PREVIEW: Champions Cup, Round Two
EURO GIANTS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD: Toulouse and Leinster, the two most successful clubs in the history of European club rugby with eight elite titles and 318 tournament matches between them, will meet this weekend in a heavyweight clash.
This game is certain to reflect both the rich heritage and enduring quality of the competition.
Toulouse will close out Round Two on Sunday when they welcome fellow four-time tournament winners, Leinster, to Stade Ernest-Wallon, with both sides having recorded impressive opening victories in Pool One and with the holders looking for a club record 11th consecutive competition win.
There’s plenty of nostalgia for fans of Munster and Gloucester ahead of their latest meeting on Saturday.
The Pool Two confrontation evokes memories of ‘The Miracle Match’ in 2003 when Munster needed four tries and a 27-point margin of victory over the Cherry-and-Whites at Thomond Park, eventually completing their task in a thrilling conclusion that has long been inscribed into tournament folklore.
The intensity of the last weekend’s Round One action was matched by its unpredictability with success shared across Europe’s three professional domestic leagues. The Premiership, Pro14 and Top 14 representatives each recorded three wins in addition to the draw between Exeter Chiefs and Munster.
Other highlights in Round Two Leicester Tigers and Scarlets open the round at Welford Road, still smarting from early defeats in Pool Four. The west Walians have twice lost to the Tigers in European Cup semi-finals, but recent history illustrates that another setback this weekend won’t necessarily be terminal for their hopes having survived two opening defeats last season to reach the last four.
Richard Cockerill comes up against his former employers, RC Toulon, on Saturday as Edinburgh play their first home match in the tournament since January 2014. In the same pool, Newcastle Falcons end a wait of more than 13 years for Kingston Park to open its doors to European club’s elite as they host Montpellier – the other side in Pool Five to open with a win.
Top 14 champions, Castres Olympique, put a six-match unbeaten home record in the tournament to the test when they host Exeter.
Saracens have good memories of Lyon after winning the first of their European titles in the French city back in 2016. They welcome the tournament debutants to Allianz Park on Saturday looking to build on their opening win over Glasgow Warriors, who travel to the Cardiff Blues in Pool Three.
All the Round Two matches!
Friday, October 19
Leicester Tigers v Scarlets
(Welford Road, Leicester – Kick-off: 19.45; 18.45 GMT)
Two-time European Cup winners Leicester Tigers and last season’s semifinalists, Scarlets, will be looking to bounce back from Round One defeats in the Champions Cup on Friday.
The Welsh region was narrowly beaten 14-13 by Racing 92 last Saturday, while Leicester Tigers were brushed aside by Ulster in Belfast as they fell to a 24-10 loss.
This will be the 10th clash between Leicester and Scarlets.
The Welsh region has won just twice before against the English side and have lost on all four occasions at Welford Road.
Last season, Leicester lost two of their three home games in the pool stage for the first time in their European Cup history.
However, they are unbeaten at home against Welsh opposition.
Scarlets picked up 11 points from their three away games in the pool stage last season, their best return since 2007.
Tigers have now lost five consecutive Champions Cup matches – their worst tournament run.
Leicester also conceded more penalties than any other side in Round One.
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Jonah Holmes, 14 Jonny May, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jordan Olowofela, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Greg Bateman.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Adam Thompstone.
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Ioan Nicholas, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Will Boyde 7 Josh MacLeod 6 Blade Thomson 5 David Bulbring 4 Tom Price 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (captain), 1 Wyn Jones.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Josh Helps, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Steff Hughes, Paul Asquith.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco Baqué (France), Stéphane Boyer (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)
Saturday, October 20
Castres Olympique v Exeter Chiefs
(Stade Pierre Fabre, Castres – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 UK time; 12.00 GMT)
Exeter Chiefs travel to face Top 14 champions Castres Olympique on Saturday, after opening up their campaign with a 10-all draw against Munster at Sandy Park.
Castres will also be looking for a first European win of the season, after a 14-19-14 defeat to Gloucester in Round One.
