Challenge Cup Round of 16 - teams and predictions
FRIDAY PREVIEW: Two former Challenge Cup winners Bristol Bears and Clermont Auvergne meet for the first time in the competition in the Round of 16 at Ashton Gate on Friday.
Bristol, who won the trophy in 2020, secured home advantage by winning every one of their four Pool A games.
Clermont, who have won the Challenge Cup on three occasions, dropped into the competition after finishing ninth in Pool B of the Champions Cup, their only win coming against Stormers in their opening pool match (24-14).
Key quote
Bristol Bears Director of Pat Lam: "We are looking forward to the game – we have just got to dust ourselves off. We have a few niggles and a few injuries, and we will have to manage our training and have a lighter week to be full-on against Clermont, because they are going to be fully loaded.”
* Meanwhile, Scarlets will be hoping to stretch their winning Challenge Cup run this season to five matches when they host Brive.
The Welsh region finished top of Pool B after winning all four of their pool matches, scoring 124 points, and have the competition’s leading try-scorer in Steff Evans with five.
Brive snatched the final qualification spot in Pool A by beating Cardiff 37-24 in Round Four, their only Challenge Cup win so far this season, when they recorded a points difference of -91.
However, the French club did beat Scarlets 15-11 in their only other EPCR Challenge Cup encounter, in the 2012 quarterfinals.
Key quote
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said: "Brive will come here and make it difficult for us. They are going to be very physical. They have excellent line-out defence, one of the best in the Top 14, and they fight hard at the breakdown. We have prepped well and are expecting a tough challenge, especially up front. They will be a tough nut to crack.”
All the Friday, March 31, predictions and teams are below ...
Bristol Bears v ASM Clermont Auvergne
(Ashton Gate, Bristol - Kick-off: 20.00; 21.00 French time; 20.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bristol by five points
Teams
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ratu Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall (captain), 8 Fitz Harding, 7 Sam Jeffries, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Chris Vui, 4 Magnus Bradbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 George Kloska, 19 Charlie Rice, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Ioan Lloyd.
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Alex Newsome, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Irae Simone, 12 George Moala, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Fritz Lee (captain), 7 Lucas Dessaigne, 6 Killian Tixeront, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Thibaud Lanen, 3 Cristian Ojovan, 2 Etienne Fourcade, 1 Etienne Falgoux.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Maxence Jules-Rosette, 17 Giorgi Beria, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Edward Annandale, 20 Loic Godener, 21 Baptiste Jauneau, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Alivereti Raka.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Scarlets v Brive
(Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli - Kick-off: 20.00; 21.00 French time; 20.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Scarlets by 22 points
Teams
Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Joshua Macleod (captain), 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Ioan Nicholas.
Brive: 15 Nic Krone, 14 Arthur Bonneval, 13 Nico Lee, 12 Sam Arnold, 11 Kevin Fabien, 10 Stuart Olding, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Retief Marais, 7 Said Hireche (captain), 6 Rodrigo Bruni, 5 Lucas Paulos Adler, 4 Mesu Kunavula, 3 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 2 Lucas Da Silva, 1 Daniel Brennan.
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Nathan Fraissenon, 18 Wesley Tapueluelu, 19 Renger van Eerten, 20 Sacha Gue, 21 Paul Abadie, 22 Tom Raffy, 23 Seta Tuicuvu.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum (England), Wayne Falla (England)
TMO: Steve Leyshon (England)
Source: @ChallengeCup_