Benetton Rugby v Northampton Saints, 1pm, Stadio di Monigo

You won’t have to wait long for top-class action on Saturday either, with three Guinness PRO14 sides launching into 1pm action and intriguing ties.

Back on home turf we have Benetton, who played impressively once more this season to go down 33-19 to an all-powerful Leinster side in Dublin.

Northampton, meanwhile, are going well in the English Premiership with three wins from four and overcame Lyon on Sunday, with Benetton coach Marco Bortolami wary of the English club’s threats.

He said: “Northampton are the in-form team of the Premiership at the moment. At the start, when they drew the pools, it looked like, ‘You know, it’s not that bad’, but now Northampton really are on a high. They offer a different style of rugby compared to the PRO14 teams.

“We’re looking forward to seeing how our players will adapt to the physicality of the English teams. They’re very physical but they also play a more expansive game now with Chris Boyd in charge – I’m expecting a very entertaining game.”

Lyon v Leinster, 3:15pm, Stadium de Gerland

Hot on the heels of those 1pm kick-offs come one of the Champions Cup favourites – Leinster – who were beaten in the final by Saracens last year but made a strong start this season with that win over Benetton.

A tough challenge awaits, a trip to France to the current Top14 leaders Lyon, who will be smarting from defeat to Northampton.

Tryscorer in Round 1, Johnny Sexton can’t wait for Round 2: “You normally get one French team in your pool every year and every time you’ve got to travel to France you know what it’s going to be like – it’s going to be hostile and it’s going to be tough going. We learned some good lessons in Toulouse last year.

“What often you see in those early rounds isn’t what you get when it comes to the European competition. We’d scouted Toulouse and we thought they were a good team but when we played them down there, they had an unbelievable performance.

“You’ve got to be ready for teams to raise their games when it comes to Europe and I’m sure Lyon will do that.”

Exeter Chiefs v Glasgow Warriors, 3:15pm, Sandy Park

At the same time as that Lyon v Leinster clash we have another cracker to look forward to in the shape of Exeter Chiefs v Glasgow Warriors.

The two know each other well having faced off in the ²⁰¹⁷⁄₁₈ season (one win apiece), with star full-back Stuart Hogg moving between the two clubs over the summer.

“It will be pretty exciting to go down there and see Stuart Hogg again,” said Glasgow skipper Callum Gibbins. “I’m sure there’ll be a little bit around that!

“We played them a couple of years ago and they gave us a good beating in the first game and then we played really well in the second game and got one over them.

“I think the club is pretty familiar with Exeter and it’s going to be, as I said before, very exciting.”

Munster v Racing 92, 5:30pm, Thomond Park

The Munster squad are training at the HPC since yesterday ahead of Saturday’s big Champions Cup clash against Racing 92 at @ThomondStadium (5.30pm).

See the latest squad news ⬇️ #MUNvR92 #SUAF 🔴
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) November 19, 2019