L Irish v Bourgoin: Teams

London Irish head coach Toby Booth is expecting "a tough contest" against Bourgoin in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup on Thursday.

A win for the Guinness Premiership side would secure a semi-final tie back at the Madejski Stadium early in May.

But Booth, whose starting line-up features nine internationals under the captaincy of England lock Nick Kennedy, insists Bourgoin will not be taken lightly.

He said: "We know we are in for a tough contest. Bourgoin are a strong team and they have a squad with real depth.

"They defeated Dax 43-6 last Friday night in what was a typically uncompromising French relegation battle, and with their future in the French Top 14 assured, the European Challenge Cup is an attractive prize."

Determined

Top seeds Irish start as overwhelming favourites to make it seven successive victories in the tournament this season.

The Exiles dropped just one point out of a possible 30 in sweeping aside pool stage opponents Connacht, Dax and Rovigo, and Booth fields a side featuring the likes of Kennedy, England backs Delon Armitage, Topsy Ojo and Peter Richards, plus red rose flanker Steffon Armitage.

Bourgoin are spearheaded by France international scrum-half Morgan Parra, who is determined to mark his farewell season with a trophy before joining Clermont Auvergne.

"I would like to finish the season on a high with Bourgoin," he said.

"We have beaten Montpellier and Dax recently, which has put us in good heart. We are back in our old routine and capable of producing solid team performances."

All four Challenge Cup quarter-finals take place in England, with the weekend games seeing Worcester hosting Brive, Northampton entertaining Connacht and Saracens having home advantage against Newcastle.

London Irish: D Armitage; T Ojo, S Mapusua, C Gower, S Tagicakibau; P Hewat, P Richards; D Murphy, D Coetzee, T Lea'aetoa, N Kennedy (capt), J Hudson, K Roche, S Armitage, R Thorpe.
Replacements: C Dermody, D Paice, G Johnson, C Hala'Ufia, J Fisher, P Hodgson, A Thompstone.

Bourgoin: A Forest; R Coetzee, D Janin, Y David, J Coux; B Boyet, M Parra; A Tchougong, J Genevois, K Wihongi, C Basson, C Levast, J Frier, W Jooste (capt), Y Labrit.
Replacements: P Cardinali, W Roux, T Genevois, B Leonte, M Forest, M Viazzo, F Denos.