Friday 12 December 2014 15:24, UK
Round Four of the European Rugby Challenge Cup continues on Saturday, with six fixtures on the cards.
With the group stages of the competition reaching the halfway point last weekend, the tournament is now starting to reach a crucial juncture.
London Irish will be seeking vengeance as they travel to Arms Park for a rematch against Cardiff Blues seven days after their European Rugby Challenge Cup defeat.
Guinness PRO12 side Cardiff scored thrice through Richard Smith, Lloyd Williams and Kristian Darcey en route to a 24-14 triumph at the Madejski Stadium last Saturday, but an immediate return fixture offers Brian Smith’s a chance to exact revenge on the Blues.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer; 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Andrew Fenby; 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Scott Steele; 1 Tom Court, 2 David Paice, 3 Geoff Cross, 4 George Skivington (capt), 5 Kieran Low, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Luke Narraway
Replacements: 16 Richard Palframan, 17 Leo Halavatau, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Chris Noakes, 23 Alex Lewington
Cardiff Blues: 15 Adam Thomas; 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Richard Smith; 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams; 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Matthew Rees (capt), 3 Adam Jones, 4 Filo Paulo, 5 Josh Turnbull, 6 Macauley Cook, 7 Sam Warburton, 8 Josh Navidi
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Ellis Jenkins, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Dan Fish
Gloucester will be looking to make it four European Rugby Challenge Cup wins from four on Saturday as they make the trip to Italy to face Zebre.
Steve McColl, James Hook, Matt Kvesic and Mark Atkinson all crossed the whitewash in a 35-10 victory last Sunday and another emphatic Pool Five success this time around would all-but seal Gloucester’s place in the knockout stages.
Zebre: 15 Hennie Daniller; 14 Giambattista Venditti, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Michele Visentin; 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Gullo Palazzani; 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Andrea Manici, 3 Dario Chistolini, 4 George Biagi, 5 Marco Bortolami (capt), 6 Valerio Bernabo, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea de Marchi, 18 Luciano Leibson, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Jacopo Sarto, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 David Odiete, 23 Kelly Haimona
Gloucester: 15 Stevie McColl; 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Purdy, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (capt), 11 Jonny May; 10 James Hook, 9 Callum Braley; 1 Yann Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 Sila Puafisi, 4 Tom Savage, 5 James Hudson, 6 Gareth Evans, 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Ben Morgan
Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Nick Wood, 18 John Afoa, 19 Elliot Stooke, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Mark Atkinson
Reigning LV= Cup champions Exeter Chiefs will look to tighten their grip on Pool Two when they host Top 14 side La Rochelle at Sandy Park.
Rob Baxter’s Chiefs travelled to France last weekend and returned with all five points following a 36-10 win, with scores from Tom James, Brett Strugess, Byron McGuigan and Fetu’u Vainikolo and the Devon-based side will be eager to build on their one-point lead at the Pool Two summit.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman; 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Tom James; 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Dave Lewis; 1 Brett Sturgess, 2 Greg Bateman, 3 Alex Brown, 4 Mitch Lees, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 6 Don Armand, 7 Ben White, 8 Kai Horstmann (capt)
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Carl Rimmer, 19 Damian Welch, 20 James Scaysbrook, 21 Haydn Thomas, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Sireli Naqelevuki
La Rochelle: 15 Jean-Pascal Barraque; 14 Arthur Cestaro, 13 Alofa Alofa, 12 Kini Murimurivalu, 11 Damien Cler; 10 Fabien Fortassin, 9 Julien Audy; 1 Mike Corbel, 2 Benjamin Geledan, 3 Benoit Bourrust, 4 Jacobus Grobler, 5 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 6 Benoit Guyot, 7 Nicolas Djebaili (capt), 8 Loann Goujon
Replacements: 16 Rassie Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Lekso Kaulashvili, 19 Albain Meron, 20 Leo Cedaro, 21 Julien Berger, 22 Hamish Gard, 23 Albert Vulivuli
Connacht will need a repeat of their 42-19 success against Bayonne to keep pace with Challenge Cup Pool Two leaders Exeter.
Danie Poolman (two), Bundee Aki, Dvaid McSharry and Willie Faloon all raced home in a five-try and five-point success against the Top 14 side last time out and the Irish province will need more of the same to keep the pressure on the Chiefs, who head into Round Four with a one-point advantage at the Pool Two summit.
