Preview - ECC Pool Four, round five

Kick-off times are local

The high-flying Falcons may not have it all their own way but you would expect Brive to beat L'Aquila even in the lovely Italian mountain town.

L'AQUILA v BRIVE
Saturday January 14, Stadio Tomasso Fattori, 15:00

Farid Sid's return from injury to Brive's wing at home to L'Aquila, and Maxime Petitjean came through his comeback at Bourgoin last week unscathed, so he is at fly-half.

There are a few changes up front, with captain Jawad Djoudi returning and regular flanker Damien Chouly included. There is also a start for the promising prop Damien Minassian.

For L'Aquila, Andrea Lo Cicero is back to bolster the scrum.

L'Aquila: 15 Martin Acuna, 14 Peirluigi Gentile, 13 Nicolas Canavosio, 12 Marco Rosa, 11 Santiag Monteagudo, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Juan Cruz Legora, 8 Nicolas Brignoni, 7 Ealdo Birchall, 6 Pierpaolo Rotilio,  5 Fabrizio Parisse, 4 Agustin Cavalieri, 3 Juan Jose Rapetti, 2 Antonello Comperti, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements: 16 Flavio Tripodi, 17 Luigi Milani, 18 Colin Quigley, 19 Andrea Tagliavento, 20 Vincenzo Zullo, 21 Andrea Brancoli, 22 Giuliano Rossi

Brive: 15 Yohan Dalla Riva, 14 Farid Sid, 13 Cédric Leite, 12 Clément Marienval, 11 Martin Bottini, 10 Xavier Sadourny, 9 Damien Neveu, 8 Simon Azoulai, 7 Fabien Laurent, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Samuel Chinarro, 4 Yvan Manhes,  3 Rudy Cheron, 2 Jawad Djoudi (captain), 1 Damien Minassian
Replacements: 16 Franco Pani, 17 Daniel Rodriguez, 18 Denys Drozdz, 19 Charl van Rensburg, 20 Tim Clark, 21 Maxime Petitjean, 22 Charly Platek

Referee: Phil Fear (Wales)
Touch judges: Hugh Watkins, Lynn Davies (both Wales)
Match commissioner: Pietro Megha (Italy)

NEWCASTLE v REIVERS
Sunday January 15, Kingston Park, 14:30

Newcastle Falcons have made eight changes and two positional switches ahead of Sunday’s European Challenge Cup clash against Border Reivers at Kingston Park (kick-off 2.30pm).

There are two changes in the front row as Matt Thompson replaces Andy Long at hooker, and David Wilson comes in for Robbie Morris at tight head prop.

In the second row Andy Buist takes the place of the injured Geoff Parling, while Ben Woods starts at openside flanker for Cory Harris.

The backs sees the return of scrum half Hall Charlton and wing Tom May from injury, as James Grindal and Ollie Phillips respectively drop out, while Mathew Tait and Jamie Noon both shift one place infield to form the centre partnership as James Hoyle fills the gap on the left wing.

The only other change sees Dave Walder come in to the side at fly half for Toby Flood, after missing last weekend’s defeat at London Wasps due to a bang on the head picked up scoring the winning try against Worcester on New Year’s Day.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Matthew Burke, 14 Tom May, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 James Hoyle, 10 David Walder, 9 Hall Charlton, 8 Colin Charvis (captain), 7 Ben Woods, 6 Owen Finegan, 5 Andy Buist, 4 Andy Perry, 3 David Wilson, 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Micky Ward
Replacements: 16 Robbie Morris, 17 Andy Long, 18 Luke Gross, 19 Cory Harris, 20 Mike McCarthy, 21 James Grindal, 22 Toby Flood

Border Reivers: 15 Calum MacRae, 14 Stuart Moffat, 13 Ben MacDougall, 12 Garry Law, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Charlie Hore, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Semo Sititi, 7 Andy Miller, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Colin Stewart, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Paul Thomson (c),
Replacements: 16 Steve Scott, 17 Tom McGee, 18 Matt Parr, 19 John Dalziel, 20 Mark Blair, 21 Brendan McKerchar, 22 James King.

Referee: David Keane (Ireland)
Touch judges: Dermot Moloney, Andrew Baird (both Ireland)
Match commissioner: Mike Hamlin (England)