{"id":583364,"date":"2026-04-03T18:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583364\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:26:21","slug":"challenge-cup-round-of-16-predictions-team-news-kick-offs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583364\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Cup round of 16: Predictions, team news, kick-offs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The EPCR Challenge Cup reaches the Round of 16 stage this weekend with one fixture taking place on Friday, five across Saturday and two on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s all the team news, our predictions, kick-off times, match officials and how to watch the action as we prepare to find out who is making the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/tournament\/challenge-cup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">European<\/a> quarter-finals.<\/p>\n<p>Friday<\/p>\n<p>Connacht v Sharks<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Connacht by 9<\/p>\n<p>Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Chay Mullins, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Billy Bohan<br \/>Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 John Devine<\/p>\n<p>Sharks: 15 Hakeem Kunene, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Le Roux Malan, 12 Marnus Potgieter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Nick Hatton (c), 7 Jannes Potgieter, 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Deon Slabbert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Ox Nche<br \/>Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 18 Mawande Mdandam, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Ceano Everson, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Ethan Hooker<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 20:00 BST<br \/>Referee: Sam Grove-White (Sco)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Ru Campbell (Sco), Rob McDowell (Sco)<br \/>TMO: Mike Adamson (Sco)<br \/>How to watch: Premier Sports \/ beIN SPORTS \/ SuperSport \/ FloRugby \/ epcrugby.tv<\/p>\n<p>Saturday<\/p>\n<p>Montpellier v Perpignan<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Montpellier by 12<\/p>\n<p>Montpellier: 15 Jon Echegaray, 14 Gabriel N\u2019Gandebe, 13 Arthur Vincent, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Melvyn Rates, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Alexis Bernadet, 8 Alex Masibaka, 7 Lenni Nouchi (c), 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Bastien Chalureau, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Wilfrid Hounkpatin, 2 Lyam Akrab, 1 Enzo Forletta<br \/>Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Valentin Welsch, 18 Mohamed Haouas, 19 Tyler DuGuid, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Ali Price, 22 Thomas Vincent, 23 Auguste Cadot<\/p>\n<p>Perpignan: 15 Mayron Fahy, 14 Jordan Petaia, 13 Riko Buliruarua, 12 Duncan Paia\u2019aua, 11 Theo Forner, 10 Antoine Aucagne, 9 James Hall, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Matteo le Corvec (c), 6 Bastien Chinarro, 5 Posolo Tuilagi, 4 Adrien Warion, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Giorgi Beria<br \/>Replacements: 16 Mathys Lotrian, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Akato Fakatika, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Max Hicks, 21 Lucas Velarte, 22 Maxim Granell, 23 Tommaso Allan<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 13:30 local (12:30 BST)<br \/>Referee: Adam Leal (Eng)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Sara Cox (Eng), Jonathan Healy (Eng)<br \/>TMO: Peter Allan (Sco)<br \/>How to watch: France TV \/ beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby \/ epcrugby.tv<\/p>\n<p>Exeter Chiefs v Munster<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Exeter by 6<\/p>\n<p>Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Steve Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ross Vintcent, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Jimmy Roots, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Scott Sio<br \/>Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rus Tuima, 20 Finn Worley-Brady, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Campbell Ridl<\/p>\n<p>Munster: 15 Ben O\u2019Connor, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O\u2019Donoghue, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 John Ryan, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman<br \/>Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Michael Ala\u2019alatoa, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Ruadh\u00e1n Quinn, 21 Ben O\u2019Donovan, 22 Se\u00e1n O\u2019Brien, 23 John Hodnett<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 12:30 BST<br \/>Referee: Jeremy Rozier (Fra)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (Ita), Franco Rosella (Ita)<br \/>TMO: Herve Lasausa Lespy Labaylett (Fra)<br \/>How to watch: Premier Sports \/ beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby \/ epcrugby.tv<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/munster-team-british-and-irish-lions-star-and-springboks-hopeful-return-as-clayton-mcmillan-rolls-out-the-changes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Munster team: British and Irish Lions star and Springboks hopeful return as Clayton McMillan rolls out the changes<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Benetton v Cardiff<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Benetton by 8<\/p>\n<p>Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Onisi Ratave, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Manuel Zuliani, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Giosue Zilocchi, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo<br \/>Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 So\u2019otala Fa\u2019aso\u2019o, 21 Alessandro Izekor, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Paolo Odogwu<\/p>\n<p>Cardiff: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Mason Grady, 13 Elijah Evans, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Jacob Beetham, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Evan Rees, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Ed Byrne<br \/>Replacements: 16 Dafydd Hughes, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Lucas de la Rua, 20 Evan Lloyd, 21 Ieuan Davies, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Cam Winnett<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 BST)<br \/>Referee: Kevin Bralley (Fra)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Pierre Bru (Fra), Flavien Hourquet (Fra)<br \/>TMO: Julien Castaignede (Fra)<br \/>How to watch: epcrugby.tv \/ S4C \/ beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby<\/p>\n<p>Newcastle Red Bulls v La