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Champions Cup: Johnny Sexton on bench for Leinster against weakened Gloucester while Lukhanyo Am returns to Sharks squad

The teams have been named for Friday’s Round Two Champions Cup fixtures, as Leinster and Bordeaux-Begles play host  to Gloucester and the Sharks respectively.

Leinster v Gloucester

Both Leinster and Gloucester will be looking to build on their wins in the opening round as they clash in Round Two of the Champions Cup on Friday evening.

Centre Garry Ringrose leads Leinster again, with regular skipper Johnny Sexton returning via the bench. Also in the midfield this week will be Charlie Ngatai.

Hugo Keenan starts at full-back yet again with Jimmy O’Brien and James Lowe on the wing to complete a deadly-looking, all international back-three threat.

Meanwhile, the half-backs are Ross Byrne, who starts at 10, and scrum-half Luke McGrath.

World Player of the Year Josh van der Flier will run out alongside Caelan Doris and Jack Conan in the back-row while James Ryan and Josh Molony lock up the second-row.

Michael Allalatoa is joined by Ronan Kelleher and Andrew Porter in a solid front-row.

In-form hooker Dan Sheehan starts on the bench, with Ed Byrne and Cian Healy as the other front-row options. Joe McCarthy and Max Deegan are the other forward replacement at coach Leo Cullen’s disposal.

Sexton is joined on the bench by trusty half-back partner Jamison Gibson-Park, with the dangerous Jordan Larmour rounding out the matchday 23.

Meanwhile, scrum-half Ben Meehan leads a weakened Gloucester side alongside fly-half George Barton in the half-back pairing. Veteran Billy Twelvetrees lines up with Giorgi Kveseladze in the midfield.

Full-back Lloyd Evans is joined by wings Alex Hearle and Jacob Morris in the back-three to face their Irish rivals.

Jake Polledri starts on the side of the scrum alongside Jack Clement and Albert Tuisue in the back-row. Freddie Thomas joins Arthur Clark in the second-row while Ciaran Knight, Henry Walker and Harry Elrington make up the front-row.

In the substitutes, hooker Seb Blake is joined by Alex Seville and Kirill Gotovtsev as the front-row options, with Alex Craig and Charlie Chapman as the other forward options.

Coach George Skivington can call on scrum-half Charlie Chapman, Seb Atkinson and Kyle Moyle as back-line replacements.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose (c), 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Cian Healy, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Johnny Sexton, 23 Jordan Larmour

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Alex Hearle, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jacob Morris, 10 George Barton, 9 Ben Meehan (c), 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Jack Clement, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Harry Taylor, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Seb Atkinson, 23 Kyle Moyle

Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant Referees: Jérémy Rozier (France), Adrien Descottes (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)

Bordeaux-Begles v Sharks

Bordeaux-Begles will be looking to bounce back from their opening round defeat at Gloucester when they host the Sharks at Stade Chaban-Delmas on Friday.

There are returns to the side for Nans Ducuing, Geoffrey Cros, Jean-Baptiste Dubié and wing Madosh Tambwe, the latter facing his former club in this fixture.

Jandré Marais leads UBB as he joins Cyril Cazeaux in the second-row, with Renato Giammarioli, Antoine Miquel and Caleb Timu forming the back-row trio.

Lekso Kaulashvili and Vadim Cobilas pack down either side of hooker Clement Maynadier, with former Racing 92 tighthead Ben Tameifuna named on the bench.

Tom Willis, Santiago Cordero and Rémi Lamerat are also handy options off the replacements bench who will no doubt add plenty of impact later in the contest.

Meanwhile, the Sharks have made minimal changes from the team that edged out Harlequins for their Round Two clash on the road.

Neil Powell has largely stuck with the same team that won 39-31, although there is the welcome return of a very familiar face, Lukhanyo Am, who is on the bench.

Am has completed his return to play and his presence later in the game will no doubt come as a boost for the Durban side in their first away European fixture.

Also back in the side is Thomas du Toit following his suspension and he replaces the impressive Carlu Sadie in the front-row, with Ntuthuko Mchunu in for Ox Nche the only other change to the starting line-up as the Sharks look to make it two pool wins from two.

The teams:

Bordeaux: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Geoffrey Cros, 13 Jean-Baptiste Dubié, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Jules Gimbert, 8 Caleb Timu, 7 Antoine Miquel, 6 Renato Giammarioli, 5 Jandré Marais (c), 4 Cyril Cazeaux, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Lekso Kaulashvili
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Christopher Vaotoa, 19 Alban Roussel, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Santiago Cordero, 22 Matéo Garcia, 23 Rémi Lamerat

Sharks: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Lukhanyo Am

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Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales (England), James Clarke (England)
TMO: Dean Richards (England)