Three fixtures take place on Sunday in Round Two of the Champions Cup, with Toulouse hosting the champions, Leinster, in the standout match.
Newcastle Falcons v Montpellier
Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards has made three changes to the side which won away at Toulon last weekend.
Premiership Player of the Season Vereniki Goneva returning on the right wing after missing the opening round with a head knock.
Fellow Fijian Nemani Nagusa misses out after injuring his calf last weekend, Ryan Burrows taking his place, the only other addition to the side being the return of Calum Green to the second-row in place of Will Witty.
Meanwhile, Montpellier boss Vern Cotter has made several alterations to his starting line-up which beat Edinburgh in their opener last weeekend.
In the backline, All Black pivot returns to the run-on side, which means Ruan Pienaar, who wore the number 10 jersey against Edinburgh, moves back to scrum-half where he replaces Enzo Sanga, who is amongst the replacements.
In other changes to the backs, Benjamin Fall moves from the right wing to full-back while Vincent Martin will wear the number 14 jersey after playing at outside centre last week.
This means that Yvan Reilhac will partner Jan Serfontein in midfield.
In the forwards, Levan Chilachava and Vincent Giudicelli come in for the Du Plessis brothers, Jannie and Bismarck, at tighthead prop and hooker respectively.
The teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young, 8 Ryan Burrows, 7 Gary Graham, 6 Mark Wilson (c), 5 Glen Young, 4 Calum Green, 3 David Wilson, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Sami Mavinga
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Will Witty, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Chris Harris
Montpellier: 15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Vincent Martin, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Gabriel N’gandebe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Louis Picamoles (c), 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Vincent Giudicelli, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Grégory Fichten, 18 Antoine Guillamon, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Kelian Galletier, 21 Enzo Sanga, 22 Thomas Darmon, 23 Arthur Vincent
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 13:00 BST (12:00 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Marius Mitrea (Italy), Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
Television match official: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Toulouse v Leinster
Toulouse have made four changes to their starting line-up after their victory over Bath in their tournament opener last weekend.
In the backline, Romain Ntamack comes is promoted from the replacements bench to start at inside centre where he takes over from Maxime Mermoz.
In the forwards, Selevasio Tolofua replaces the suspended Jerome Kaino while Rynardt Elstadt moves from the openside to the blindside flank where he takes over from Francois Cros.
In the frint-row, Julien Marchand replaces Leonardo Ghiraldini at hooker and Clément Castets comes in for Lucas Pointud at loosehead prop. Marchand will also captain the side.
Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made some changes to his run-on side after last weekend’s demolition of Wasps.
Jordan Larmour is at full back on Sunday, with Joe Tomane starting his first game for the Irish province in Europe, while last week’s Man of the Match James Lowe continues in the number 11 jersey.
It’s as you were elsewhere in the backs with the same combinations selected by Cullen with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose in the centre and Luke McGrath and captain Johnny Sexton in the half backs.
It is the same pack that started the game against Wasps last Friday.
Cian Healy, Seán Cronin and Tadhg Furlong are again in the front-row with Devin Toner and James Ryan behind them in the second-row.
Rhys Ruddock – a late call up last week for Dan Leavy who injured himself in the warm-up ahead of Wasps – starts at blindside flanker, with Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan completing the pack.
The teams:
Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Alban Placines, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand (c), 1 Clément Castets
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 David Faimafiliotama’ita’i Ainuu, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Pierre Gayraud, 20 Louis Madaule, 21 Yoann Huget, 22 Antoine Dupont, 23 Arthur Bonneval
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton, (c) 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Venue: Stade Ernest Wallon
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 BST, 14:15 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: Rowan Kitt (England)
Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors
Cardiff Blues have made four changes ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup clash against Glasgow Warriors’ at Cardiff Arms Park.
Europe’s premier club competition makes a long-awaited return to the Welsh capital, as John Mulvihill’s side look to build upon last week’s stunning victory over Lyon at Matmut Stadium de Gerland.
Nick Williams is recalled to the number eight shirt and links up with Olly Robinson and Ellis Jenkins in the back-row, replacing the injured Josh Navidi.
The only other change amongst the pack sees George Earle return to partner Josh Turnbull in the second-row.
In the backline, Rey Lee-Lo is reunited with Willis Halaholo in midfield. The Samoan is Cardiff Blues’ joint top try scorer this season, alongside Robinson and Tomos Williams.
Aled Summerhill is called up from the bench to take the place of Owen Lane, who was ruled out of the Wales squad after sustaining a hamstring injury.
The starting line-up on Sunday also contains the four players who were called up to Wales’ squad for the autumn internationals – Dillon Lewis, scrum-half Williams, captain Jenkins and last week’s man of the match, Gareth Anscombe.
Meanwhile, Sam Johnson will play his first game of the season for Glasgow Warriors this Sunday.
The centre, who was injured in the Warriors’ pre-season game against Northampton Saints, comes straight into the starting XV fresh from being named in Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad for the 2018 Autumn Tests.
Johnson is joined in midfield by Huw Jones, and they both start outside of the same half-back pairing that played against Saracens at Scotstoun last Sunday.
DTH van der Merwe and Lee Jones start on the wings again and Tommy Seymour returns to the staring XV at full-back.
Dave Rennie has named an unchanged starting pack following their physical display against the English champions.
On the bench, Scott Cummings returns to the matchday squad to cover the second-row and Niko Matawalu will look to add his spark to the game when he comes on.
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Olly Robinson, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Samu Manoa, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Tommy Seymour, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH can der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu
Date: Sunday, October 21
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 15:15 BST (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Jonathan Healy (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)