Preview: European Cup, catch-up matches
Clermont trail Ospreys by two points after sharing the honours in their back-to-back Pool Two clashes against Exeter Chiefs.
And a victory at fellow Top 14 outfit Bordeaux would see them leap above the Welsh region into top spot, a crucial advantage with a trip to Swansea to come a week later.
Bordeaux, however, are not out of the running yet, having saved their qualification hopes with a battling 33-27 victory over Ospreys last time out, and they could even go second in the group with victory.
They would have been far more confident going into the match at their Stade Chaban-Delmas home ground before last weekend's domestic fixtures, though.
Bordeaux were on a three-match winning run in the league while Clermont had lost three Top 14 clashes on the trot, including successive home games, to fall from the top spot they had occupied since the start of the season.
But the Jaunards responded with a hard-fought 33-16 success at Agen while Bordeaux fell to a 23-18 defeat at Racing 92 on Saturday.
All the French sides are playing this weekend as the first and second round of matches due to be played in France were called off as a security reaction while the country mourned the 140 people who died in the co-ordinated attacks in Paris that also targeted the Stade de France while an international football match was being played.
Champions Toulon don't play until Sunday when they host Bath in a game both sides must win or almost certainly see their knock-out hopes end.
Both have two wins and a defeat from three games but trail Pool Five leaders Wasps by six points.
As neither side have picked up any bonus points yet, defeat would make winning the group virtually impossible while also rendering the chances of taking one of the two qualifying second place finishes negligible.
French champions Stade Francais face a crucial home clash with twice former European champions Munster in Pool Four.
Munster must win or they will certainly be eliminated while a victory for Stade, who earned a morale-boosting 18-17 league success at home to Toulouse on Sunday, would boost their hopes of topping the group in which Leicester lead by eight points after four wins from four.
"Wins breed confidence and sometimes it's a habit you get into," said Munster coach Anthony Foley, whose side earned a gruelling win over Ulster last weekend.
Racing could virtually tie up Pool 3 if they beat Glasgow at home on Saturday as they already lead by two points from Northampton having played a game less.
Glasgow, who kept their knock-out hopes alive with back-to-back wins over Scarlets, could go top if they earn a victory in Paris.
"Both Racing and Northampton away will be incredibly tough fixtures, and then we hope to still be in with a shout when we host Racing 92," said Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend.
The last match on Sunday sees Ulster, the first Irish province to win the competition in 1999, travel to already-eliminated Oyonnax.
While Saracens already seem to have Pool One sewn up with a 10-point lead over Ulster, the Irish side would boost their hopes of snatching one of the two second place qualifying finishes if they win.
We look at the weekend's catch-up matches!
Friday, January 8
Bordeaux-Begles v ASM Clermont Auvergne
(Stade Chaban-Delmas – Kick-off: 20:45; 19.45 GMT)
The teams:
Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Darly Domvo, 14 Metuisela Talebulamaijaina, 13 Felix Le Bourhis, 12 Romain Lonca, 11 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Louis Madaule, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Berend Botha, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Chambord, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Pierre Bernard, 23 Nans Ducuing.
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 David Strettle, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Vito Kolelishvili, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Raphael Chaume, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Loic Jacquet, 20 Fritz Lee, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic, 22 Pato Fernandez, 23 Aurélien Rougerie.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Seamus Flannery (Ireland)
Saturday, January 9
Racing 92 v Glasgow Warriors
(Stade Yves-Du-Manoir – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Racing 92: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (captain), 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Brice Dulin, 22 Mike Phillips, 23 Casey Laulala.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Finn Russell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Ali Price, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray (captain), 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Hugh Blake, 21 Lee Jones, 22 Sam Johnson, 23 Glenn Bryce.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Nigel Correll (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Stade Francais Paris v Munster
(Stade Jean Bouin – Kick-off: 17.45; 16.45 GMT)
Teams:
Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 12 Paul Williams, 11 Josaia Raisuqe, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Sekou Macalou, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Hugh Pyle, 3 Paul Alo Emile, 2 Laurent Sempéré, 1 Zak Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Gerhard Mostert, 20 Jonathan Ross, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Jonathan Danty.
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Robin Copeland, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 John Ryan, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Tomás O'Leary, 22 Denis Hurley, 23 Ronan O'Mahony.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Leighton Hodges (Wales), Sean Brickell (Wales)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Sunday, January 10
Oyonnax v Ulster
(Stade Charles Mathon – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Oyonnax: 15 Quentin Etienne, 14 Dug Codjo, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Uwa Tawalo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Julien Blanc, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Pierrick Gunther, 5 Fabrice Metz, 4 George Robson, 3 Marc Clerc, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Laurent Delboulbès.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bordes, 17 Stan Wright, 18 Horace Pungea, 19 Leon Power, 20 Viliami Maafu, 21 Arthur Aziza, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Daniel Ikpefan.
Ulster: 15 Craig Gilroy, 14 Sammy Arnold, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Kyle McCall.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Nick Williams, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Louis Ludik.
Referee Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Paul Dix (England), Andrew Small (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
Toulon v Bath
(Stade Félix Mayol – Kick-off: 16.15; 15.15 GMT)
Teams:
Toulon: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Eric Escande, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Frédéric Michalak, 21 Maxime Mermoz, 22 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 23 Thibault Lassale.
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 David Denton, 21 Jonathan Evans 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Mark Connolly (Ireland)
TMO: Alan Rogan (Ireland)
Agence France-Presse
