Challenge Cup, Round One - Teams and Predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: Challenge Cup finalists Gloucester start their campaign hosting an Edinburgh side who also came second best in the quarterfinals to eventual winners the Sharks last season.

The teams have plenty of history, with the Cherry & Whites having beaten their Scottish opponents to win the Challenge Cup back in 2015.

And having reached the Final of the competition last year – including a one-point win over Edinburgh in the pool stages – Gloucester will be targeting another win over the side from the Scottish capital.

George Skivington’s Gloucester side picked up their best win of the season so far away at Northampton Saints last weekend, and will now hope to carry that momentum into their clash with Edinburgh at Kingsholm.

After a Player of the Match performance last weekend, Santi Carreras retains his spot at fullback, with Christian Wade on the right wing. On the opposite side of the field, Josh Hathaway comes into the squad for Ollie Thorley, who misses out with an injury sustained at Franklin’s Gardens.

Chris Harris comes into the midfield alongside Max Llewellyn, with the Welshman switching from outside to inside centre. The halfback pairing of Gareth Anscombe and Caolan Englefield remains unchanged.

Up front, Seb Blake and Kirill Gotovtsev join Val Rapava-Ruskin in the front row, with Matias Alemanno coming into the second row alongside Arthur Clark. Alemanno’s inclusion means Freddie Thomas shifts to the back row, where he combines with Ruan Ackermann and skipper, Lewis Ludlow.

On the bench, there’s a potential debut for new signing Will Butler, he covers the backs alongside Charlie Chapman and George Barton, with the latter making a return from injury.

🗣️ “We play for something bigger than ourselves.”

Cherry & Whites second-row, @MAlemanno, spoke about his love for the Club on last night’s episode of #AkcessAllAreas. ❤️

Catch up on the full episode 👉 https://t.co/0idO1wizZk pic.twitter.com/e3NfgeEQHE

— Gloucester Rugby 🍒 (@gloucesterrugby) December 5, 2024

As for Edinburgh, with three wins from their last five, including a 50-33 victory at home to Benetton on Saturday, the Scottish side makes the trip down south with the confidence of hitting the ground running in this year’s campaign as they look to pave a path through a challenging pool.

The Cherry and White’s head coach George Skivington recognised that his side’s Challenge Cup opener would be far from easy.

“We’ve got a massive challenge at home against Edinburgh. They’re pretty much the Scotland team who have just played very, very well last weekend against Australia so it’s a big, tough challenge.”

Scotland lock Sam Skinner will make his first start of the season for Edinburgh.

Skinner earned his first minutes of the season in Saturday’s win against Benetton, having recovered from knee surgery earlier this year, and comes into the side as one of eight changes.

Freddy Douglas, fresh from debuting for the capital and signing his first pro deal, makes his first start for his boyhood club, while there could be debuts in the form of Robert Carmichael (lock) and Liam McConnell (back row), who are both selected on the bench.

Everitt said: “It’s an exciting opportunity for a lot of guys. We have a couple of experienced guys making their comeback from injury combined with some younger players coming in for the match, which is great to see.”

He added: “Gloucester has been playing some really exciting rugby and it promises to be a great night in front of a packed-out Kingsholm Stadium.”

Wes Goosen retains the No.15 jersey and will be joined in the back three by Ross McCann and Nathan Sweeney, the latter making his first senior start for the club.

Everitt names an unchanged centre partnership, with Mosese Tuipulotu (inside centre) and Matt Currie (outside) forming the capital midfield for consecutive matches.

Club co-captain and scrumhalf Ben Vellacott comes into the starting XV to face his former club, having come through the Kingsholm academy ranks, and joins Ross Thompson (flyhalf) to form a halfback combination.

Boan Venter (loosehead) and Paddy Harrison (hooker) start in the front row, joining tighthead prop Paul Hill, who bagged his first try for the club last time out.

At lock, Marshall Sykes returns, having featured in all the capital’s matches thus far, alongside Skinner to complete the second row.