This will be the first meeting between Castres and Exeter as the Chiefs try to halt the Top 14 club’s six-game unbeaten run at home.
In their last two home games against Premiership opposition, Castres have scored an aggregate of 80 points and conceded just seven, beating Leicester 39-0 in their last such match.
Exeter has won two of their last three away matches against TOP 14 clubs, this after losing each of their first four games in France in the competition.
Exeter lost six line-outs against Munster, more than any other side in the opening round.
Castres’ tally of just six defenders beaten against Gloucester was the lowest of any side in Round One.
Teams:
Castres: 15 Armand Battle, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Baptiste Delaporte, 6 Mathieu Babillot, 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Antoine Tichit.
Replacements: 16 Paul Sauzaret, 17 Tudor Stroe, 18 Wilfried Hounkpatin, 19 Victor Moreaux, 20 Alex Tulou, 21 Yoann Le Bourhis, 22 Anthony Combezou, 23 Rory Kockott.
Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Wilhelm Van Der Slums, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Toby Salmon, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Munster v Gloucester
(Thomond Park, Limerick – Kick-off: 13.00; 12.00 GMT)
Munster will be eyeing up a 10th straight home Champions Cup success at Thomond Park when they host Gloucester in a Pool Two clash.
The Irish province drew 10-all at Exeter Chiefs in Round One, while Gloucester defeated Castres Olympique 19-14.
Saturday will be the eighth meeting between Munster and Gloucester; the Irish province has won five of the previous seven including each of the last four.
Gloucester has picked up two wins from their last three visits to Ireland in the tournament, beating Ulster and Connacht, but losing to Munster in the 2013/14 season.
Gloucester is looking to win their opening two games of a European Cup campaign for the first time since 2007/08 when they went on to reach the quarterfinal.
After drawing just one previous game (18-18 v Neath in October 1998) Munster have now opened their last two campaigns with a draw.
Gloucester missed just six tackles in beating Castres in Round 1, no side missed fewer, and their 95% tackle success rate was the best of the 20 competing clubs.
Munster stole five opposition line-outs in Round 1, two more than any other side managed over the opening weekend.
Neither Danny Cipriani (5/5) nor Joey Carbery (2/2) missed a shot at goal in the opening round, Cipriani’s 14-point haul against Castres was the second most he has scored in 24 games against TOP 14 opponents in Europe (28 v Oyonnax in December 2013).
Ben Morgan and Jake Polledri each beat six defenders in Round 1, no forward beat more (also Matt Fagerson of Glasgow Warriors).
Teams
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Sammy Arnold.
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Tom Marshall, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Ed Slater (c), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 Franco Marais, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Tom Hudson.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Wasps v Bath
(Ricoh Arena, Coventry – Kick-off: 15.15; 14.15 GMT)
Both Wasps and Bath will be looking for their first Champions Cup win of the season on Saturday after defeats to Leinster and Toulouse respectively in Round One.
Wasps and Bath have met twice before in the tournament, both picking up away wins against the other in the 2015/16 pool stage.
Since Bath’s victory at the Ricoh in December 2015, Wasps have won all eight of their home games in the competition.
Wasps took 14 of a possible 15 points from their three home games in the pool stage last season, scoring 88 points and conceding just 20.
Wasps’ Tommy Taylor made a round high 26 tackles last weekend, whilst teammate Will Rowlands made 23 without missing any.
Wasps’ Thomas Young won a round high five turnovers.
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Elliot Daly (captain), 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Zurabi Zhvania.
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Rob Miller.
Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Max Wright, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Max Green, 22 Alex Davies, 23 Tom Homer.
Referee: Jérome Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin (France)
Edinburgh v RC Toulon
(Murrayfield, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 15.15; 16.15 French time; 14.15 GMT)
RC Toulon will travel to face Edinburgh, looking to remain unbeaten in Scotland in the Champions Cup.
Edinburgh and RC Toulon have never met before, and this will be Toulon’s second trip to Scotland having beaten Glasgow in Round Six in 2013/14.
