Round Four of the 2023/24 Challenge Cup campaign kicks off on Friday night with two matches as the Scarlets and Gloucester take on Edinburgh and Castres respectively.
Santi Carreras returns to the Gloucester’s starting line-up after being rested against Edinburgh last weekend.
He’s one of four changes in the Cherry & Whites starting side to take on Castres at Kingsholm on Friday evening.
Carreras replaces Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back, after the Welshman was released from his contract earlier this week to pursue a career in American football.
That’s the only change in the backline, with Jonny May and Ollie Thorley on the wings again, Seb Atkinson and Chris Harris in the centre and Caolan Englefield and Adam Hastings the starting half-backs.
Hastings earned himself a recall to the Scotland squad for the upcoming Six Nations earlier this week.
In the forwards, Jamal Ford-Robinson keeps his place at loosehead. He’s joined by George McGuigan and Fraser Balmain in the front-row.
McGuigan replaces Seb Blake, who drops to the bench, and Balmain replaces Kirill Gotovtsev.
Freddie Clarke and Matias Alemanno continue their partnership at lock, with Jack Clement, Ruan Ackermann and Zach Mercer forming the back-row.
Ackermann will captain the side.
On the bench, there is a welcome return for Fijian, Albert Tuisue, from injury.
Gloucester Rugby Academy’s Josh Hathaway is set for his European debut from the replacements.
They’re joined on the bench by Seb Blake, Harry Elrington, Ciaran Knight, Lewis Ludlow, Stephen Varney and Max Llewellyn.
Meanwhile, Castres have made 10 alterations to their line-up after last weekend’s home victory over Black Lion – a result which puts them in second spot in Pool Three’s standings, just two points adrift of table-toppers Gloucseter who have qualifed for the last 16 already.
In the backline, Geoffrey Palis starts at full-back alongside Martin Laveau and Nathanael Hulleu, who are the starting wings while Pierre Popelin and Uruguayan international Santiago Arata are the halfback pairing.
The backline is completed by the centre combination of Adrien Seguret and Andrea Cocagi, who is the only backline survivor from the the Black Lion game.
In the forwards, Abraham Papalii retains his place as the starting number eight and he forms a back-row partnership with flankers Nick Champion de Crespigny and Mathieu Babillot, who also captains the side.
Tom Staniforth and Gauthier Maravat will start in the second-row while Gaetan Barlot (hooker) packs down in the front-row alongside Aurelien Azar and Wayan de Benedittis, who are the starting props.
The teams
: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Ruan Ackermann (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Josh Hathaway
Castres:
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Tomás O’sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Hooker Ryan Elias has been named captain for Scarlets and starts alongside Harri O’Connor and Steff Thomas in the front-row.
In the second-row, the towering duo of Jac Price and Alex Craig have been selected, with Number eight Vaea Fifita, Dan Davis and Ben Williams making up the back-three.
Scrum-half Kieran Hardy starts with Ioan Lloyd in the half-back pairing, with Jonathan Davies and Joe Roberts operating in the midfield. Wings Steff Evans and Ryan Conbeer start, with full-back Ioan Nicholas completing the back-three.
On the pine, hooker Eduan Swart, Kelmsey Mathias and Sam Wainwright are front-row substitutes, with Morgan Jones and Shaun Evans as other forward options.
Rounding out the matchday 23 is scrum-half Gareth Davies, Charlie Titcombe and Tomi Lewis.
For Edinburgh, there is a welcome return for superstar wing Duhan van der Merwe, who is joined by Argentine Emiliano Boffelli and Chris Dean in an interesting back-three.
Matt Currie and James Lang start in the centres, with fly-half Ben Healy and co-captain Ben Vellacott running the game in the half-backs.
Outgoing number eight Viliame Mata is named with flanks Hamish Watson and Luke Crosbie in a brilliant-looking back-row, whilst other co-captains Grant Gilchrist and Sam Skinner make up the lock pairing. The experienced prop duo of Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel start with Dave Cherry in the front-row.
Hooker Ewan Ashman is named on the bench with Boan Venter and Angus Williams as front-row options, whilst Glen Young, Jamie Ritchie and Tom Dodd all makeup forward replacements in the 6-2 split.
On loan, Ali Price and Cammy Scott complete the lineup.
: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Ben Williams, 5 Jac Price, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias (c), 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Shaun Evans, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Tomi Lewis
: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Chris Dean, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (cc), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Tom Dodd, 22 Ali Price, 23 Cammy Scott
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Sara Cox (England)
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Cayre (England), tbc
TMO: Dean Richards (England)
