On Friday night Sarries' first-team squad will run out at Stade Jean Dauger against the Basque side that finished comfortably in mid-table in last season's Top 14.

Bayonne and Biarritz have always been similar to Bristol and Bath respectively in recent years with the team from the bigger town watching on as the other side from the more posh town has enjoyed the higher profile.

However, since they returned to the Top 14 in their centenery year in 2004, the gap over their nearest and dearest rivals at the other end of the no.1 bus route has closed and Bayonne were just three places below Les Biarrots in the 2008-08 table.

In Europe, Bayonne has been like most French teams who have taken part in the Challenge Cup in recent seasons and considered it a diversion from the serious business of staying in the top flight and haven't really performed. In fact, in their four participations in the competition they have never beaten an English club with their closest encounter being their very first; a 24-21 home defeat to Saracens back in October 2004.

This latest Bayonne squad boasts absolutely no names from the last time the two teams met and the club is definitely on the up as they have attracted the likes of former Kangaroo Craig Gower; ex-Toulouse and France centre Xavier Garbajosa; French international Remy Martin, fresh from Stade Francais Paris; Manny Edmunds, famous for his Heineken heroicss at Perpignan; and last, but ceratinly not least, Rodzilla - Australian man-mountain tight head Rodney Blake.

The Bayonne squad is coached by one of its most famous players in recent seasons, Richard Dourthe and is certainly one that can challenge Sarries all over the park, although it still remains to be seen which side Dourthe will choose to field given the teams' back-to-back ECC encounters at the start of December.

Eddie Jones, on the other hand, has made it perfectly clear that the Saracens team that will run out on Friday night will be pretty close to the one that will take on Harlequins at Twickenham on 6 September and that the team that will travel to the Gnoll on Thursday evening will be a mix of academy and 'A' team players.

Unfortnately, the Neath media folks have tried to sell the good folk who follow the Welsh All Blacks a full-fat Sarries squad featuring Andy Farrell, Chris Jack, Michael Owen and, er, Richard Hill for their first visit to the town in over a decade. So those who will be shouting from the Town Terrace might have few problems recognising any faces on the visitors' side, unlike back in 1997 when a bunch of upstarts called Lynagh, Sella, Pienaar, Wallace, Grewcock and a couple of young three-qaurters called Sorrell and Chesney helped Sarries to a 26-12 win. Without Richard Hill.

Nonetheless, this is still going to be a tough task for any Sarries side as Rowland Phillips has put together a squad that has won four Welsh titles on the bounce and whose team for the match has in it a few players who have played a very high standard of rugby in the recent past.

Neath captain Lee Beach played in the Ospreys team that beat Australian and also represented Wales on the World Cup 7s circuit and James Merriman, aformer Wales under-21 captain who played in the Guinness Premiership with Gloucester, being the stand-out players in the side and both of whom play in an abrasive, competitive back row.

Behind the scrum there will be a young half back pairing in 20-year-old scrum half Gareth Williams and 22-year-old stand-off Howard Thomas, of whom a lot will be expected in the coming Premiership season and there will be a big threat out wide in the shape of 17-stone wing Kevin James, another Wales 7s player.

Kick-off at the Gnoll is at 8.30pm and Phillips has named the following Neath starting line-up:

1. Nicky Downs
2. Gerwyn Price
3. Martin Jones/Andrew Howells
4. Euros Evans
5. Neil Edwards
6. Gareth Gravell
7. James Merriman
8. Lee Beach ©
9. Gareth Williams
10. Howard Thomas
11. David Evans
12. Wayne Mitchell
13. Stephen Thomas
14. Kevin James
15. Gareth King

You can hear updates on the first hour of Bayonne v Saracens during Friday night's Three Counties Sports on BBC Three Counties Radio 630 and 1161 MW and there will be match report available for you to listen to on 3CR during Saturday's news and sports bulletins.

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