Harlequins take on last year's runners-up Racing 92, where Marcus Smith will come up against Scotland fly-half Finn Russell; Bristol Bears travel to the Sportsground where they face Connacht, with Bundee Aki's battle with Siale Piutau key
Monday 21 December 2020 00:53, UK
Team news and the key players as Sunday's Champions Cup action sees last year's finalists Racing 92 travel to Harlequins, while Connacht host Bristol Bears.
Last week: In the opening round, Harlequins were made to pay for a lack of discipline as they were beaten 21-7 by Munster in difficult conditions.
Munster had taken a 6-0 half-time lead thanks to two JJ Hanrahan penalties despite playing into the wind in the first half, while Cadan Murley's 55th-minute try cancelled out a Munster penalty try early in the second.
Quins captain Alex Dombrandt was then shown a yellow after the hour mark - Quins' third of the game - which allowed Munster to close the game out via a Gavin Coombes try and a booming Ben Healy penalty.
Racing were 26-22 winners last time out, but as the scoreline suggests, they were pushed all the way by Connacht.
Tries from Georges-Henri Colombe, Kurtley Beale, Sebastien Taofifenua and Dominic Bird, along with six points from the boots of Teddy Iribaren and Maxime Machenaud, secured a bonus-point victory for last season's beaten finalists.
However, the Top 14 side were 19-8 ahead at half-time, and will want to be far more clinical in closing out the win if they get that much of a lead at the Stoop on Sunday.
Key men: Marcus Smith is clearly an exciting prospect at fly-half, but it is the experience of his half-back partner Danny Care that will settle things down in west London. Care will be looking to set the tempo of the game, and not let the electric backs of Racing dictate terms.
For the visitors, you could pick any one of their international backs as key men, but Finn Russell is the perfect player to pull the strings for all of them. He's a dangerous enough threat on his own, but the fact that he can unleash the likes of Teddy Thomas and Beale makes him a dangerous prospect for Smith and Care to deal with on Sunday afternoon.
Team news
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Wilco Louw, 4 Hugh Tizard, 5 Glen Young, 6 Tom Lawday, 7 Will Evans, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c).
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Fin Baxter, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Scott Steele, 22 James Lang, 23 Chris Ashton.
Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Kurtley Beale, 12 Henry Chavancy (c), 11 Donovan Taofifenua, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Kevin Le Guen, 3 Ali Oz, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 5 Dominic Bird, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 8 Fabien Sanconnie.
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Georges Henri Colombe, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Ibrahim Diallo, 21 Nolann Le Garrec, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Juan Imhoff.
Last week: Matt Healy, Alex Wootton and Conor Oliver claimed tries for Andy Friend's side in Paris, while Jack Carty and Tom Daly kicked seven points between them.
As a result, Connacht claimed a losing bonus point in what was a hugely encouraging second-half performance against a team full of superstars. Can the men from Galway keep their European hopes alive with victory over a team also known for pushing sides all the way despite a relatively small number of big-name players in the squad?
Bristol were full of attacking intent against Clermont in Saturday's opening game last weekend, scoring five tries through Max Malins, Bryan Byrne, Harry Randall, Ioan Lloyd and Siale Piutau, while Callum Sheedy kicked three conversions and a penalty.
However, they also leaked a lot of points as Clermont won 51-38 at a canter. The clash was Bristol's first European Cup fixture for 12 years, and they badly missed star centre Semi Radradra in midfield on their return.
Radradra is missing again this weekend, but if Bristol can get the try-bonus point again they will likely back themselves to claim the win at the Sportsground this time around.
Key men: Bundee Aki is going to be an important focal point for Connacht's attack. The Ireland international is up against Piutau in what should prove to be a blockbuster midfield showdown, and Aki will want to lay down his marker early in Galway.
Given Bristol's defensive issues last time out, Malins as the last man in the line will be hugely important. His ability to marshal his team-mates by pointing out gaps in structure will be vital, as will his ability to plug gaps out wide with his own man-marking.
Team news
Connacht: 15 John Porch, 14 Alex Wootton, 13 Sam Arnold, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 1 Denis Buckley, 2 David Heffernan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Ultan Dillane, 6 Sean Masterson, 7 Conor Oliver, 8 Paul Boyle (c).
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Cian Prendergast, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Tiernan O'Halloran.
Bristol Bears: 15 Max Malins, 14 Ratu Naulago, 13 Piers O'Conor, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Bryan Byrne, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 Ed Holmes, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 7 Ben Earl, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 John Afoa, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Daniel Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Niyi Adeolokun.
Exeter's defence of their Champions Cup crown suffered a setback following the cancellation of their match against Toulouse because of an outbreak of coronavirus.
The Chiefs reported a number of positive tests for Covid-19 and are unable to fulfil the round two fixture at the Stade Ernest Wallon.
Tournament organisers EPCR will convene a match resolution panel to decide the result of the game.