Bayonne: 15 Jon Elissalde; 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Matthieu Ugalde, 11 Pierre Sayerse; 10 Clement Otazo, 9 Christophe Loustalot (capt); 1 JC Van Rensburg, 2 David Roumieu, 3 Florian Lapeyrade, 4 Pelu Ian Taele, 5 Lisiate Fa'aoso, 6 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 7 Clement Ancely, 8 Thibault Visensang
Replacements: 16 Simon Labouyrie, 17 Aretz Iguiniz, 18 Gert Muller, 19 Mark Chisholm, 20 Bastien Duhalde, 21 Guillaume Rouet, 22 Gabi Lovobalavu, 23 Jean Monribot
Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader; 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Conor Finn, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Fionn Carr; 10 Miah Nikora (capt), 9 Caolin Blade; 1 Ronan Loughney, 2 David Heffernan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Michael Swift, 5 Ally Muldowney, 6 James Connolly, 7 Willie Faloon, 8 Danny Qualter
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Saba Meunergia, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Dave McSharry, 23 Matt Healy
Oyonnax will be out for a repeat success against Top 14 rivals Brive on Saturday as they look to retain second place behind Gloucester in Pool Five.
Gloucester’s unbeaten Challenge Cup run shows no signs of relenting, so Oyonnax will have to back up their 30-22 success in Brive last weekend with another win if they are to see off the threat of Zebre and stay in with a chance of a quarter-final berth.
Oyonnax: 15 Maxime Le Bourhis; 14 Dug Codjo, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Roimata Hansell Pune (capt), 11 Jean-Francois Coux; 10 Regis Lespinas, 9 Fabien Cibray; 1 Lukas Rapant, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 3 Antoine Guillamon, 4 Thibault Lassale, 5 Geoffrey Fabbri, 6 Guillaume Bernad, 7 Valentin Ursache, 8 Christophe Andre
Replacements: 16 Clément Jullien, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Ruaan Du Preez, 19 Patrick Sobela, 20 Arthur Aziza, 21 Alexandra Luatua, 22 Yves Donguy, 23 Damien Lagrange
Brive: 15 Alfifeleti Mafi; 14 Venione Voretamaya, 13 Andrew Mailei, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Baptiste Delage; 10 Romain Sola, 9 Damien Neveu (capt); 1 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Louis Acosta, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 4 Russlan Boukerou, 5 Victor Lebas, 6 Tjiuee Uanivi, 7 Fabien Laurent, 8 Kieran Murphy
Replacements: 16 Thomas Acquier, 17 Karlen Asieshvili, 18 Damien Jourdain, 19 Peet Marais, 20 Hugues Briatte, 21 Atila Septar, 22 Elia Radikedike, 23 Hugo Veyssiere
Grenoble are in Italy on Saturday looking for a second win against Rovigo in as many weeks in a bid to keep their slender hopes of quarter-final qualification alive.
The Top 14 side scored 10 tries in a 68-10 mauling of the Italian minnows last Friday and with London Irish and Cardiff Blues five and 10 points ahead respectively, another maximum points success is essential if Grenoble’s tournament is to retain any signs of life.
Rovigo: 15 Davide Farolini; 14 Ross Stewart McCann, 13 Denis Majstorovic, 12 Joe Van Niekerk, 11 Lorenzo Lubian; 10 Luciano Javier Rodriguez, 9 Marco Frati; 1 Nicola Quaglio, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 3 Massimiliano Ravalle, 4 Giacomo Riedo, 5 Jean-François Montauriol (capt), 6 Edoardo Ruffolo, 7 Edoardo Lubian, 8 Emiliano Caffini
Replacements: 16 Enrico Manghi, 17 Renzo Balboni, 18 Gheorghe Gajion, 19 Giuseppe Boggiani, 20 Andrea Pozzi, 21 Steven Bortolussi, 22 Stefan Basson, 23 Billy Patrick Ngawini
Grenoble: 15 Gio Aplon; 14 Robinson Caire, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Geoffroy Messina, 11 Benjamin Thiery; 10 Fabien Gengenbacher (capt), 9 Lilian Saseras; 1 Alexandre Dardet, 2 Laurent Bouchet, 3 Richard Choirat , 4 Thibault Rey, 5 Hendrik Roodt, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 7 Rory Grice, 8 Florian Faure
Replacements: 16 Arnaud Heguy, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Rémy Hugues, 19 Louis Marrou, 20 Joannes Henry, 21 Xavier Mignot, 22 Jackson Willison, 23 Dayna Edwards
