Montpellier v Bristol: Teams
Montpellier field a strong side as they kick-off their campaign at home to a much-changed Bristol line-up.
Last Updated: 10/10/08 11:19am
Montpellier kick-off their campaign at home to Bristol - and despite losing centre Grant Rees for two months, field a strong side.
The back-line is littered with internationals, Francois Trinh-Duc slots in at full-back, former Leicester ace Ollie Smith at outside centre, Fédérico Todeschini at fly-half and a certain Justin Marshall at scrum-half.
Despite a lack of big names in the pack Montpellier will be more than a match for their English opponents, fielding an experienced set of forwards.
Having had a busy start to the season Bristol have opted to utilise their full squad, as several fringe players get a chance to prove their worth.
Ireland centre Kevin Maggs gets a rare outing in the No.12 jersey, whilst Vunga Lilo comes in at full-back. In the pack Matt Salter lends experience to an otherwise youthful back-row, that features exciting young flanker Redford Pennycock.
Bristol head coach Richard Hill said: "The away games are normally fairly tricky in Europe, but we will be looking to get something out of Friday's game.
"We think we are in the toughest group in this year's tournament, with two excellent French sides and obviously Northampton as well.
"But you never quite know with the French sides, as we found last year with Stade Francais in the Heineken Cup. It is very possible to catch them on an off-day.''
Montpellier: 15 Francois Trinh-Duc, 14 Jean-Matthieu Alcalde, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Sylvain Mirande, 11 Thierry Brana, 10 Fédérico Todeschini, 9 Justin Marshall, 8 Mamuka Gorgodze, 7 Jérome Vallée, 6 Warren Britz, 5 Drickus Hancke, 4 Michel Macurdy, 3 Clément Baïocco, 2 Fabien Rofes, 1 Sébastien Petit.
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ladhuie, 17 Pieter Van Niekerk, 18 Philémon Toleafoa, 19 Benjamin Goze, 20 Vassili Bost, 21 Adrien Tomas, 22 Olivier Sarraméa.
Bristol: 15 Vunga Lilo, 14 Lee Robinson, 13 Greg Barden, 12 Kevin Maggs, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Iain Grieve, 7 Redford Pennycook, 6 Matt Salter, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Mariano Sambucetti, 3 Peter Bracken, 2 David Blaney, 1 Mark Irish.
Replacements: 16 Mark Regan, 17 Alex Clarke, 18 Dave Attwood, 19 James Phillips, 20 Graeme Beveridge, 21 Chris Ashwin, 22 Neil Brew.
