Preview - ECC Pool Five, round six

Worcester and Connacht both heading for greater things

Worcester's 44-8 win over Catania has edged them ahead of Connacht on the table, but they will be looking to return from Montpellier with five points this weekend.

The Irish province, meanwhile, head to Italy to play Catania, knowing that a bonus-point victory will ensure a spot in the playoffs as one of the best three Pool runners-up. If the Warriors earn only four points and Connacht bag five, the Irish side's superior try count (21-19) will take them to the top of the table.

CATANIA V CONNACHT – Santa Maria Goretti
Friday, January 20 – 19:30 (20:30 GMT)

Catania: 15 Juan Cosa, 14 Mauro Commuzzi, 13 Mauro Estomba, 12 Andrea Romagnoli, 11 Benjamin de Jager, 10 Barry Irving, 9 Emanuel Viassiolo, 8 Mariano Lorenzetti, 7 Massimiliano Vinti, 6 Alejandro Krancz, 5 Juan Pablo Lagarrigue, 4 Mario Privitera, 3 Sebastian Levaggi, 2 Diego Vidal, 1 Gallo Alvarez.
Replacements: 16 Federico Condorelli, 17 Marco Suaria, 18 Marco Geraci, 19 Raffaele Marino, 20 John Grasso, 21 Francesco Fala Pappelardo, 22 Alessandro Pinna.

Connacht: 15 Matt Mostyn, 14 Ted Robinson, 13 John Hearty, 12 Keith Mathews, 11 Conor McPhillips, 10 David Sleman, 9 Chris Keane, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 Matt Lacey, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Andrew Farley, 4 Christian Short, 3 Stephen Knoop, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Daniel McFarland.
Replacements: 16 Chris Venter, 17 Adrian Clarke, 18 Michael Swift, 19 Brendan O'Connor, 20 Tom Tierney, 21 Paul Warwick, 22 Mark McHugh.

Referee: Roy Maybank (England)
Touch judges: Tim Wigglesworth, David Broadwell (both England)
Assessor: David Broadwell (England)
Match commissioner: Gianpaulo Celon (France)

MONTPELLIER v WORCESTER – Stade Sabathe
Friday, January 20 – 19:30 (20:30 GMT)

Montpellier: 15 David Bortolussi, 14 Laurent Arbo, 13 Frédéric Charrier, 12 Alessandro Stoica, 11 Sébastien Kuzbik, 10 David Aucagne, 9 Sébastien Buada, 8 Michel Macurdy, 7 Jérome Vallée (c), 6 Martin Durand, 5 Samuel Nouchi, 4 Mickaël Bert, 3 Clément Baïocco, 2 Nicolas Grelon, 1 Sébastien Petit.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Diomande, 17 Nicolas Descamps, 18 Mamuka Gorgodze, 19 Cédric Mathieu, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Murphy Taele, 22 Sébastien Logerot.

Worcester Warriors: 15 James Brown, 14 Gary Trueman, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Thomas Lombard, 11 Mark Tucker, 10 Shane Drahm, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Drew Hickey, 7 Johnny Tuamoheloa, 6 Kai Horstmann, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Phil Murphy, 3 Tievita Taumoepeau, 2 Chris Fortey, 1 Tony Windo (c).
Replacements: 16 Lee Fortey, 17 Michael Macdonald, 18 Ed O'Donoghue, 19 Saosi Vaili, 20 Matthew Powell, 21 Simon Whatling, 22 Jonny Hylton.

Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Touch judges: Stefano Pennè, Mauro Dordolo (both Italy)
Match commissioner: Claude Guet (France)