French side Brive take on Irish province Connacht tonight in the second round of the Challenge Cup.
Both sides had contrasting opening weeks to the first rounds of the tournament.
Connacht won comfortably against the Newcastle Falcons in Galway last week, while Brive were hammered by Cardiff Rugby in Wales.
Andy Friend's Connacht side will travel to the Stade Amédée-Doménech tomorrow tonight to face their French counterparts.
Here's more detail on the game today.
Galway , Ireland - 9 October 2021; Tom Farrell of Connacht is tackled by Taine Basham, left, and Mesake Doge of Dragons during the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Dragons at The Sportsground in Galway. (Photo By Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile via Getty Images)When is it on?
Friday, December 16th
What TV station is it on?.
The game is not on TV, but can be streamed via epcrugby.tv or FloRugby.
What time does it start?
Kick off is at 20:00pm Irish time
Where is it on?
Brive-la-Gaillarde
Odds for the game
https://www.bettingexpert.com/rugby-union/brive-vs-connacht
Connacht team for the game
Connacht
Fullback: 15.Conor Fitzgerald
Winger: 14.Adam Byrne
Centres: 13.Bundee Aki, 12. Tom Daly
Winger: 11.Diarmuid Kilgallen
Outhalf: 10.David Hawkshaw 9,. Scrumhalf. Kieran Marmion
Front row: 1. Peter Dooley, 2. Shane Delahunt,3. Sam Illo
Second row: 4.Darragh Murray , 5. Gavin Thornbury
Backrow: 6. Oisin Dowling, 7. Shamus Hurley-Langton, 8. Paul Boyle
Replacements:
16. Dave Heffernan, 17. Jordan Duggan, 18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19. Niall Murray, 20. Ciaran Booth ,21. Colm Reilly, 22. Byron Ralston, 23. Oran McNulty
🟢𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈 𝘼𝙉𝙉𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 🟢
Meet the side currently en route to France for tomorrow's #ChallengeCupRugby fixture with @CABCLRUGBY 🔥 #BRIvCON
Full story: https://t.co/KN7kot9TbE pic.twitter.com/5MZqrf3US5— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) December 15, 2022
Where are both teams in their domestic tables?
Brive are rooted bottom of the top 14
Connacht are also 11th in the the URC table.
What happened last time the sides met ?
The sides last met in the Challenge cup in 2017, where Connacht beat the French side 55-10.
Brive's last win against the Irish side was in 2016, where they beat them 21-18.
What have the people said ?
Connacht director of rugby Andy Friend: “What we do know is they tend not to travel well – testament to a 41-0 beating by Cardiff – but they tend to be very proud of their home record. So it will be interesting to see what side they pick, hopefully their best because we want to play against their best and prove ourselves.”
He added: A French team at their home ground is a tough challenge no matter who we face, and Brive will be exactly that tomorrow night. I’m confident we have a group of 23 men who will meet that challenge head on in what will be a physical encounter. There’ll be a few familiar faces in the opposition that we’ll look forward to catching up with after the game.”
