Facundo Isa gets a bloodied nose after a clash with Pearson, the Pau captain is given some cotton wool to staunch it and after a pause the referee decides there was nothing nasty in the collision.

Henry Pollock is getting booed - just for warming up.

Expect to see the England back row star later.

Image source, Shutterstock

The hosts have their longest spell in the Saints 22, with Gregoire Arfeuil losing his shorts at one point.

From a lineout they pile towards the try line....

Dan Robson feeds Gregoire Arfeuil, and the winger makes ground before a clever grubber kick puts Saints under pressure, with Robson right there to pile in on the defence.

Fin Smith does well, though, and Northampton get back downfield.

Fin Smith dinks a kick over the top, and Gregoire Arfeuil is scragged behind the try line to give Saints a scrum just five metres out.

It's a messy scrum, and Saints get a penalty that they take short, then spin it wide and just as George Furbank looks to be in, the full-back is tackled by Aymeric Luc and the ball squirts out.

Great defence by Pau.

Image source, Shutterstock

Jon Zabala is penalised at the first scrum, so Saints kick to the corner.

The ball comes off the back of the lineout, but Rory Hutchinson cannot hang on to a short pass with the line at his mercy.

Image source, Shutterstock

Saints are puched right back into their 22, then eventually they break out but Rory Hutchinson's pass to his left on halfway goes forward and Pau will get the scrum.

Saints have a great chance, having fielded a Robson kick, they spin it left but George Furbank's pass goes to a Pau pair of hands with a try there for the taking.

Alex Mitchell then pins the hosts back with a fine kick to five metres out.

Dan Robson gets a couple of early touches, including a kick deep into the Saints 22, which the visitors return with interest to over halfway.

Fin Smith gets the game under way on a dry afternoon in south-west France, with Saints in their orangey-yellow away kit.

Image source, Shutterstock

Julian Montoya dropped out just a couple of hours before kick-off, Pau have replaced him with Lucas Rey at hooker.

Bordeaux Begles are top of Pool 4 on five points, gleaning a bonus point for running in seven tries in a 46-33 over Pretoria Bulls away in South Africa.

Bristol are second after edging out Scarlets 17-16, sealed by a try from Louis Rees-Zammit.

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

Pre-match coverage is already available, to be followed by full commentary from Pau. Simply follow the links on the site or on the BBC Sport app, or go to the Sounds app.

Elsewhere today we have:

Toulouse v Durban Sharks (15:15, Pool 1)

Gloucester v Castres (15:15, Pool 2)

Edinburgh v Toulon (17:30, Pool 2)

Great to see Dan Robson still at the top of the game, the 33-year-old former England, Wasps and Gloucester scrum half starts for the hosts today.

Image source, Getty Images

Pau, who are second in the Top 14 after eight wins in 11 games, are captained by Argentina hooker Julian Montoya, with fellow Puma Facundo Isa at number eight.

Former Wasps and England scrum-half Dan Robson starts, while ex-Saracens lock Joel Kpoku is among the replacements.

Alex Mitchell will make his 150th appearance for Northampton and Tom Pearson will play in a Saints shirt for the 50th time.

George Furbank captains Saints with George Hendy and James Ramm both recovering from injury to start on the wings.

Rory Hutchinson and Fraser Dingwall are in the centres with Fin Smith at fly-half. Alex Coles returns to the side following the autumn internationals, Henry Pollock is on the bench and Tommy Freeman is unavailable.

Pau: Luc; Arfeuil, Maddocks, Decron, Laporte; Desperes, Robson; Etchebehere, Rey, Zabala Arrieta, Jolmes, Picquette, Zegueur, Credoz, Isa.

Replacements: Seneca, Papidze, Capelli, Kpoku, Hewat, Souverbie, Valentino.

Northampton: Furbank; Ramm, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy; Smith, Mitchell; Fischetti, Wright, Davison, Coles, van der Mescht, Kemeny, Pearson, Chick.

Replacements: Smith, Iyogun, Kundiona, Prowse, Pollock, Graham, James, Thame.

Good afternoon!

There have been some excellent Champions Cup matches so far, but might we have the tie of the weekend on our hands first up?

It's second in the Top 14 versus third in the Prem, and if the other games we've seen so far are anything to go by, there will be tries galore. Which means I have probably put the kibosh on it...

Team news next.