Champions Cup, Round Two - Teams and predications

FRIDAY PREVIEW: England and British & Lions lock Jonny Hill starts for the first time since January as Alex Sanderson makes eight changes to his starting line-up to face Racing 92 in Round Two of the Champions Cup.

Hill partners Ben Bamber in a towering engine room, while England stars Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ben Curry, George Ford and Tom Roebuck also return against the French Top 14 side.

Bevan Rodd, Cowan-Dickie and James Harper team up in a powerful front row, with Bamber and Hill combining in the second row.

In the back row, captain Ben Curry replaces brother Tom at openside flank and he’ll link up with twins Jean-Luc and Dan du Preez.

Gus Warr and George Ford are reunited at halfback and after impressing as a pair against Leicester, Luke James and Rob du Preez go again in the centres. Luke will face his brother Sam, who joined Racing in the off-season after spending 12 years at Sale.

In the back three, wing Tom O’Flaherty returns to join Roebuck and fullback Joe Carpenter.

Tadgh McElroy, Si McIntyre and WillGriff John will cover the front row from the replacements bench, with the fit-again Josh Beaumont and Sam Dugdale as the other forwards.

Backs Raffi Quirke, Waisea Nayacelevu and Alex Wills offer Alex pace and power off the bench.

* Meanwhile the Munster team has been named for Friday’s Pool Three clash against Castres Olympique at Stade Pierre-Fabre.

There are six changes to the starting fifteen which lined out against Stade Francais last weekend with Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, captain Tadhg Beirne, John Hodnett, Brian Gleeson and Mike Haley all coming into the side.

Gleeson, who will be making his 11th appearance for Munster and his first of the season, starts his first match in the Champions Cup.

Scannell and Archer both come into the front row where they will be joined by Dian Bleuler.

Fineen Wycherley starts again in the second row with Beirne coming in to start after his appearance from the bench last weekend.

Peter O’Mahony retains his place at blindside flank with both Hodnett and Gleeson coming into the side to complete the back row.

There is just one change to the backline with Mike Haley coming in to start at fullback with Calvin Nash and Thaakir Abrahams on the wings.

The centres remain unchanged with Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell continuing their partnership while Craig Casey and Jack Crowley are the halfback pairing once again.

Among the replacements, Dave Kilcoyne returns from a long-term injury to take his place on the bench alongside Oli Jager whose last match was against the Ospreys at the beginning of October. The duo are joined by Diarmuid Barron to form the front-row replacements.

Tom Ahern, Alex Kendellen and Jack O’Donoghue complete the forward cover with Paddy Patterson and Rory Scannell providing the back cover.

All of Friday’s teams and predictions follow below ….

Sale Sharks v Racing 92
(Salford Stadium, Salford – Kick-off: 20.00; 21.00 French time; 20.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Sale Sharks by six points

Teams

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Luke James, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 James Harper, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Waisea Nayacalevu Vuidravuwalu, 23 Alex Wills.

Racing 92: 15 Tristan Tedder, 14 Henry Arundell, 13 Sam James, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Max Spring, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 Nolann le Garrec, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Maxime Baudonne, 6 Cameron Woki (captain), 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Junior Kpoku, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili.
Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar, 17 Lino Julien, 18 Gia Kharaishvili, 19 Fabien Sanconnie, 20 Ibrahim Diallo, 21 Clovis le Bail, 22 Antoine Gibert, 23 Wame Naituvi.

Referee: Craig Evans
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse, Adam Jones
TMO: Aled Griffiths

Castres Olympique v Munster
(Stade Pierre Fabre, Castres – Kick-off: 21.00; 20.00 UK time; 20.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Castres by three points

Teams

Castres Olympique: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Geoffrey Palis, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Andrea Cocagi, 11 Rémy Baget, 10 Louis le Brun, 9 Jeremy Fernandez, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Tyler Ardron, 6 Mathieu Babillot (captain), 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Gauthier Maravat, 3 Will Collier, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Quentin Walcker.
Replacements: 16 Loris Zarantonello, 17 Wayan de Benedittis, 18 Nicolas Corato, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Feibyan Tukino, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Theo Chabouni, 23 Adrien Seguret.

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dian Bleuler.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Jack O’Donoghue.

Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Joe James
TMO: Dan Jones