Racing 92 v Glasgow Warriors
After derby defeat to Edinburgh, the reigning GUINNESS PRO12 champions face another very tricky challenge when they travel to in-form Racing 92.
The current Top 14 leaders are also flying high in Europe, and can call on an all-time great at fly-half, as Dan Carter gets the start.
The All Black legend starts alongside France scrum-half Maxime Machenaud for the first time and the team is packed with international experience.
While the two teams have never met in Europe, Racing have not always enjoyed facing Scottish opposition, losing two thrillers to Edinburgh in this competition in the 2011/12 season.
The game will see an opposition of large against small, with the imposing Taqele Naiyaravoro, the leading metre maker in the tournament, facing the diminutive Marc Andreu.
Saturday 8th January, kick-off 13:00
Racing 92: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 4 Luke Charteris, 5 Manuel Carizza, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 8 Chris Masoe
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Brice Dulin, 22 Mike Phillips, 23 Casey Laulala
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Finn Russell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Ali Price, 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Pat MacArthur, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Adam Ashe
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Hugh Blake, 21 Lee Jones, 22 Samuel Johnson, 23 Glenn Bryce
Stade Français v Munster
Stade Français have had a tough recent run in the league but picked up a morale-boosting win at the weekend over high-flying Toulouse.
A last-minute win came thanks to a try from Paul Williams and he will continue in the centres for the Parisians.
In Europe they are still very much in contention for a quarter-final spot after back-to-back wins over Benetton Treviso, but face a tough task against Munster this weekend.
The Irish province come into the game on the back of a derby victory over Ulster, putting an end to a run of five straight losses.
Anthony Foley has made six changes to the team that beat Ulster including the return of some injured players, such as Keith Earls and Conor Murray, as Munster seek to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
Saturday 8th January, kick-off 16:45
Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 12 Paul Williams, 11 Josaia Raisuqe, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Julien Dupuy, 1 Zak Taulafo, 2 Laurent Sempéré, 3 Paul Alo Emile, 4 Hugh Pyle, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 6 Sekou Macalou, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 8 Sergio Parisse
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Gerhard Mostert, 20 Jonathan Ross, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Jonathan Danty
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 1 Dave Kilcoyne, 2 Mike Sherry, 3 BJ Botha, 4 Dave Foley, 5 Mark Chisholm, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 8 CJ Stander
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 John Ryan, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Denis Hurley, 23 Ronan O'Mahony
Oyonnax v Ulster
Ulster secured a famous double over Toulouse last time they set foot in France, and this time face an Oyonnax side who have won just three of their 12 games in the Top 14 so far.
Oyonnax have fared little better in Europe and suffered dispiriting defeats to Saracens in Round 3 and 4, meaning Ulster have a real chance of moving closer towards second place in Pool 1 and a probable knockout berth.
Fly-half Rory Clegg performed admirably for Glasgow Warriors during the Rugby World Cup before moving to Oyonnax, though he will start on the bench on Sunday.
But former Leinster centre Eamonn Sheridan will be starting at No.12 as Ulster search for their first-ever Champions Cup victory.
Meanwhile Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss has made eight changes to the side that lost to Munster last week, with Craig Gilroy a particularly welcome returnee at full-back after recovering from injury.
Sunday 9th January, kick-off 13:00
Oyonnax: 15 Quentin Etienne, 14 Dug Codjo, 13 Alaska Taufa, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Uwa Tawalo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Julien Blanc, 1 Laurent Delboulbès, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 3 Marc Clerc, 4 George Robson, 5 Fabrice Metz, 6 Pierrick Gunther, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bordes, 17 Stan Wright, 18 Horace Pungea , 19 Leon Power, 20 Viliami Maafu, 21 Arthur Aziza, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Daniel Ikpefan
Ulster Rugby: 15 Craig Gilroy, 14 Sam Arnold, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 1 Kyle McCall, 2 Rory Best, 3 Ricky Lutton, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 5 Franco Van Der Merwe, 6 Robbie Diack, 7 Chris Henry, 8 Roger Wilson
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Nick Williams, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Louis Ludik
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