Douglas is joined in the back row by the experienced duo of Tom Dodd (blindside) – recent vice-captain for Scotland ‘A’ vs Chile – and club centurion Magnus Bradbury (No.8).

Departures 🛫🔜🍒 pic.twitter.com/ZYHbwu889O

— Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) December 5, 2024

*The Dragons have struggled for consistency in recent weeks, with five consecutive losses across all competitions, but will be looking to use home advantage to kickstart their cup journey.

Montpellier, meanwhile, has shown flashes of quality despite a mixed run of results, including a tight 6-9 loss to high-flying Union Bordeaux-Bègles on Saturday. They will hope their experience in high-pressure games can set the tone for a strong start to this campaign.

Montpellier is in ninth place in France’s Top 14 league having won four and lost seven games this season. They are twice-winners of the European Challenge Cup having lifted the trophy in 2021 and 2016 when they overcame the Dragons in the semifinal.

The Dragons are bottom of the URC having lost all six games since winning at home against Ospreys on the opening day of the season.

Taine Basham will bring up a century of appearances for the Dragons when they face Montpellier.

The back row hits the major milestones for the Men of Gwent as Filo Tiatia’s team looks to make it a winning start to the competition.

Flyhalf Will Reed and scrumhalf Morgan Lloyd, who impressed in the capital last weekend, combine at halfback.

Australian centre Harry Wilson is given a start while Ewan Rosser is named out wide.

A new look from row features Josh Reynolds, James Benjamin, and Dmitri Arhip while Joe Davies is recalled to partner Matthew Screech in the second row.

The final change is a start for Ryan Woodman in the back row alongside Basham and Aaron Wainwright.

Hooker Sam Scarfe, scrumhalf Dane Blacker, and fullback Cai Evans are all named among the replacements.

Tiatia said: “It’s going to be a special night with a lot of players getting an opportunity and the first chance to play in this competition.

“French teams play differently to what we are used to in the league so the players are looking forward to it and the challenge.

“Montpellier is a physical team, abrasive, with a big forward pack,” he added.

“They are strong at set-piece, an impressive team, we so have got to be clinical to stop them and play our own game.”

See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

Dragons v Montpellier
(Rodney Parade – Kick-Off: 20.00, 20.00 GMT, 21.00 CET)

Prediction:
@rugby365com: Montpellier by seven points

Teams:

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (captain), 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Harry Wilson, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ewan Rosser; 10 Will Reed, 9 Morgan Lloyd; 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Josh Reynolds
Replacements: 16 Sam Scarfe, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 George Nott, 20 Barny Langton-Cryer, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Cai Evans, 23 Jared Rosser

Montpellier: 15 Julien Tisseron, 14 George Bridge, 13 Thomas Darmon, 12 Arthur Vincent (captain), 11 Madosh Tambwe; 10 Aurelien Barreau, 9 Alexis Bernadet; 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Youssouf Soucouna, 6 Nicolas Martins, 5 Tyler DuGuid, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Lyam Akrab, 1 Enzo Forletta
Replacements: 16 Vano Karkadze, 17 Luca Tabarot, 18 Wilfrid Hounkpatin, 19 Jules Veyrier, 20 Alex Becognee, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Thomas Vincent, 23 Christa Powell.

Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron & Christopher Allison (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Gloucester vs Edinburgh
(Kingsholm Stadium – Kick-Off: 20.00, 20.00 GMT)

Prediction:
@rugby365com: Gloucester by 12 points

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Hathaway, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Arthur Clark, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Ciaran Knight, 18 Afo Fasogbon, 19 Harry Taylor, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Will Butler, 23 George Barton

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Ross McCann, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Nathan Sweeney, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Paddy Harrison, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Mikey Jones, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Robert Carmichael, 20 Liam McConnell, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ben Healy, 23 James Lang

Referee: Ludovic Cayre (France)
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Gasnier & Pierre Bru (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)

*Additional source @ECPRChallengeCup