The European Champions Cup tournament will begin on Friday with Harlequins hosting Castres at 2:45 p.m. ET. Live stream the match by clicking this link.
The new 20-team tournament will serve as a replacement to the Heineken Cup for European club rugby's 20th successive season. The match will be played at Twickenham Stoop.
Castres, the 2013 French champions and 2014 runners-up, has never lost to Harlequins in four Heineken Cup matches, winning three matches and drawing another. But Castres isn't the team it used to be, losing six of its first nine league matches and coming into this match ranked third-to-last in the Top 14. Still, Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea will not underestimate his opponents.
"It's pretty frightening. They might have had an inconsistent start to the season, but they are a brilliant side," he said, according to Sky Sports. "They are Top 14 champions and finalists over the past two years, so what a massive game to start it off. It's going to be ferocious."
O'Shea has made three changes to his lineup for this match. Centre George Lowe will replace Tom Casson, scrum-half Danny Care is back in the lineup after missing time for the birth of his first child, and hooker Dave Ward will replace Joe Gray.
Castres will be led by the strong half-back combination of Remi Tales and Rory Kockott. Scotland international stars Max Evans and Richie Gray will also be in the starting lineup.
Starting Squads
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care; 1 Joe Marler (capt), 2 Dave Ward, 3 Will Collier, 4 Charlie Matthews, 5 George Robson, 6 Luke Wallace, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Nick Easter.
Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Max Evans, 13 Christopher Tuatara, 12 Thomas Combezou, 11 Remi Grosso, 10 Remi Tales (capt), 9 Rory Kockott; 1 Saimone Taumoepeau, 2 Brice Mach, 3 Yohan Montes, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Piula Faasalele, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 7 William Whetton, 8 Jannie Bornman.
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