Clermont v Aironi: Teams

Brock James: Starts at fly-half

Brock James has replaced David Skrela in Clermont's XV for Friday's Heineken Cup clash against Aironi.

Vern Cotter has made several changes to his side with Regan King, Elvis Vermeulen, Julien Pierre, Davit Zirakashvili, Benjamin Kayser and Lionel Faure all dropping out of the starting XV.

King's absence means that last week's right wing Wesley Fofana will run from number 12 while the dangerous Julien Malzieu is back in the mix.

Former Crusaders hooker Ti'i Paulo is preferred ahead of Kayser while Loic Jacquet partners Nathan Hines in the second-row department.

Meanwhile, Aironi are missing centre duo Andrea Masi and Matteo Pratichetti for what will be a daunting trip to France, with Roberto Quartaroli and Gilberto Pavan starting in the midfield.

Josh Sole and Joshua Furno are the new faces on the flank from the side that lost at home to Leicester while there is a start at hooker for Tommaso D'Apice ahead of Fabio Ongaro.

Clermont Auvergne: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Mattheus Kotze, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Clément Ric, 18 Davit Zirakashvili, 19 Jason White, 20 Alexandre Audebert, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic , 22 Gonzalo Canale, 23 Jean-Marcel Buttin.

Aironi: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Gilberto Pavan, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Frans Viljoen, 7 Josh Sole, 6 Joshua Furno, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Roberto Santamaria, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Romano, 19 George Biagi, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Naas Olivier, 23 Giiulio Toniolatti.