Heineken Cup Weekend previews
TOULON: D Armitage; R Wulf, M Bastareaud, M Giteau, D Smith; J Wilkinson, F Michalak; A Sheridan, S Bruno, C Hayman; B Botha, J Suta; JF Lobbe, S Armitage, C Masoe.
Referee: L Hodges (Wales)
Verdict: Toulon.
Pool One
Racing Métro 92 v Edinburgh
Stade Yves du Manoir, 6pm
Sky Sports (red button)
These next two matches should see Racing stay in contention to qualify for the knock-out stages as Edinburgh have failed to even register a single point, yet conceded 78, in the opening rounds. Their form is in marked contrast to the 11-try thriller these teams produced as Edinburgh eventually progressed to last season’s semi-final. The minus eight handicap looks beatable.
RACING MÉTRO 92: JM Hernandez; V Vakatawa, G Bousses, F Estebanez, J Imhoff; O Barkley, S Descons; J Brugnaut, T Bianchin, B Sa; F Metz, F van der Merwe; A Battut, J Cronje (capt), M Matadigo.
EDINBURGH: G Tonks; T Brown, N De Luca, M Scott, T Visser; G Laidlaw, R Rees; J Yapp, R Ford, G Cross; G Gilchrist, S Cox; D Denton, R Grant,S McInally.
Referee: P Fitzgibbon (Ireland).
Verdict: Racing to win.
Sunday
Pool Six
Cardiff Blues v Montpellier
Cardiff Arms Park, 12.45pm
Live Sky Sports 2
The loss of Bradley Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Jamie Roberts to injuries have severely weakened a Cardiff side that have been performing well below expected standards this season. They are already out of Europe, having lost their first two matches, and Montpellier coach Fabien Galthié has surely identified these next two matches as a real opportunity to reach the quarter-finals as one of the best runners-up.
CARDIFF BLUES: J Tovey; A Cuthbert, G Evans, D Hewitt, H Robinson; R Patchell, L Williams; S Hobbs, M Breeze, S Andrews; L Reed, J Down; J Navidi, S Warburton, A Pretorius (capt).
MONTPELLIER: B Thiery; Y Audrin, T Combezou, P Bosch, P berard; S Fernandez, B Paillaugue; M Nariashvili, A Creevy, M Bustos; D Hancke, A Fakate; A Bias, M Gorgodze, J Beattie.
Referee: J Lacey (Ireland).
Verdict: Montpellier win.
Pool Two
Leicester v Benetton Treviso
Welford Road, 3pm
Sky Sports (red button)
Manu Tuilagi, Geoff Parling, Ben Youngs and his converted hooker brother Tom return to the starting XV with Matthew Tait named ahead of Geordan Murphy at fullback.
LEICESTER TIGERS: M Tait; S Hamilton, M Tuilagi, D Bowden, V Goneva; G Ford, B Youngs; M Ayerza, T Youngs, M Castrogiovanni; G Kitchener, G Parling (capt); E Slater, J Salvi, T Waldrom.
BENETTON TREVISO: L McLean;C Loamanu, T Benvenuti, L Morisi, A Pratichetti; J Ambrosini, E Gori; A De Marchi, F Sbaraglini, F Rouvet; A Pavanello, V Bernabo; S Favaro, D Budd, M Vosawai.
Referee: G Clancy (Ireland).
Verdict: Leicester to win with bonus.
