Perpignan come to toon

After a win in the Gallagher Prem last Friday night, attention now turns to European Challenge Cup action for Newcastle Red Bulls as Perpignan are the visitors to Kingston Park.

For me, I'm at Edinburgh v Gloucester this evening and will be at Kingston Park tomorrow afternoon for this one.

Perpignan

Perpignan will be buoyed by a rare Top 14 win of their own. This wasn't any win though, it was a 30-27 victory over Toulouse. Yes, Toulouse rested players but this will still give them some confidence as they make the trip to Tyneside. They've struggled in the Top 14 this season but that result last week took them off the bottom of the table, they've brought in Joe Worsley recently as a defence coach. There was a time when I thought he might really kick on in coaching terms and end up coaching internationally.

There's not a lot of familiar faces in the Perpignan squad as they've rung the changes from last week. They do have a Tuilagi on the bench. Posolo Tuilagi at twenty one years old is already a French international, he plays at second row and will look to add his nearly 150kg frame to proceedings in the second row later in the game.

Red Bulls

Red Bulls will be boosted by their deserved victory over Gloucester and will be looking to go three from three in this competition and get on a bit of a cup run. A home knockout game looks on the cards but they'll want to make sure they pick up as many points as possible to try and get seeded in the top two to guarantee home games into the knockout stages. A lack of bonus point victories means they're chasing a bit on this though compared to others.

Up front, Murray McCallum, George McGuigan and Richard Palframan continue in the front row. Seb de Chaves and Tim Cardall come into the second row. Osacar Usher adds some size to the back row moving to blindside flanker alongside Tom Christie and Tom Gordon.

In the backs Simon Benitez Cruz and Ethan Grayson form a new half back pairing. Sammy Arnold and Alex Hearle continue in the centres. Oli Spencer, Christian Wade and Elliot Obatoyinbo form a lively looking back three. Obatoyinbo had possibly his best game for Newcastle last weekend.

On the bench, Ollie Fletcher, Adam Brocklebank and Luan De Bruin cover the front row. Finn Baker and Cameron Neild cover the rest of the forwards. The backs are covered by James Elliottt, Cameron Hutchinson and livewire Bathan Greenwood who will look to expose a tiring French defence.

Where will the game be won?

Although it's going to be another cold one tomorrow, conditions look to be settling down. I expect that Perpignan will turn up with a forward orientated game plan reliant on a little bit of French flare to open up the defence. Given how Red Bulls performed last Friday night, especially winning the physical battle i don't think they have anything to fear here.

Red Bull improvement

There was a definite improvement in the attack last weekend although possibly frustratingly what was working in the first fifty minutes stopped. The Red Bulls attack was causing the Gloucester defence problems in the wide channels but as the game went on they went away from this, if they'd have continued they would've got the four try bonus point to go with the win. In saying that, the most important thing was getting the victory last weekend.

New arrivals coming in

Red Bulls fans are in the unusual position of signings being announced for next season already. There's some definite excitement in some of the names coming in and the rumour of Raffi Quirke will make for a great battle for the scrum half shirt with Simon Benitez Cruz. With new players coming in, there's a risk that morale could drop in camp as players learn their fate. This is something that is going to be a challenge for the coaches, as up till now there seems to be a good spirit in the group.

What to expect

Having seen the team, I'm expecting a Red Bulls win here. Perpignan will come and out be physical but in a similar way to Gloucester, how much will they want to be in Newcastle this weekend? They'll tire and Red Bulls will look to capitalise. Red Bulls will be looking for a big impact from the bench, not just to close the game out but to run away with it.