Exiles short-handed for PAU clash

London Irish will be without almost a quarter of their squad for tomorrow night’s tough European Challenge Cup second round tie against Pau in France.

Irish registered 33 players, but eight are absent, including England internationals Mike Catt, Geoff Appleford and Michael Horak.

Catt has a calf muscle injury, joining players like Kieron Dawson, Adrian Flavin, Neal Hatley and Horak on the injury list, while Appleford and back-row forward Tony Roques have sevens commitments with England in Dubai.

Exiles coach Gary Gold has made seven changes from the side beaten by Zurich Premiership rivals Bath last weekend, with five of those changes behind the scrum, where full-back Delon Armitage, wing Paul Sackey, centre Nils Mordt, fly-half Barry Everitt and scrum-half Darren Edwards all start.

“Our recent run of good form came to an abrupt end against Bath,” admitted Gold. “Now, we face another difficult test in south-west France.

“Pau are a strong team laced with experienced international players. They have recorded significant wins over Castres and Agen during the past fortnight, so we have no illusions about the task that awaits us.”

While Irish have their work cut out to establish any sort of first leg advantage, Saracens should be too strong for Italian hosts Parma tomorrow.

Coach Rod Kafer hands a debut to former Sale Sharks hooker Andy Kyriacou, while Thomas Castaignede switches to full-back and there are also starts for Paul Bailey, Tevita Vaikona, Dan Harris and Moses Rauluni.

Sale make the trip to Narbonne, boosted by returning England men Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto, Charlie Hodgson, Andrew Sheridan and hooker Andy Titterrell, who features at openside flanker.

“The fact we have lost three [Premiership] games on the trot during the autumn internationals has left us third in the league, and we need to make the most of all our opportunities to get back into the Heineken Cup next season,” said Sharks skipper Robinson.

“We beat Narbonne home and away in the tournament in 2001-02, and went on to win the trophy.”

Elsewhere tomorrow, Connacht entertain Gregor Townsend’s Montpellier, Agen host Italian side Viadana and 1997 Heineken Cup winners Brive entertain Cetransa El Salvador, with Beziers tackling Dean Richards-coached Grenoble tonight and Borders visiting Clermont Auvergne on Sunday.

The European Shield competition, for Challenge Cup first round losers, kicks off this weekend, including Leeds’ clash against Spanish side Valladolid and Worcester’s trip to Rovigo.