England and France stars out of opening Champions Cup quarter-final while Bulls prioritise URC as Springboks left at home
Harlequins duo Danny Care and Joe Marler.
The Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals will take place this weekend, with three games scheduled for Saturday and one on Sunday as teams lock horns.
As reported on Thursday, the Bulls have sent an understrength team for their clash at Northampton, who have moved Tommy Freeman to outside centre for this game.
Elsewhere, Harlequins are without both Danny Care and Joe Marler for their trip to Bordeaux on Saturday, with the hosts missing Matthieu Jalibert and Damian Penaud.
Reigning champions La Rochelle take on Leinster on the same day and the Irish province have picked Josh van der Flier on the bench, with Will Connors at openside.
Sunday’s lone game sees Toulouse face Exeter Chiefs and the French giants once again select Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack as their half-back combination.
Saturday
Bordeaux-Begles v Harlequins
Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Pablo Uberti, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matéo Garcia, 9 Maxime Lucu (c), 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Pete Samu, 6 Antoine Miquel, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Cyril Cazeaux, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Lekso Kaulashvili
Replacements: 16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Guido Petti, 21 Bastien Vergnes, 22 Yann Lesgourgues, 23 Madosh Tambwe
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 Stephan Lewies (c), 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 George Hammond, 21 Max Green, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Luke Northmore
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 BST, 14:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)
Leinster v La Rochelle
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Will Connors, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Josh van der Flier
La Rochelle: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 UJ Seuteni, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Grégory Alldritt (c), 7 Levani Botia, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Louis Penverne
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq, 17 Alexandre Kaddouri, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Thomas Lavault, 20 Paul Boudehent, 21 Yoan Tanga, 22 Teddy Iribaren, 23 Ihaia West
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Andrew Jackson (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
Quiz: Can you name every World Rugby Player of the Year?
Northampton Saints v Bulls
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 George Hendy, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Lewis Ludlam, 22 Tom James, 23 George Furbank
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Henry Immelman, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Nizaam Carr (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Merwe Olivier, 20 Reinhardt Ludwig, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cornal Hendricks
Kick-off: 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT)
Venue: @cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Cayre (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (France)
Sunday
Team's up #ChiefsFamily 👆
The 2⃣3⃣ remains unchanged heading to France.
🙌Hodgey's 50th Chiefs appearanceBring on the Quarter Final! 👊#JointheJourney | #STvEXE | @RGBRecruitment pic.twitter.com/ZZ1Ol42TRo
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) April 12, 2024
Toulouse v Exeter Chiefs
Toulouse: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Juan Cruz Mallia, 13 Paul Costes, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 François Cros, 6 Jack Willis, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Joshua Brennan, 21 Paul Graou, 22 Thomas Ramos, 23 Santiago Chocobares
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 4 Rusi Tuima, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 BST, 14:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade Ernest Wallon
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Andy Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)