- Toulon -4 v Scarlets (10/11)
- Montpellier +7 v Wasps (10/11)
Toulon have played Scarlets that many times in the last few years, they must be seeing red.
However the Scarlets side they confront at Parc y Scarlets on Friday evening will be a little unfamiliar to them as injuries and the impact of CVOID-19 means Glenn Delaney has had to rejig his matchday 23.
Already without the class and experience of players like Liam Williams and Ken Owens, Scarlets have lost fellow internationals Jake Ball and Samson Lee to HIAs from the heroic win over Bath at The Rec last weekend.
As a result, Delaney has given a number of young players the chance to test themselves against world-class operators like Ma’a Nonu and Charles Ollivon.
Previous matches have been close affairs and Scarlets, as they showed against Bath, have plenty of fight in them. But a Toulon side of his calibre should be able to cover the four-point handicap.
Both sides have quality goalkickers in Leigh Halfpenny, who is up against his former club, and Louis Carbonel so the majority of points can be expected to come from penalties rather than tries.
Seventh heaven for Montpellier
The other Friday night match sees Wasps up against Montpellier.
All four French sides who were drawn away in round one won, and Montpellier have more than a fighting chance against a Wasps side that is far from full strength.
Half-backs Will Porter and Charlie Atkinson only have two Champions Cup starts between them and winger Paolo Odogwu is a surprise choice at outside centre.
Wasps seem to win more than they lose whenever Joe Launchbury is in the engine room but the England lock is not in the 23, and nor is breakdown king Jack Willis.
As for Montpellier, there was no disgrace in losing 35-14 to unstoppable Leinster last weekend, and that defeat came off the back of a well-earned win at Clermont in the Top 14.
Even though they lost in round one, Montpellier’s team selection suggest they haven’t completely given up the ghost in Europe just yet.
Any side with Bismarck du Plessis and Louis Picamoles in its pack, with a midfield pairing of Arthur Vincent and Alex Lozowski, has to be respected and seven-point advantage to the visitors looks generous.
Also, Cobus Reinach isn’t a bad option to call upon from the bench.
