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Connacht's Niall O'Connor prepares for Toulouse ©INPHO/James Crombie
Provincial

Heineken Cup cheat sheet: your guide to the weekend’s rugby action

Munster, Leinster and Connacht have all named their starting XV’s this afternoon

Ulster v Leicester Tigers

When? Tonight 8.0

Where to watch? All games on Sky Sports

The story so far: Ulster are teetering on the edge of making the quarter finals for the second year running. They lead pool 4 by two points ahead of tonight’s opponents and a win would be a giant step towards escaping the group stage. But they still have to travel to Clermont Auvergne in round six.

Team News: Paddy Wallace’s inclusion is the only change from the side which comfortably beat Edinburgh, you can see all the news on that here.

Ulster: S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg. Replacements: N Brady, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, W Faloon, P Marshall, I Whitten, A D’Arcy.
Leicester Tigers: G Murphy (Captain); H Agulla, M Smith, A Allen, A Tuilagi; B Twelvetrees, B Youngs; M Ayerza, R Hawkins, M Castrogiovanni, S Mafi, G Parling, T Croft, J Salvi, T Waldrom. Replacements: G Chuter, B Stankovich, D Cole, E Slater, B Woods, S Harrison, J Staunton, S Hamilton.

Munster v Castres Olympique

When: Saturday, 3.40

The story so far: Ronan O’Gara has been landing late drop goals for fun, turning defeats and draws in wins. Yet Munster have not managed to really put anyone to the sword. That will be only be a secondary concern tomorrow afternoon. Winning will still come first as Tony McGahan targets top seeding for the quarter finals.

Team news: McGahan has resisted the temptation to change the side which won in second gear last time out. Thomond Park will hold no surprises for Castres as even the bench has been replicated from last weekend’s Pro12 win. That means Donnacha Ryan is again preferred to partner Paul O’Connell, leaving Donncha O’Callaghan on the bench alongside Marcus Horan and Tomas O’Leary.

Munster: D Hurley; J Murphy, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo; R O’Gara, C Murray; W du Preez, D Varley, BJ Botha; D Ryan, P O’Connell capt; P O’Mahony, N Ronan, J Coughlan. Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, S Archer, Donncha O’Callaghan, B Holland, T O’Leary, I Keatley, D Barnes.
Castres: R Martial; V Inigo, P Bonnefond, P Garcia, PG Lakafia; P bernard, T LaCrampe; S Taumoepeau, M Antoine, A Peikrishvili; M Rolland (Capt), R Capo-Ortega; Y Caballero, S Malonga, J Bornman. Replacements: M Bonello, M Coetzee, K Wihongi, S Murray, I Diarra, R Kockott, S Bai, M Nicolas.

Toulouse v Connacht

When? Saturday 3.40

The story so far: It’s been a baptism of fire in their first Heineken Cup year and this weekend Connacht face one of the toughest tests the competition has to offer. The odd time you can hold out some hope that Toulouse may be complacent but, after losing their last home game to Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins, they will be fully focused on making amends.

Team news: Eric Elwood has changed his half-backs and drafted in Ray Ofisa as openside flanker. Ofisa will line up alongside John Muldoon and George Naoupu in the back row while Niall O’Conner and Paul Donohue will act as fulcrum of the team in what is sure to be a long afternoon for an already injury ravaged Connacht side.

Toulouse: M Medard, V Clerc,Y David ,F Fritz, T Matanavou, L McAlister, L Burgess, L Picamoles, T Dusautoir, J Bouilhou, P Albacete, Y Maestri, C Johnston, W Servat, G Steenkamp. Replacements: C Tolofua, JB Poux, Y Montes, G Lamboley, JM Doussain, L Beauxis, C Poitrenaud, S Sowerby.
Connacht: G Duffy (Capt); F Vainikolo, K Tonetti, D McSharry, T O’Halloran; N O’Connor, P O’Donohoe; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, D Rogers; M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, R Ofisa, G Naoupu. Replacements: E Reynecke, D Buckley, S Maguire, M Kearney, E McKeon, D Moore, M Nikora, H Fa’afili.

Glasgow v Leinster

When? Sunday 12.45

The story so far: Like Munster, Leinster are vying for top seeding in the quarter final draw having gotten this far, unbeaten. A draw in Montpellier is the one mark on their copybook but they will be more preoccupied with the trip to Firhill, a ground where they have not tasted victory since 2006.

Team news: Like Connacht, Joe schmidt has made three changes since his last outing with David Kearney holding his place in the back three alongside, big brother, Rob. Isa Nacewa will join them as Andrew Conway drops out of the squad completely. The other changes come in the pack where Kevin McLaughlin and Damian Browne are ousted to make way for Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen, who relieves Jamie Heaslip of his captaincy duty.

Glasgow Warriors: R Lamont; T Seymour, S Hogg, G Morrison, C Shaw; D Weir, C Cusiter: J Welsh, P MacArthur, E Kalman, R Gray, A Kellock (capt), R Harley, C Fusaro, J Barclay. Replacements: D Hall, G Reid, R Grant, T Ryder, J Beattie, C Gregor, T Nathan, S Wight
Leinster: R Kearney; D Kearney, F McFadden, G D’Arcy, I Nacewa; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, S Cronin, M Ross; L Cullen (Capt), D Toner; S O’Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: A Dundon, H van der Merwe, N White, D Browne, R Ruddock, I Boss, I Madigan, E O’Malley

Follow Friday: The boy (Noel) Hunt

Don’t go anywhere… here’s the sport on TV this weekend…

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