London Welsh have rung the changes for their European Challenge Cup clash away to French Top 14 high-fliers Bordeaux Begles tonight (7.55GMT).

Head coach Justin Burnell has made eight adjustments to the side that suffered a 38-7 defeat to Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.

Olly Barkley comes off the bench to start in the centre, with skipper Tom May given a rest with several other senior players.

The Newcastle game was the Exiles’ 19th straight loss of the season.

  • Latest Sport news

Raphael Ibanez’s Bordeaux, who are second in Pool 4, have tasted defeat just twice at home in the league this season.

When Welsh and Bordeaux met at the Kassam Stadium in October, the French club came away with a 52-20 win.

The Exiles’ points came from tries by Seb Jewell and Daniel Browne, with Olly Barkley kicking ten points.

Bordeaux Begles: Lonca, Riva, Talebulamaijaina, Brousse, Blanc, Bernard, Serin (capt), Del Boulbes, Maynadier, Gomez Kodela, Le Devedec, Graham, Guiry, Chalmers, Tauleigne. Reps: Auzqui, Poirot, Toetu, Sa, Lespinasse, Adams, Beauxis, Aumua.

London Welsh: Elder, Stegmann, J Lewis, Barkley, Crane, Roberts, R Lewis, Aholelei, Morris, Cooper, Schofield, Corker (capt), McCaffrey, Thorpe, Pienaar. Reps: Dobson, Reeves, Gilding, McNally, D Browne, Rowley, Awcock, Kear.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.