Champions Cup, Round One - teams and predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: Connacht back row forward Paul Boyle has warned Union Bordeaux-Bègles to expect weather conditions they have never experienced before.

The French side will travel to The Sportsground for a Champions Cup Pool One opener on Friday.

The Galway ground is renowned for being inhospitable to visiting teams and Boyle hopes that with the noisy home crowd behind them, Connacht can give the TOP 14 team a shock.

“They’re going to get something I’d say they’ve never experienced before,” said the 26-year-old, who can play across the back row.

“They’re in the small away dressing room, it’s windy and wet, and they go out onto the pitch across a dog track first – it won’t be something they’re used to. That’s what makes our home ground special.

“I feel our home crowd is a massive advantage for us too. We try and use the crowd. We’ll be doing it that night and hopefully, we’ll get the win.”

While Union Bordeaux-Bègles boast a massive star in France flyer Damian Penaud, the TOP 14’s leading try-scorer this season with seven in only four games, Boyle believes Connacht have their big name in powerful Ireland centre Bundee Aki.

“He’s a real leader within the group,” Boyle remarked. “I think the older he gets, the better he becomes. Those performances he put in at the World Cup were just ridiculous. The shape he got himself in was just phenomenal.

“I’m looking forward to having him back with the squad, carrying forward that form into Connacht Rugby. He’ll be a really important squad player for us in these Champions Cup games.”

* Meanwhile, Glasgow Warriors centre Stafford McDowall has predicted that the Scottish side’s Pool Three opener against Northampton Saints at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday will be “a great game”.

Both teams have begun their domestic seasons in impressive style, with Glasgow Warriors occupying second place in the United Championship and Northampton Saints only two points behind the Gallagher Premiership leaders in fifth.

“We know Northampton are a classy team,” said McDowall.

“They like to chuck the ball around, probably a bit similar to us, so hopefully it’s going to be a great game.

“It’s maybe been a bit disjointed having people coming and going, but we’ve managed to get some good results.

“I think we started well, but we know we have a lot of improvements we can make and we’ve got a few gears we can go up, so hopefully by the time of the first round we’ll be hitting our straps.”

Then there’s the added attraction of the match-up being an Anglo-Scottish clash and likely to contain a host of internationals from both countries.

“Whenever Scotland play England in anything, there’s always that bit of rivalry,” McDowall, a Scotland international himself, remarked.

Northampton Saints No.8 Juarno Augustus is South African, but he is still looking forward to his first visit to Scotland, particularly as the Gallagher Premiership club has competition-high figures for offloads, tackle success and clean breaks so far this season.

“It’s nice playing different teams from different countries, going there, getting to experience the place, the fans, the stadiums,” he said. “Challenging yourself against the best teams in their competitions is nice.”

All the Friday teams and predictions follow below…

Back with a bang, welcome to the @Tissot Downtime Strength Test 💪

Even in their downtime, these guys are super-competitive 👀

Who do you reckon is the strongest in #InvestecChampionsCup? pic.twitter.com/haRPaHpKL7

— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 5, 2023

Glasgow Warriors v Northampton Saints
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 20.00; 20.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Glasgow by 12 points

Teams

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall (captain), 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Scott Cummings, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Ross Thompson.

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 George Hendy , 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Angus Scott-Young, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Tom Lockett, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Tom James, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 Tom Seabrook.

Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees: Vivien Praderie (France), Jonathan Gasnier (France)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (France)

Connacht v Bordeaux-Bègles
(The Sportsground, Galway – Kick-off: 20.00; 21.00 French time, 20.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Connacht by nine points

Teams

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Seán Jansen, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Michael McDonald, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 John Porch.

Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Nicolas Depoorte, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Pablo Uberti, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Pete Samu, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Thomas Jolmès, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Clément Maynadier, 1 Ugo Boniface.
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Carlü Sadie, 19 Alexandre Ricard, 20 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 21 Antoine Miquel, 22 Paul Abadie, 23 Nans Ducuing.

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Joe James (England), John Meredith (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Source: @ChampionsCup