European Challenge Cup final: Gloucester v Stade Francais team news, kick-off time, odds & TV details

Gloucester are bidding to win the European Challenge Cup for a third time when they face Stade Francais at Murrayfield while victory would also keep their hopes alive of qualifying for next season's Champions Cup.

They missed out on that competition following a ninth-placed finish in the Aviva Premiership but an English winner of this trophy goes through to May's play-offs instead of the team that finished seventh in the league - Northampton.

While the Cherry and Whites won both their previous finals in 2006 and 2015, the French outfit are looking for their first major continental crown having failed in two European Cup finals and two Challenge Cup finals.

Stade have won all three previous meetings with Gloucester but the south-west side have  won 10 of their last 11 games against Top-14 opposition in the Challenge Cup.  

Gloucester v Stade Francais: Team news

Date: Friday, May 12
Kick-off time: 2000 BST
TV Channel: Sky Sports 2 HD
Venue:  Murrayfield 

Gloucester have made three changes to the side that won their semi-final at La Rochelle, with centre Matt Scott, wing Charlie Sharples and back row Lewis Ludlow coming in for Henry Trinder, David Halaifonua and Jacob Rowan respectively.

But the starting line-up shows six changes from Saturday's loss to Exeter in their final Aviva Premiership game of the season.

Stade Francais are without lock Pascal Pape, who was handed a three-week ban for his red card in their 27-23 win over Racing 10 days ago.

But they will have a strong side including the likes of France's Jules Plisson and South Africa's Morne Steyn.

Gloucester: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Willi Heinz (c), 1 Josh Hohneck, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 John Afoa, 4 Tom Savage, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 6 Ross Moriarty, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 8 Ben Morgan.

Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paddy McAllister, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Henry Trinder

Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Will Genia, 1 Heinke van der Merwe, 2 Remi Bonfils, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Hugh Pyle, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 6 Antoine Burban, 7 Jonathan Ross, 8 Sergio Parisse.

Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Paul Alo Emile, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Raphael Lakafia, 21 Julien Dupuy, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Jérémy Sinzelle.  

Gloucester v Stade Francais: Sky Bet odds

PRICE BOOST: Jonny May to score a try anytime and Gloucester to win at 9/2 from 3/1

Stade Francais are 8/13 favourites with Sky Bet to win their first European trophy when they face Gloucester at Murrayfield.

The French outfit have lost their previous two European Challenge Cup final appearences since 2011 while they've also been two-time runners-up in the European Cup.

Gloucester meanwhile are bidding for a third Challenge Cup crown and they are 11/8 to achieve that feat. 

The Cherry and Whites have a three-point start in the regular handicap market, where both sides are even-money, but Sky Bet have plenty of other handicap lines to check out including Gloucester oveturning a 15-point deficit at 6/1.

Waisea Nayacalevu is 13/2 favourite to score the first try while you can back Jonny May at 9/1 and Matt Scott at 11/1.

Check out all Sky Bet's Gloucester v Stade Francais odds! 

Roads to Murrayfield

Gloucester

Gloucester topped Pool 1 ahead of La Rochelle, Benetton Treviso and Bayonne with the second best record of all the sides that reached the knockout stages.

They won five of their six games with a points difference of +127 , while their only defeat came away at La Rochelle.

In the quarter-finals they beat Cardiff 46-26 before edging past La Rochelle 16-14 in a hard-fought semi-final.

Stade Francais

Stade Francais finished second behind Edinburgh in Pool 5 with four wins and two defeats, meaning they headed into the knockout stages ranked eighth.

Nevertheless they overcame the number one ranked Ospreys 25-21 before earning a last-gasp 28-25 triumph over Bath.

Gloucester v Stade Francais: Key quotes

Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys: "There is no extra motivation required for a cup final - everybody knows how important this game is for the club.

"We have to win on Friday, and we still have an opportunity to get Gloucester into next season's Champions Cup. That has been the motivation since the start of the year.

"But first and foremost, it has been about getting ready for the challenge and quality Stade Francais will bring.

"We have to cut out some of the mistakes we've seen this season. Even against Exeter last weekend we created lots of opportunities, but we didn't take them. In a cup final we have to make sure we take those chances."

Gloucester centre Matt Scott: "We didn't achieve Champions Cup qualification in the Premiership, but we have this game as a last chance to get into the Champions Cup (play-offs).

"It has been a long, hard shift this season, but we have got to say we have got two or three more weeks to salvage something tangible from our season.

"The chance to win silverware doesn't come around very often in professional sport. There are lots of fantastic players who have not won silverware in their careers - that's the way it happens.

"We have got to grasp this opportunity with both hands and we've got the added incentive of trying to secure top European rugby at Kingsholm next season.

"We've fallen off at the end of games for whatever reason this season and it has been infuriating.

"We have beaten some of the best teams in the league this season, but against the middle teams vying for that top-six slot, we didn't do so well. We struggled."

Stade skipper Sergio Parisse: "We are very motivated. This season has been very difficult, but we must not forget the journey that we made to qualify for this final. We deserve to be here.

"We remained solid and united through adversity this season. There was a questioning of everyone. Maybe our level of motivation was a bit flat, but we did not let go. No matter what happens, it will be the craziest season I've had at Stade Francais."