all-black Toeava.
I hope the pitch isn't too much of a bog to stop some running rugby.

Gloucester v. Connacht the game of the weekend for me - the rest are all a bit meh - half-strength teams being allowed to be played, injuries abound, mismatches like Racing/Ospreys, two English teams playing each other again, etc.

Lyon v Benetton might be interesting too.

Late flurry of tries for Clermont, who will surely go on to get the 5 points now.

Bath v Clermont was a dour slugfest for all of 70 min with Clermont leading on kicks and 1 try apiece. Then Clermont turn it on, Bath turn to mush and Clermont have the bonus point. A consolation try didn’t do much for what was a fairly mediocre performance from Bath.

17-34 which pretty much puts Bath out of the comp after 3 losses. Clermont go top of the pool overnight - at least. Clermont should repeat the dose next week, leaving them on 16 points before Ulster and Quins in January.

I see Edinburgh got a solid bonus point win against Wasps in the first of their double header.

Surprised at Saints, despite being joint top, they have not put out their strongest side for a home game against their greatest rivals in the group. No Lawes, no Ludlam, no Furbank who has been on fire, a rookie 9 on the bench.

Seems to me Saints are accepting of a second place finish. Away to Leinster I could possibly understand

WELL-PAST-IT wrote: Surprised at Saints, despite being joint top, they have not put out their strongest side for a home game against their greatest rivals in the group. No Lawes, no Ludlam, no Furbank who has been on fire, a rookie 9 on the bench.

Seems to me Saints are accepting of a second place finish. Away to Leinster I could possibly understand

Is Lawes not injured with hamstring?  And one of the Franks Bros has an elbow injury?   Furbank is not fit enough.  Ludlam is on the bench.

Lawes is probably a player that could have made a real difference, as are the two ex ABs. Credit to Northampton for getting this far in the season already without some or all of those missing players. Leinster won't be weakened by some of their individuals missing. The next crop have been dominating the league so far.

I thought Lawes had come through the fitness test, Furbank has played just about every major game this season and was unbelievable last weekend the way he linked up with Proctor and Collins, unless he has a virus or picked up and injury, he is fit enough. Ludlam benched, my point exactly.

Just to give an indication of where we (Ospreys) are coming from, I have it on good authority that 2 of the 3 supposedly coming from TW are fit to play but are stopped by the WRU. On top of this we have 5 first choices out injured and even the 2nd choice in 1 position is also out. I would have thought knowing that we have those that were not with TW out injured the WRU would have relaxed their position on especially our team captain, who they deemed fit enough and good enough to even captain TW in a meaningless non capped game last weekend, but is pulled from our team for this game, and from what our backs coach said in the week, this is not the only game these 3 that were with TW will miss.
Looking forward to see how Marty McKenzie shapes up and hopefully he will be able to put a kick up the backside of Scott Williams and by god does he need it.

Looked a clear knock on from the Northampton 9!

RDW wrote:Looked a clear knock on from the Northampton 9!

Great game to watch though.

Aye it's a great game

Great game so far.

End to end stuff. Good passing. Good lines.

From both teams.

If dan Biggar were to stop throwing his hand in the air and stop playing when something happens he doesn’t like, Northampton could be in with a shout here

Haven’t seen any of that from Biggar today, even though he’s renowned for it.

Saying that,it seems Biggar was just getting up to no good?

Aye Biggar waving his hands in the air is only slightly less annoying that Jamie Heaslip’s so called commentary. So one eyed and an apparent lack of understanding of the basic rules of the game.

Leinster are just so good. I'd love to see Northampton find a way to win this though.

This could get messy

Leinster outstanding

RDW wrote:Leinster are just so good. I'd love to see Northampton find a way to win this though.

The Northampton attack is stunning but their defence is ropey. Leinster are just winning the up front arm wrestle

Nah I don’t know if you’ve watched Pro14 on Premier sport lately, the Irish are the worst commentators. Too one-eyed and full of it.

Anyway, another season and Leinster never cease to amaze me. It’s too bad Saracens aren’t prioritising this competition. It would have been good to see them both square off again.

That's just a penalty for me, but can understand the yellow

RDW wrote:That's just a penalty for me, but can understand the yellow

Lift the legs you get a card. Was simply a case of what colour. Yellow was fair in my humble non referee opinion

Move over Ryan Reynolds. Rory Hutchinson is my new man crush

VDF has been outstanding

Lost count of how many times Northampton got into their 22 and got turned over.

mikey_dragon wrote:Nah I don’t know if you’ve watched Pro14 on Premier sport lately, the Irish are the worst commentators. Too one-eyed and full of it.
maze me. It’s too bad Saracens aren’t prioritising this competition. It would have been good to see them both square off again.

Oddly, that’s what I think too. Along with the Welsh ones. Sean Holley just finds it impossible to say a good word.

Tbf both Irish and Welsh broadcasters are one eyed.

It's just that Heaslip is at another level of shocking 'punditry'. Basically just a supporter with a mic providing no sort of positive analysis a la Philip Mathhews, Jiffy etc.

I think commentators should not be ex players of teams they played for in the last 5 years. Hate when ex players talk about the lads/guys as if they are still there.

Commentating in most sports these days is jobs for the lads and nothing more than timer filler.

miaow wrote:Tbf both Irish and Welsh broadcasters are one eyed.

It's just that Heaslip is at another level of shocking 'punditry'. Basically just a supporter with a mic providing no sort of positive analysis a la Philip Mathhews, Jiffy etc.

Heaslip is definitely, but the Welsh bloke, Sean Holley takes it down to a whole other level.   Can't find a single good word to say about Irish opposition, he's appalling.   Not even a supporter, just a malevolent, bitter had-been who doesn't like being out of the game and wants to visit his resentment on every viewer possible.    Still, he's the best of a bad lot of the credit they have on the welsh Premier Sports programme.   You should hear some of the other fellas.....

Anyone know why Dan Evans received a red card in the first minute?

mikey_dragon wrote:Anyone know why Dan Evans received a red card in the first minute?

"Dan Evans is sent off after climbing high to field a high ball and appearing to put his boot into Teddy Thomas.’ face. "