Preview: European Cup, Round Six

Ecstasy and agony are certain to figure in varying amounts this weekend as Europe's elite clubs ready themselves for an explosive Round Six in the ultra-competitive Champions Cup.

With seven quarterfinal places still up for grabs, the new format  – which see five pool winners and three best runners-up reaching the knock-out stages – have thrown up a tension-packed a series of games.

With only RC Toulon already through to the last eight, the last throw of the Champions Cup qualification dice begins on Saturday – when a crowd of 25,000 is expected at Coventry's Ricoh Arena for the Pool Two top-of-the-table clash between Wasps and Leinster.

In Pool Three, Leicester Tigers will be looking for a big win over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium to keep their hopes alive of securing a best runners-up spot, while Northampton Saints and Racing Metro 92 are engaged in a Pool Five showdown at a sold-out Franklin's Gardens also on Saturday.

On Sunday, the permutations in Pool Four are seemingly endless – with leaders Toulouse travelling to Montpellier and second-placed Bath hosting Glasgow Warriors at The Rec, which also has the 'sold out' sign up.

Finally, all the qualifiers and their rankings, as well as the clubs who have banked a precious home quarterfinal, will be revealed when old rivals, ASM Clermont Auvergne and Saracens, go toe-to-toe in Pool One at a packed Stade Marcel-Michelin.

Then in order to facilitate advance planning by the clubs who qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions Cup and to map out the route to the London 2015 finals, the semifinal draw will be made directly after the Clermont versus Saracens game.

Also following the conclusion of the pool stages, a longlist for the prestigious EPCR European Player of the Year 2015 award will be announced.

The first of a whole host of Champions Cup Round Six showdowns kicks off on Saturday with that much-anticipated meeting of Wasps and Leinster.

All the Round Six teams!

Saturday, January 24:

                            Wasps v Leinster

                           (Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Edd Shervington, 1 Matt Mullan.

Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

Assistant referees: Salem Attalah (France), Maxime Chalon (France)

TMO: Hervé Dubes (France)

                            Castres Olympique v Harlequins

                            (Stade Pierre Antoine – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Remi Grosso, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Marcel Garvey, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Yannick Caballero (captain), 6 Piula Faasalele, 5 Christophe Samson, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Yannick Forestier.

Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Paea Faanunu, 18 Mihaita Lazar, 19 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 20 Jannie Bornman, 21 Remi Lamerat, 22 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 23 Cedric Garcia.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)

Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Kelvin Shorte (Wales)

TMO: Paul Adams (Wales)

                             Northampton Saints v Racing Metro 92

                            (Franklin's Gardens – Kick-off: 15.15; 15.15 GMT)

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Christian Day, 4 Sam Dickinson, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Corbisiero.

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Tom Stephenson, 23 Jamie Elliott.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)

TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

                              Benetton Treviso v Ospreys

                              (Stadio Comunale di Monigo – Kick-off: 16.15; 15.15 GMT)

Teams:

Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Andrea Pratichetti, 10 Samuel John Christie, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Mathew Henry Luamanu, 7 Alessandro Zanni (captain), 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Cornelius van Zyl, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Salesi Manu, 2 Albert, 1 Matteo Zanusso.

Replacments: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Josè Francisco Novak, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Enrico Bacchin, 22 Simone Ragusi, 23 James Ambrosini.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona (France), Thomas Charabas (France)

TMO: Vincent Azoulay (France)

                                Scarlets v RC Toulon

                                (Parc y Scarlets – Kick-off: 17.30; 17.30 GMT)

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Steven Shingler, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Regan King, 12 Scott Williams (captain), 11 Hadleigh Parkes, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 John Barclay, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 George Earle, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Rob Evans.

Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Sion Bennett, 20 Rory Pitman, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Kristian Phillips.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth (England), Gareth Copsey (England)

TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

                              Ulster v Leicester Tigers

                              (Kingspan Stadium – Kick-off: 17.30; 17.30 GMT)

Teams:

Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)

Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon (France), Stéphane Boyer (France)

TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)

Sunday, January 25:

                              Bath v Glasgow Warriors

                             (Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Horacio Agulla, 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 Paul James.

Replacements: 16 Ross Batty,  17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 David Attwood, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Sam Burgess.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 Fraser Brown, 6 Leone Nakarawa, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Michael Cusack, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Gordon Reid.

Replacements: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 James Eddie, 20 Sean Lamont, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Pete Murchie.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Olly Hodges (Ireland)

TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

                              Montpellier v Toulouse

                              (Altrad Stadium – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 GMT)

Teams:

Montpellier: 15 Pierre Berard, 14 Rene Ranger, 13 Anthony Tuitavake, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Lucas Dupont, 10 Benjamin Lucas, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 Antoine Battut, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo (captain), 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Tom Donnelly, 3 David Attoub, 2 Charles Géli, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.

Replacements: 16 Mickaël Ivaldi, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Robins Tchale Watchou, 20 Alexandre Bias, 21 Jonathan Pélissié, 22 Enzo Selponi, 23 Benoit Sicart.

Referee: Greg Garner (England)

Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Roy Maybank (England)

TMO: David Grashoff (England)

                              Munster v Sale Sharks

                             (Thomond Park – Kick-off: 15.15; 15.15 GMT)

Teams:

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Peter O'Mahony (captain), 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 James Cronin.

Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 John Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Ivan Dineen, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23

Pat Howard.

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Will Addison, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Nick MacLeod, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Vili Fihaki, 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Mark Easter, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Andrei Ostrikov, 3 Ross Harrison, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Alberto de Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 George Nott, 20 Andrew Hughes, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Andy Forsyth.

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)

TMO: Eric Gonthier (France)

                              ASM Clermont Auvergne v Saracens

                              (Stade Marcel-Michelin – Kick-off: 16.15; 15.15 GMT)

Teams:

ASM Clermont Auvergne: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Damien Chouly (captain), 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.

Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Clément Ric, 19 Loic Jacquet, 20 Julien Bonnaire, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic , 22 Mike Delany, 23 Zac Guildford.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Chris Wyles, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Ernst Joubert, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Marcelo Bosch.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)

TMO: Jude Quinn (Ireland)

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