Rochelle<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Newcastle by 2<\/p>\n<p>Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Rhys Beeckmans, 11 Oli Spencer, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz, 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Tom Gordon, 5 Freddie Clarke, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 George McGuigan (c), 1 Adam Brocklebank<br \/>Replacements: 16 Samson Adejimi, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Fergus Lee-Warner, 20 Reuben Parsons, 21 James Elliott, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Tim Cardall<\/p>\n<p>La Rochelle: 15 Ihaia West, 14 Jules Favre, 13 UJ Seuteni, 12 Adrien Seguret, 11 Hoani Bosmorin, 10 Diego Jurd, 9 Thomas Berjon (c), 8 Watisoni Waqanisaravi, 7 Lucas Andjisseramatchi, 6 Edouard Richer, 5 Simon Huchet, 4 Thomas Lavault, 3 Karl Sorin, 2 Gabin Garault, 1 Louis Penverne<br \/>Replacements: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Christian Luaki, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Aleksandre Kuntelia, 20 Judicael Cancoriet, 21 Alexandre Kaddouri, 22 Sacha Elissalde, 23 Nolhann Couillaud<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 20:00 BST<br \/>Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ire)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ire), Tomas O\u2019Sullivan (Ire)<br \/>TMO: Leo Colgan (Ire)<br \/>How to watch: epcrugby.tv \/ beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby<\/p>\n<p>Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=planetrugby.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n<p>Ulster v Ospreys<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Ulster by 14<\/p>\n<p>Ulster: 15 Ethan Mcilroy, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Dave McCann, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Tom O\u2019Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Angus Bell<br \/>Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Charlie Irvine, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Zac Ward<\/p>\n<p>Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Huw Sutton, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas<br \/>Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 James Fender, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Evardi Boshoff, 23 Iestyn Hopkins<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 20:00 BST<br \/>Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (Eng)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Daniel Jones (Eng), Wayne Falla (Eng)<br \/>TMO: David Rose (Eng)<br \/>How to watch: Premier Sports \/ S4C \/ beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby \/ epcrugby.tv<\/p>\n<p>Sunday<\/p>\n<p>Stade Francais v Dragons<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Stade Francais by 5<\/p>\n<p>Stade Francais: 15 Mathis Ibo, 14 Charles Laloi, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Samuel Ezeala, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Louis Foursans-Bourdette, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Ryan Chapuis (c), 6 Juan-Martin Scelzo, 5 Setareki Turagacoke, 4 Pierre-Henri Azagoh, 3 Yanis Lux, 2 Lucas Peyresblanques, 1 Jack Iscaro<br \/>Replacements: 16 Alvaro Garcia Albo, 17 Thierry Paiva, 18 Paul Alo-Emile, 19 Pierre Huguet, 20 Romain Briatte, 21 Thibaut Motassi, 22 Tani Vili, 23 Zack Henry<\/p>\n<p>Dragons: 15 Angus O\u2019Brien (c), 14 Dai Richards, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter (c), 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Christian Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez<br \/>Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Owain James, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Fetuli Paea, 23 Huw Anderson<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 13:30 local (12:30 BST)<br \/>Referee: Morne Ferreira (SA)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (SA), Christopher Allison (SA)<br \/>TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)<br \/>How to watch: beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby \/ epcrugby.tv<\/p>\n<p>Zebre Parma v Pau<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Zebre by 5<\/p>\n<p>Zebre Parma: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Giacomo da Re, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Davide Odiase, 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Leonardo Krumov (c), 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Tommaso di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa<br \/>Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Luca Franceschetto, 18 Juan-Manuel Pitinari, 19 Giacomo Ferrari, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Martin Roger Farias, 23 Damiano Mazza<\/p>\n<p>Pau: 15 Aymeric Luc, 14 Clement Laporte, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Nathan Decron, 11 Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, 10 Cl\u00e9ment Mondinat, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Loic Credoz, 6 Luke Whitelock (c), 5 Mickael Capelli, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 3 Jon Zabala Arrieta, 2 Youri Delhommel, 1 Daniel Bibi Biziwu<br \/>Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Lekso Kaulashvili, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Remi Picquette, 20 Beka Gorgadze, 21 Thomas Souverbie, 22 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 23 Jack Maddocks<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 BST)<br \/>Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wal)<br \/>Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (Wal), Ben Connor (Wal)<br \/>TMO: Adam Jones (Wal)<br \/>How to watch: epcrugby.tv \/ beIN SPORTS \/ FloRugby<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/eben-etzebeth-starts-with-four-other-springboks-following-12-game-ban-as-connacht-welcome-back-ireland-star\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eben Etzebeth starts with four other Springboks following 12-game ban as Connacht welcome back Ireland star<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The EPCR Challenge Cup reaches the Round of 16 stage this weekend with one fixture taking place on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,178371,45840,184822,179194,4027,39989,818,136041,10668,44,193328,7708,760,1042,85,178372,136780],"class_list":{"0":"post-583364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-benetton-treviso","11":"tag-cardiff-rugby","12":"tag-challenge-cup","13":"tag-connacht","14":"tag-dragons","15":"tag-exeter-chiefs","16":"tag-home-page","17":"tag-munster","18":"tag-newcastle","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-ospreys","21":"tag-predictions","22":"tag-rugby","23":"tag-sharks","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-ulster","26":"tag-zebre"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}