Stade Francais v Leicester: Champions Cup preview
Last Updated: 24/01/16 12:32pm
Dan Cole will make his 150th Leicester appearance in Sunday's Champions Cup trip to Stade Francais.
Cole starts in the front row alongside Argentina's Marcos Ayerza, who returns to the starting XV after featuring as a replacement against Treviso last week.
Leicester have also recalled Telusa Veainu, Matt Smith and Lachlan McCaffrey for Sunday's encounter at Stade Francais in Paris.
Veainu comes in on the wing for Tigers after missing out on the win over Treviso last Saturday, while Smith lines up alongside Manu Tuilagi in the midfield. McCaffrey returns in the back row where he joins flankers Mike Fitzgerald and Tom Croft.
Tigers have already secured top spot in Pool 4 after five wins in five games and will be among the top three seeds in the quarter-final stages even if they lose.
Top 14 champions Stade are chasing a quarter-final place as one of the best three pool runners-up, and will know that all five points are required if they are to stand a genuine chance.
Stade have named No 8 Sergio Parisse as skipper, while Jonathan Ross and Raphael Lakafia complete the back-row.
Julien Dupuy and Jules Plisson form the half-back pairing, with Springbok Morne Steyn deputising for Plisson from the bench.
The two sides met in the opening round of the Champions Cup at Welford Road, with Brendon O'Connor starring in a try-scoring debut. Tigers won the affair 33-20, and though they may not need a win on Sunday, Richard Cockerill will hope his side builds momentum going into the knock-out stages of Europe's premier competition.
Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Jérémy Sinzelle, 13 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Julien Dupuy, 1 Zak Taulafo, 2 Laurent Sempéré, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Hugh Pyle, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 6 Jonathan Ross, 7 Raphael Lakafia, 8 Sergio Parisse (c).
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Emmanuel Felsina, 18 Paul Alo Emile, 19 Pascal Papé, 20 Antoine Burban, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Geoffrey Doumayrou.
Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Telusa Veainu, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Dom Barrow, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 7 Tom Croft, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Peter Betham.