Montauban v Falcons: Teams

Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Steve Bates has made three changes to his side for Friday's Amlin Challenge Cup trip to French side Montauban.

The Falcons will look to build on last Thursday's 17-6 home victory over the same opponents and strengthen their position at the top of Pool 5 after three wins from three games so far.

All three of Bates' changes come in the forwards with Micky Ward getting the nod at tighthead prop, Mark Sorenson earning a place in the second row and Ed Williamson returning on the openside flank.

Injury sees a number of players remain on the sidelines including skipper Carl Hayman, Adam Balding, Tim Swinson, Jon Golding and Rob Vickerman.

However, Bates is confident his side can produce back-to-back victories over Montauban, stating: "We've shown we can do it.

"We're on top of the group after three wins from three, and the prospect of a home quarter-final is a massive incentive for us to really give it a good go over in France.

"We know Montauban will be a different proposition over there with a vocal home crowd behind them and a big pack looking to generate plenty of momentum, but we are going over there with a very single-minded attitude looking to get the job done.

"We have a few injuries to contend with, as is the case for most sides at this stage of the season, but we have confidence in our squad and the players coming in to fill those gaps."

Montauban shuffle pack

Montauban have made a total of six changes, with five of them coming in the pack.

The French outfit will field a completely new front row with Nick Adams, Gregory Arganese and Benjamin Sa coming, while Brice Mach comes in at number eight and Alejandro Campos at openside flanker.

The only change to their back division sees Shannon Paku come into the centres to partner Andrew Henderson in place of Felix Le Bourhis.

The teams:

Montauban:15 Johan Dalla Riva, 14 Jean Emmanuel Cassin, 13 Andrew Henderson, 12 Shannon Paku, 11 Adrien Figueiredo, 10 Cédric Coll, 9 Julien Audy, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Cyril Montet, 6 Romain Sazy, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Rowan Frost, 3 Nick Adams, 2 Grégory Arganese, 1 Benjamin Sa.
Replacements: 16 Mirko Lozupone, 17 Beka Sheklasvili, 18 Silviu Florea, 19 Abdellatif Boutaty, 20 Jean Philippe Viard, 21 Félix Le Bourhis, 22 Julien Larroque, 23 Mathieu Belie,

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Charlie Amesbury, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Filipo Levi, 7 Ed Williamson, 6 Josh Afu, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Micky Ward, 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Laurence Ovens.
Replacements: 16 Rob Vickers, 17 Kieran Brookes, 18 Grant Shiells, 19 Peter Browne, 20 Will Welch, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Danny Williams,