Paul Grayson
Ex-Northampton and England fly-half on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Reading about and listening to some of the things about this team and this fixture, revenge has cropped up more than once. Castres are coming here on a mission.

It's a cliche to look at the opposition and say "blimey, they're big" because you do that from under-12s all the way through.

But you look at Castres and they've got formidable size in their front eight. It'll be interesting to see how Castres go about their business.

For the record, Saints won 38-8 in the group stage, and then 51-16 in the quarter-finals of last year's competition.

The players are back in the sheds on a dry evening, the howling gales that have dominated the weather forecast seem to have scudded past Northamptonshire.

Not long to go now!

As ever, we want to know your thoughts, theories and rants about the action.

We'll post the best responses in here, so get in touch via the yellow Get Involved link and don't forget to include your name (and maybe location) so you can do a humble brag to your mates.

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

You can listen to live commentary of tonight's match on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, featuring former Saints and England fly-half Paul Grayson, and BBC Radio Northampton.

In addition, the second half will be live on BBC Radio 5 Live.

All of those coverage options are available on this page and via BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Prem leaders Northampton are the first of seven English sides to appear in the Champions Cup last 16 this weekend.

This is the first time in the history of the Champions Cup that seven English teams have qualified for the knockout stage.

England fly-half George Ford, who will play for Sale against Harlequins on Saturday, said: "It's brilliant for the English game. We're coming off the back of a disappointing Six Nations, so it's an opportunity for the English teams and players to achieve success."

Image source, Getty Images

Northampton forward Henry Pollock, speaking to Premier Sports: "We played them twice last year, we know what's coming and we can't wait to front up physically.

"I love playing at seven and I can't wait to team up with Josh [Kemeny] and Callum [Chick] to see how we go."

Phil Dowson's Saints side won three of their four matches to finish second in their pool, while Castres won two and lost two to come third in their group.

Saints beat Castres in the pool stage and the quarter-finals during their run to the final last season.

Castres ended a three-match losing run by beating bottom-side Montauban last weekend to move into 10th place in the Top 14.

They are captained by flanker Baptiste Delaporte (pictured below), while former All Black centre Jack Goodhue is one to watch in the backs.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Anthony Belleau - pictured above - starts at fly-half as Saints make six changes.

The Frenchman replaces Fin Smith, who suffered a head injury in last week's thrilling Prem victory over Saracens at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With Trevor Davison, who is unlikely to play again this season because of a knee injury, and Manny Iyogun both ruled out, Danilo Fischetti starts at loose-head prop and Luke Green retains his place as the tight-head.

Craig Wright takes over from Curtis Langdon as the starting hooker.

Lock JJ van der Mescht brings his power to the pack, while Callum Chick comes in at number eight, with Henry Pollock switching to open-side flanker and Tom Pearson dropping to the bench.

Northampton: Furbank (capt); Freeman, Litchfield, Dingwall, Ramm; Belleau, McParland; Fischetti, Wright, Green, Lockett, Van der Mescht, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick.

Replacements: Langdon, West, Kundiona, Prowse, Munga, Pearson, Weimann, Hutchinson.

Castres: Chabouni; Ambadiang, Botitu, Goodhue, Karawalevu; Herve, Fernandez; Walcker, Durand-Pradere, Corato, Ducat, Vanverberghe, Delaporte (capt), Ardron, Papalii.

Replacements: Colonna, Guerois-Galisson, Azar, Maravat, Cope, Ramototabua, Arata, Palis.

This is the first of eight ties in the last 16 of this season's Champions Cup.

We've put all of the team news for all of the weekend's matches all in one place.

But let's look at tonight's lineups first, eh?

Friday

• Northampton v Castres (20:00)

Saturday

• Bath v Saracens (15:00)
• Toulon v Stormers (15:00)
• Glasgow v Bulls (17:30)
• Toulouse v Bristol (17:30)
• Harlequins v Sale (20:00)

Sunday

• Bordeaux Begles v Leicester (15:00)
• Leinster v Edinburgh (17:30)

And - we're back in the room!

The European Champions Cup is back, and witrh something of a bang!

Theree are eight mouthwatering matches this weekend, starting with what could be a cracker at Cinch Stadium, Franklin's Gardens.

Image source, Getty Images