Mauger debut lifts Leicester for major Toulouse test

Not every club could lose such diverse talents as Geordan Murphy, that most deceptive of broken-field runners, and Alesana Tuilagi, who cannot imagine why anyone would waste energy running round people when they can run through them instead, and still hope to beat Toulouse, the grandest club in European rugby, in a must-win Heineken Cup match. It may well be that Leicester themselves fail to make do and mend at Welford Road this afternoon, in which case their campaign will be all but over half-way through the pool stage.

They have a better chance than most of absorbing the injuries that have ripped through their squad. Murphy may have hip problems but Sam Vesty is perfectly capable of making a fist of it at full-back. Tuilagi, meanwhile, is struggling with a groin condition. His replacement? None other than Tom Varndell, the one wing in England capable of beating Vincent Clerc in a straight race.

It is not, therefore, all bad for the Midlanders, especially as Aaron Mauger, one of the All Black elite since 2001, has taken his place on the roster. Mauger makes his debut in his customary role of inside centre. This allows Dan Hipkiss, who had a taste of World Cup final action in October and functioned perfectly well in the rarefied atmosphere, to return to No 13.

Yet a glance at the Toulouse teamsheet is enough to scare the pants off an international side, let alone a club outfit. Clment Poitrenaud and Cdric Heymans join Clerc in the back three; Yannick Jauzion and Florian Fritz are the centres; Byron Kelleher, one of Mauger's fellow Kiwis, is at scrum-half; Yannick Nyanga and the freakishly accomplished Thierry Dusautoir are on the flanks. They have not lost this season four from four victories in Le Championnat, two from two in Europe and if that record is still intact come 5.30 this evening, Leicester will be a long way up the creek without a paddle.

Since this tournament embraced its current format in 1999, no side has lost three pool games and made the cut for the knock-out stage. Having been defeated at Leinster in this year's opening fixture, the Midlanders cannot afford another mishap not with the return leg in Toulouse awaiting a week tomorrow.

Wasps are much better set for a meaningful campaign in defence of the title they won so cleverly at Twickenham last May. They would not have chosen to be drawn in the same pool as Clermont Auvergne, who fancy themselves as the new powerhouses of the French club game especially with Munster and Llanelli Scarlets in the same pool. But those latter sides have already been beaten, and any sort of result this afternoon will leave the Londoners in smelling distance of another quarter-final.

Ian McGeechan, their director of rugby, describes the trip to Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin as one of the "biggest challenges any side could have", and in honour of the occasion, he has gone full tilt on the selection front something Clermont Auvergne themselves decided against doing on their trip to Limerick in the last round. Tom Rees, injured a couple of weeks ago, is the one missing first-teamer, and even he isn't that missing, having been named on the bench. The highly capable John Hart continues in the starting back-row combination.

Bristol, good winners over Stade Franais in the West Country rain and wind last month, will do well to take anything from Harlequins this afternoon, even though head coach, Richard Hill, has spent the week impressing on them that it would be a cardinal sporting sin to let that win over the Parisians go to waste. Dan Ward-Smith, the uncapped No 8 who would have travelled to the World Cup with England but for a dislocated kneecap, is hors de combat once again, this time with flu.

Of all the Premiership contenders, London Irish have played the most persuasive rugby and are currently cantering along at six and a half tries a game, assuming it is possible to score half a try. Tomorrow, they face the Catalan musclemen of Perpignan at the Madejski Stadium less fun than either Treviso or Newport Gwent Dragons, but much more of a litmus test. One way or another, we will learn a good deal about the various English contingent over the next 24 hours.