European Cup Previews

A look ahead to the weekend's fixtures in the Heineken European Cup:

Today

POOL ONE

Benetton Treviso v Wasps

Stadio Communale di Monigo (2.0).

The current state of Italian club rugby is reflected in Benetton's struggle this season. They have taken several scalps over the years in European rugby but the directives about the number of foreign players permitted in their team have compromised their chances. Wasps have Eoin Reddan at scrumhalf, Jeremy Staunton on the bench and should safely secure another five points.

BENETTON TREVISO: E Mulieri; S Legg, G Pizarro, M Goosen (capt), A Sgarbi; A Marcato, S Picone; G Faliva, F Sbaraglini, P di Santo; A Pavanello, M Sutto; E Pavanello, A Ceccato, D Kingi.

WASPS: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey, J Lewsey, D Waldouck, T Voyce; A King (capt), E Reddan; T Payne, R Ibanez, P Vickery; S Shaw, T Palme; J Worsley, T Rees, L Dallaglio,

POOL FOUR

Leicester Tigers v Bourgoin

Welford Road (2.45)

Leo Cullen is rested, his place goes to England international Ben Kay. Tigers coach Pat Howard makes four changes but Geordan Murphy and Shane Jennings retain their place in the starting line-up while Johnny Murphy is on the bench. Former Munster scrumhalf Mike Prendergast is named at scrumhalf for Bourgoin. The home look good for four tries and a bonus point victory.

LEICESTER: S Vesty; G Murphy, D Hipkiss, D Gibson, L Lloyd; A Goode, H Ellis; A Moreno, J Buckland, M Castrogiovanni; L Deacon, B Kay; L Moody, S Jennings, M Corry (capt).

BOURGOIN: F Denos; G Davis, G Bousses, R Coetzee, JF Coux; S Laloo, M Prendergast; D Khinchagishvili, B Cabello, P Cardinali; D Fevre, C Del-Fava; J Frier (capt), M Rennie, B Monzeglio.

POOL FIVE

Toulouse v Llanelli

Stade Ernest Wallon (1.35)

Once again Toulouse coach Guy Noves has elected to leave Trevor Brennan out of his match 22 and the French side require nothing other than a bonus point victory. Ireland's Simon Easterby, a try scorer the last day at Stradey Park, misses this match with a knee injury . In his absence Llanelli will be captained by scrumhalf Dwayne Peel. A bonus point would be a decent return for the visitors.

TOULOUSE: C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, Y Jauzion, F Fritz, C Heymans; G du Toit, V Courrent; D Human, Y Bru (capt), JB Poux; F Pelous, P Albacete; J Bouilhou, T Dussatoir, F Maka.

LLANELLI: B Davies; D James, R King, G Evans, D Daniel; S Jones, D Peel (capt); I Thomas, M Rees, C Dunlea; A Jones, S Macleod; D Jones, G Thomas, A Popham.

POOL SIX

Northampton v Overmach Parma

Franklin's Gardens (3.0).

There is still no sign of David Quinlan and Seamus Mallon in the Northampton line-up but Damien Browne is named among the replacements. Carlos Spencer continues his new role at outside centre while scrumhalf Ian Vass plays in the number 10 jersey following a host of injuries to backs at the club. Northampton should win in a canter.

NORTHAMPTON: P Diggin; S Lamont, C Spencer, R Kydd, C Wyles; I Vaas, M Robinson; S Tonga'uiha, S Thompson, P Barnard; M Lord (capt), C Short; P Tupai, S Harding, Daniel Browne.

PARMA: R Robuschi; G Ghidini, E Galon, N Sego, R Pavan; A Canale, J Pellicena (capt); G Fontana, B Masetti, F Staibano; L Tait, F Minello; R Barbieri, L Pascu, M Vosawai.

Sunday

POOL TWO

Edinburgh v Gloucester

Murrayfield (1.0).

Having started the pool with two defeats against Leinster and Agen respectively, Gloucester recovered last week to beat today's opponents at Kingsholm. Repeating that feat will be difficult against the Scots, who turned over Leinster at this venue in round two. The English club name Ryan Lamb at outhalf and Rory Lawson at scrumhalf in a new halfback pairing. Gloucester have the resources to win this one but much will depend on Edinburgh's attitude.

EDINBURGH: H Southwell; C Paterson (capt), M di Rollo, A Easson, B Cairns; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, D Hall, A Dickinson; M Mustchin, S Murray; A Strokosch, A MacDonald, S Taylor.

GLOUCESTER: I Balshaw; J Simpson-Daniel, M Tindall, A Allen, M Foster; R Lamb, R Lawson; N Wood, O Azam, C Nieto; M Bortolami (capt), A Brown; P Buxton, A Hazell, L Narraway.

POOL THREE

Sale Sharks v Stade Français

Edgeley Park (3.0).

It's win or bust for the home side this evening. Their extensive injury list is well documented so they could ill afford to lose another international in wing Mark Cueto (hamstring). It is a fate shared by Christophe Dominici but Stade's strength is illustrated by the fact that he will be replaced by Argentine flier Ignacio Corletto. Sale will need to dominate up front to have a chance of victory.

SALE: J Robinson (capt); B Foden, C Mayor, M Taylor, O Ripol; L Thomas, R Wigglesworth; E Roberts, A Titterell, B Stewart; D Schofield, I Fernandez Lobbe; C Jones, M Lund, S Chabal.

STADE FRANÇAIS: JM Hernandez; J Saubade, G Messina, Mirco Bergamasco, I Corleto; D Skrela, J Fillol; S Marconnet, M Blin, P de Villiers; D Auradou (capt), M James, Mauro Bergamasco, P Rabadan, S Parisse.

POOL SIX

Biarritz Olympique v Border Reivers

Parc des Sports Aguilera (1.0)

Last year's beaten finalists Biarritz have taken the opportunity to rest several front line players including halfbacks Julien Peyrelongue and Dimitri Yachvili and flanker Imanol Harinordoquy. They should still be good enough to take the points against a Borders side that have made a few alterations of their own, notably starting the former Lions and Scotland outhalf Gregor Townsend.

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE: B Dambielle; JB Gobelet, M Bosch, A Masi, S Bobo; D Traille, J Dupuy; K Lealamanua, B Noirot, D Avri; S Dellappe, D Couzinet (capt); S Betsen, M Dridi, T Lievremont,

BORDER REIVERS: C MacRae, G Law, N De Luca, B Rennie, B Daniel; G Townsend, R Chrystie, G Kerr, S Scott, E Kalman; S Grimes, O Palepoi; S Gray, A Miller, K Brown.