Edinburgh has lost four of their last six home games, scoring an average of 15 points per match.
Toulon has lost six of their last seven away games, however, five of those six defeats have been by seven points or fewer.
Edinburgh totalled 33 defenders beaten in Round 1, the most of any side and more than twice as many as Toulon (16).
Toulon picked up three yellow cards in their defeat to Newcastle in Round 1, no other side received more than one.
Teams
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Dougie Fife, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (captain), 1 Allan Dell.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Luke Crosbie, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Chris Dean.
Toulon: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Mathieu Bastareaud (captain), 11 Julian Savea, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Anthony Meric, 8 Florent Vanverberghe, 7 Raphael Lakafia, 6 Swan Rebbadj, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Sebastien Taofifenua, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Florian Fresia.
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Daniel Ikpefan, 21 Francois Trinh-Duc, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Rudy Gahetau.
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Ian Tempest (England), Simon McConnell (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)
Racing 92 v Ulster
(La defence Arena, Paris – Kick-off: 18.30; 17.30 UK time; 16.30 GMT)
Ulster will be hoping to end Racing 92’s five-game winning run at home.
Racing 92 and Ulster have never met before, and Racing will be the 14th French club that Ulster have faced in Europe’s top flight.
Racing is enjoying a five-game winning streak at home, their best run, averaging 29 points scored per match in that time.
Ulster has lost six of their last seven away games – including three on French soil.
Racing was one of just two sides to have a 100% success rate at both the line-out and scrum in Round One (also Lyon).
Finn Russell made four offloads in Round One, no player made more. The Scot also beat four defenders and made 77 metres.
Teams:
Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Olivier Klemenczak, 12 Henry Chavancy (captain), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Xavier Chauveau, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili.
Replacements:16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Fabien Sanconnie, 20 Jordan Joseph, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Léonard Paris.
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 David Shanahan 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements:16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Adam O’Connor, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 James Stewart, 22 Johhny McPhillips, 23 Angus Kernohan.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)
Saracens v Lyon
(Allianz Park, Barnet – Kick-off: 17.30; 18.30 French time; 16.30 GMT)
Two-time Champions Cup winners Saracens will take on Lyon for the first time in the Champions Cup.
Sarries battled to defeat Glasgow Warriors 13-3 in Round One, while Lyon was beaten 30-21 by Cardiff Blues.
The Top 14 side won five of their eight games against Premiership opposition in the Challenge Cup.
Saracens have won 15 of their last 16 home games with Clermont’s 46-16 success last season the exception.
Each of their most recent five home defeats has come against TOP 14 opponents.
This will be Lyon’s first away game in the Champions Cup.
They lost three of four visits to England in the Challenge Cup, with a win against London Welsh in 2014/15 the one victory.
Lyon was one of just two sides to have a 100% success rate at both the line-out and scrum in Round 1 (also Racing 92).
Saracens won all 14 of their own line-outs against Glasgow, no other side won as many without losing at least one in Round 1.
The home side will be without both Vunipola brothers as well as Nick Isiekwe through injury.
Teams
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Mike Rhodes, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements:16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Ben Earl, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Alex Lewington.
Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Adrien Seguret, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Deon Fourie, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Dylan Cretin (captain), 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Hamza Kaabèche.
Replacements:16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Richard Choirat, 19 Francois van der Merwe, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 22 Xavier Mignot, 23 Quentin Delord.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Sunday, October 21
Newcastle Falcons v Montpellier
(Kingston Park, Newcastle – Kick-off: 13.00; 14.00 French time; 12.00 GMT)
Newcastle Falcons head into their Round Two clash with Montpellier looking for two straight victories over French sides after defeating RC Toulon 26-25 last weekend.
Montpellier are also looking for their second win, having defeated Edinburgh 21-15 last Saturday.
Newcastle and Montpellier have never met in the competition before, however, they did face off in the pool stage of the 2010/11 Challenge Cup, with the Top 14 side winning both games.
