5 Key Battles in Matchday 2 of the European Rugby Champions Cup

The truncated format of the European Rugby Champions Cup is throwing up crackerjack matches every week, with the second round promising fireworks from the first whistle.

We kick off with Saracens’ visit to Munster to see who will blink first in the tournament’s pool of death.

These two and Clermont Auvergne provided three of last season’s four semi-finalists, so every inch will be scrapped over tooth and nail.

Bath host Toulouse, desperate to erase the memory of a painful defeat in Glasgow, but they face a resurgent French side who got both their power up front and silky offloading game firing on all cylinders last week against Montpellier.

Toulon have to prove their credentials for a third straight crown with a tricky trip to Ulster, Wasps and Harlequins go at it in an all-English scrap and a collision between the Scarlets and Leicester revives memories of that titanic semi-final at the City Ground in 2002, per the Guardian.

Kick the family out of the living room, silence the dog with a juicy bone, unplug the phone and stock the fridge, it will be an epic weekend.

Let’s have a look at five absorbing head-to-heads.

1. Ian Keatley vs. Charlie Hodgson

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Munster and Saracens have a bit of history in this competition. The Irishmen denied Sarries a first final with a gritty win at the Ricoh Arena in 2008. They both made the last four last season, but the chances are one of them could fail to get out their group between these two.

This season they clash having won their respective opening games, Munster rising from the dead at 23-7 down to win it with the last swing of Ian Keatley’s boot.

Saracens ran in plenty of tries against Clermont Auvergne but could so easily have lost a match in which the French side were denied a try by the TMO and also made some costly errors.

The two men responsible for these wins were the sides’ No. 10s. Keatley held his nerve with that winning drop-goal and prior to that, had piloted his side back into contention with an assured display.

Sarries’ veteran Charlie Hodgson is one of the best in the business at fizzing flat passes out to his back line, playing on the gain line and punishing sides with pinpoint kicking to the sidelines. His goal-kicking is also hugely reliable.

Owen Farrell’s injury has given Hodgson plenty of game time this season and he has looked at his very best. Control of this contest from the man in the No. 10 jersey will be vital, with space elsewhere likely to be at a premium.

2. George Ford vs. Luke McAlister

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Two contrasting physiques and styles come head-to-head at the Rec when George Ford faces former All Black Luke McAlister of Toulouse.

Ford still looks every inch the schoolboy in a man’s world, but he plays with maturity well beyond his appearance.

McAlister possesses the legs of a front row forward but skills and speed associated with a pacific islander. Ford’s back line has been shredding teams in the Aviva Premiership, but they lost their impetus against the intensity of the Glaswegian defence last weekend.

McAlister, on the other hand, got his team ticking beautifully. The former Sale man only lasted 40 minutes but slotted two goals and a conversion, and he was the catalyst for everything good his team did in that first half.

Whether Guy Noves will opt to start Toby Flood against opposition familiar to the former Leicester man remains to be seen. Perhaps they will get half a game each again, but McAlister’s ingenuity and power will likely prove more of a handful for Ford than Flood’s more conventional approach.

3. Salesi Ma’afu vs. Nicky Smith

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Ospreys travel to Northampton with the chance to torpedo the English champions’ hopes of going all the way in this competition.

They will need to overcome the Saints’ power game if they are to succeed, and that starts at scrum time. Youngster Nicky Smith has been picked in the Welsh squad for the autumn internationals, which is a mark of the loose head’s progress this year.

He is up against the uncompromising Salesi Ma’afu who is no stranger to controversy, having traded swipes with Leicester’s Tom Youngs last season and been involved in a hand-to-face flashpoint last week against Racing Metro, described by the Independent as "a potential gouge."

If Smith can upset the Islander at Franklin’s Gardens he could earn his side a foothold in the forward battle and lay the platform for an eighth successive Ospreys win this season.

4. Christian Wade vs. Marland Yarde

Two England wing hopefuls come under the spotlight this weekend when Wasps entertain Harlequins.

Wasps’ Christian Wade scored a virtuoso try against Leinster when he stood his man up and turned on the afterburners to skate round the outside and scuttle home.

That alone was not enough to force himself into Stuart Lancaster's squad for the autumn internationals, however, a timely reminder it was of just how dangerous the youngster is.

His contemporary at age group rugby, Marland Yarde, earned himself a move to Harlequins this season off the back of a fine start to his career with London Irish and some impressive displays for England.

He did make the cut for the latest England group, it was confirmed Wednesday, despite an indifferent start to the season, but he was notably influential for the national side in New Zealand as an attacking threat.

Both men have work to do in terms of defensive positioning and decision–making, but their potential to dazzle is enormous.

The stage is set for this pair to make their respective points this weekend.

5. Samson Lee vs Marcos Ayerza

The Scarlets’ tight–head Samson Lee looks set to depose Lions legend Adam Jones as first-choice No. 3 for the national side.

The young prop was picked ahead of Jones for the latest Welsh party, living up to the praise he earned last year from Welsh legends Jonathan Davies and Martyn Thomas in the video above.

But he faces no sterner test of his credentials to succeed his hirsute rival than the visit of Marcos Ayerza.

Leicester have missed their Argentine scrummaging expert, and he was a major plus for the Tigers in their win over Ulster last week.

This is a scrap between two clubs who used to duke it out in the latter stages of this tournament and would dearly love to be back there once again.

The tussle on Lee and Ayerza’s side of the scrum will play a part in deciding who will get that chance this season, and it could give Lee a launchpad into that Welsh No. 3 jersey on a permanent basis.

Ayerza will have no intention of providing him with an easy passage.