European Rugby Champions Cup: Montpellier v Glasgow Warriors preview
Last Updated: 24/10/14 3:07pm
Glasgow will aim to back up their emphatic win over Bath as coach Gregor Townsend returns to familiar stomping ground in Montpellier.
The Warriors boss enjoyed a successful year with the French side a decade ago, but niceties will far from the agenda as Glasgow look to record back-to-back wins and subsequently condemn Montpellier to successive defeats.The sides have met twice before in European action, with Glasgow winning one and the other match ending in a stalemate, but the Warriors have won just two of their last 13 meetings with French sides.
They must also be wary of a forceful Montpellier display, with the Top 14 side making 15 clean breaks, more than any other side, in their reverse to Toulouse last weekend.
"Montpellier have really grown since I was there," said Glasgow coach Townsend, who played for Montpellier in the 2004/05 season. "They've had a huge investment in their facilities and playing squad, which has helped them become one of the best teams in France.
"They moved to the wonderful Stade Yves-du Manoir the season after I returned home and they regularly manage to fill the venue with passionate and noisy support.
"With their experienced foreign players they have tremendous depth in their squad. But we can't wait to go up against another team that can be considered one of the best in Europe."
Raft of changes
Montpellier have made seven changes to their starting XV. South African centre Robert Ebersohn comes in for countryman Wynand Olivier while Benoit Paillaugue returns at scrum-half ahead of Teddy Iribarent
At number eight Alex Tulou returns to take over from former Wallaby Ben Mowen. Kelian Galletier replaces Alexandre Bias on the flank.
In the second row, Tom Donnelly comes in for Thibaut Privat while there are two new props as Chris King and Yvan Watremez replace Nicolas Mas and Mikheil Nariashvili respectively.
Alex Dunbar and Josh Strauss both return from injury for Glasgow Warriors. Strauss will captain the side.
The other changes to the team which beat Bath see Finn Russell replace Duncan Weir at fly-half and Tim Swinson come in for Leone Nakarawa at second row, to make his 50th appearance for the club.
Dunbar returns from injury at centre in place of Peter Horne and lines up alongside Mark Bennett, who scored two tries against Bath in the last round.
Fraser Brown and Alex Allan are the only changes to the bench from last week, with Dougie Hall and Jerry Yanuyanutawa not included in the squad.
Montpellier: 15 Benjamin Fall; 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Samisoni Viriviri; 10 Enzo Selponi, 9 Benoit Paillaugue; 1 Yvan Watremez, 2 Mickael Ivaldi, 3 Chris King, 4 Tom Donnelly, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 6 Kelian Galletier, 7 Akapusi Qera, 8 Alex Tulou (capt)
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Mikheil Nariashvili, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Thibaut Privat, 20 Alexandre Bias, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Wynand Olivier, 23 Pierre Berard
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg; 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Pat MacArthur, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Robert Harley, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Josh Strauss (capt)
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Adam Ashe, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 DTH van der Merwe
Watch Montpellier v Glasgow live on Sky Sports 2 red button from 5:15 on Saturday