Weekend previews

Saturday (All times Irish): Border Reivers v Biarritz, Netherdale (1.35)French sides tend to be a little flaky on their travels and there are few colder places at this time of year than Netherdale. But last year's beaten finalists should still have too much in hand. The only thing that might prevent an away win would be a poor attitude from a Biarritz side leaving the likes of Fijian Sireli Bobo and Italian Santiago Dellape on the bench.

BORDER REIVERS:C MacRae (capt); G Law, B Rennie, N De Luca, Brendon Daniel; SJ Jones, B McKerchar; G Kerr, R Ford, B Douglas; S Grimes, C Hamilton; O Palepoi, S Gray, K Brown.

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE: N Brusque; P Bidabe, M Bosch, D Traille, JB Gobelet; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; K Lealamanua, B August (capt), B Lecouls; T Hall, D Couzinet; S Betsen, I Harinordoquy, T Lievremont.

Calvisano v Ospreys, Centro Sportivo San Michele (1.0)

Former Clontarf, Connacht, Munster and Leinster centre James Downey has been named in an Italian side captained by the New Zealand-born Italian scrumhalf Paul Griffen. Australian prop Rod Moore (ex-Ulster) and Kiwi Ben Gissing (ex-Leinster) are on the bench. The Ospreys name Gavin Henson at outhalf and James Hook in the centre and should win.

CALVISANO: R DeMarigny; W Spragg, J Downey, C Zanoletti, A Vodo; A Scanavacca, P Griffen (capt); G Bocca, G Intoppa, L Cittadini; V Bernabo, M Ngauamo; M Zaffiri, A Persico, A Zanni.

OSPREYS: L Byrne; N Walker, S Parker, J Hook, S Williams; G Henson, J Marshall; D Jones (capt), H Bennett, A Rhys Jones; Alun-Wyn Jones, I Evans; J Thomas, S Tandy, R Jones.

Parma v Northampton Saints, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi (1.30)

Northampton's three Irish players, centres David Quinlan and Seamus Mallon and secondrow Damien Browne, haven't made the journey to Italy but there is a place on the bench for former Connacht forward Christian Short. The English side have selected something of a mixed team, manifest in the selection of former All Black Carlos Spencer in the centre. Should be bonus-point time for the Saints.

PARMA: R Robuschi; G Ghidini, E Galon, N Sego, G Pavan; A Canale, J Pellicena (capt); A De Marchi, L Zanini, F Staibano; L Tait, F Minello; J M Soffredini, L Pascu, M Vosawai.

NORTHAMPTON: P Diggin; S Lamont, C Spencer, R Kydd, C Wyles; S Meyler, I Vass; T Smith, S Thompson, P Barnard; M Lord, D Gerard; M Easter, D Fox (capt), Daniel Browne.

Gloucester v Edinburgh, Kingsholm (3.0)

It's difficult to know what sort of motivation the home side will bring to this match having lost their opening two games. Willie Walker is preferred to the volatile youngster Ryan Lamb at outhalf. Iain Balshaw is on the bench. Edinburgh are difficult to beat and play a wide game but a victory for them here would be a major surprise.

GLOUCESTER: O Morgan; J Simpson-Daniel, M Tindall, A Allen, T Foster; W Walker, P Richards; P Collazo, O Azam, C Nieto; M Bortolami (capt), A Brown; P Buxton, J Boer, L Narraway.

EDINBURGH: H Southwell; C Paterson (capt), M Di Rollo, M Dey, B Cairns; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, D Hall, A Dickinson; M Mustchin, S Murray; A Strokosch, R Rennie, D Callam.

Llanelli v Toulouse, Stradey Park (3.0)

The French side have recent signing South African Gaffie du Toit at outhalf but there is no place in the match 22 for Trevor Brennan. Llanelli will be led by Simon Easterby and know a victory here and a bonus point next week would push them a long way toward the quarter-finals. This fixture last season produced over 90 points, victory going to Toulouse. Not this time though.

LLANELLI: C Thomas; D James, R King, G Evans, M Jones; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, M Rees, D Manu; V Cooper, S MacLeod; S Easterby (capt), G Thomas, A Popham.

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

Castres Olympique v Perpignan, Stade Pierre Antoine (3.20)

Nothing other than a victory will suffice for Castres this evening and they'll be confident enough following a big win in the French Championship last weekend, even though they face a team that are higher in the domestic table.

The home side rely on an Australian-English midfield axis in Steve Kefu, a brother of Toutai, and Phil Christophers, the former Bristol and England wing. Matches between French sides tend to go the way of the home team but Perpignan could buck that trend.

CASTRES: R Teulet; P Canavosio, S Kefu, P Christophers, L Milford; C McIntyre, C Laussucq; C Hoeft, R Terrain, D Saayman; R Capo Ortega, L Nallet (capt); G Vooslo, P Tabacco, A Manta.

PERPIGNAN: JP Grandclaude; C Manas, D Marty, G Hume, S Dawai Naulu; N Laharrague, N Durand; S Chobet, M Konieck, N Mas; C Gaston, N Hines; G Le Corvec (capt), O Tonita, G Bortolaso.

Sunday

Wasps v Benetton Treviso, Adams Park (3.0)

There is no place in the Wasps match squad for prop Peter Bracken or fellow Irishman Johnny O'Connor. Eoin Reddan starts at scrumhalf while Jeremy Staunton is named among the replacements. Coach Ian McGeechan has elected to give a couple of front-line performers a rest, while experimenting with the selection of former Newcastle outhalf Dave Walder at outside centre. It's just a question of the winning margin for Wasps.

WASPS: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey, D Walder, J Lewsey, T Voyce; A King (capt), E Reddan; T Payne, R Ibanez, P Vickery; S Shaw, T Palmer; D Leo, T Rees, J Worsley.

BENETTON TREVISO: E Mulieri; M Perziano, G Pizarro, A Sartoretto, A Sgarbi; A Marcato, S Picone; G Faliva, F Sbaraglini, A Allori; D Kingi, M Wentzel; E Pavanello, A Ceccato, Z Ansell.

S Français v Sale Sharks, Stade Jean Bouin (3.0)

There's no Charlie Hodgson, Andrew Sheridan or Jason White for Sale. French fullback Daniel Larrachea has been asked to fill the outhalf role, and Eifion Roberts will replace Sheridan at loosehead prop.

There is no doubt the Manchester club will miss the hard-hitting Scottish flanker White, for whom the Argentinian Juan Fernandez Lobbe (younger brother of secondrow Ignacio) is asked to deputise.

Stade are the form side in France and can afford to leave players like Agustin Pichot and Ignacio Corletto on the bench.

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

SALE SHARKS: J Robinson; M Cueto, C Mayor, L Thomas, B Foden; D Larrachea, R Wigglesworth; E Roberts, S Bruno, S Turner; C Jones, I Fernandez Lobbe; J Fernandez Lobbe, M Lund, S Chabal.

EUROPEAN CUP; WEEKEND FIXTURES (3.0 unless stated)

SATURDAY: Pool 1: Castres v Perpignan 3.20. Pool 2: Gloucester v Edinburgh 3.0, Leinster v Agen 5.35. Pool 3: Calvisano v Ospreys 1.0. Pool 5: Llanelli Scarlets v Toulouse 3.0, London Irish v Ulster 3.30. Pool 6: Borders v Biarritz 1.35, Overmach Parma v Northampton 1.30.

SUNDAY: Pool 1: London Wasps v Benetton Treviso 3.0; Pool 3: Stade Français Paris v Sale Sharks 4.0; Pool 4: Cardiff Blues v Munster 1.0.