Falcons have won four of their previous six home games in the European Cup, including two wins from two against TOP 14 opposition.
Montpellier have lost 10 of their last 11 away games in the Champions Cup, including a 10-41 loss to Exeter in their most recent such game.
Montpellier missed 33 tackles against Edinburgh, the most of any side in Round 1.
Newcastle’s Glen Young won nine line outs in Round 1, two more than any other player in the opening weekend.
Teams
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young, 8 Ryan Burrows, 7 Gary Graham, 6 Mark Wilson (captain), 5 Glen Young, 4 Calum Green, 3 David Wilson, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Sami Mavinga.
Replacements:16 George McGuigan, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Will Witty, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Chris Harris.
Montpellier: 15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Vincent Martin, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Gabriel N’gandebe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles (captain), 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Vincent Giudicelli, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements:16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Grégory Fichten, 18 Antoine Guillamon, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Kelian Galletier, 21 Enzo Sanga, 22 Thomas Darmon, 23 Arthur Vincent.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Marius Mitrea (Italy), Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Toulouse v Leinster
(Stade Ernest Wallon, Toulouse – Kick-off: 16.15; 15.15 UK time; 14.15 GMT)
Leinster will be aiming to win their 11th consecutive Champions Cup match when they travel to face Toulouse.
The defending champions defeated Wasps 52-3 in the Heineken Champions Cup curtain raiser, while Toulouse beat Bath Rugby 22-20 at The Rec in Round 1.
This will be the 10th meeting between Toulouse and Leinster and the first in over seven years since their semifinal meeting in 2011 won 32-23 by Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.
Overall, Toulouse have won five of their nine matches with Leinster, including three of their four home clashes.
Leinster are unbeaten in five consecutive away pool games, and they’ve never gone six away games without suffering a defeat.
Round One saw Leinster record their third biggest tournament win (52-3) and also inflict Wasps’ heaviest tournament defeat.
Since the start of 2017/18 and their Challenge Cup campaign Toulouse have scored 139 points and conceded 140 in European competition.
Only Munster (167) have played more tournament games than either Toulouse (158) or Leinster (160).
Three of the leading five ball carriers in Round 1 were Leinster players. Garry Ringrose topped the charts with 21 while Jack Conan and Robbie Henshaw made 19 each.
Toulouse made 20 offloads in Round One. Only three other teams reached double figures in this category and none made more than 15. Individually, no one made more than Maxime Médard, Sofiane Guitoune and Joe Tekori (four each).
Teams
Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Alban Placines, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand (captain), 1 Clément Castets.
Replacements:16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 David Faimafiliotama’ita’i Ainuu, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Pierre Gayraud, 20 Louis Madaule, 21 Yoann Huget, 22 Antoine Dupont, 23 Arthur Bonneval.
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton, (captain) 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O’Loughlin.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors
(Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff – Kick-off: 15.15; 14.15 GMT)
Winners of the 2018 Challenge Cup, Cardiff Blues, will look to extend their winning run in Europe on Sunday when they take on Glasgow Warriors.
The Welsh region put in a superb display to defeat Lyon 30-21 in Round One, while Glasgow Warriors were beaten 13-3 by two-time winners Saracens last Sunday.
Cardiff and Glasgow have met four times before in the pool stage of the 2001/02 and 2013/14 seasons, the Blues winning three of those four games including both at home.
Cardiff have won 19 of their last 23 home ties in the European Cup, with only Gallagher Premiership or Top 14 sides picking up away wins in that time.
Glasgow lost all three of their pool stage away games last season, the first time they had done this since 2012/13.
Tomos Williams made five breaks in Round One, more than any other player whilst Willis Halaholo also made three breaks.
Gareth Anscombe was the top points scorer in Round One, notching 20 points after landing all of his kicks and scoring a spectacular solo try.
Teams
Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (captain), 6 Olly Robinson, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements:16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Samu Manoa, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Tommy Seymour, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH can der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements:16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu.
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Jonathan Healy (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Source: @ChampionsCup
