Castres Olympique began the defence of their TOP 14 title with a 25-20 win at Montpellier last weekend - and they will be looking to transfer that fine domestic form onto the European stage when they tackle their 2018/19 Heineken Champions Cup Pool 2 programme against Gloucester Rugby, Exeter Chiefs and Munster Rugby. What is their European Cup record like? They will be looking to qualify for the knockout stages for the second time. The first came in 2001/02, when they reached the semi-finals, only to lose 25-17 to Munster Rugby. Who is on their coaching staff? Christophe Urios has been Castres Olympique’s director of rugby since 2015, but the club announced last month that this will be his last season with them. A player with Castres between 1990 and 1999, featuring twice in the European Cup in 1995, the 52-year-old returned to the Stade Pierre Fabre as forwards coach in 2002 and spent three years in that role before spells in charge of Bourgoin-Jallieu and Oyonnax. He then went back to Castres. His main coaches are Frédéric Charrier, who followed Urios from Oyonnax and looks after Castres’ backs, and Englishman Joe El-Abd, who joined Castres in January to coach the forwards, after making a total of 35 European appearances for Caerphilly, Bristol Bears, RC Toulon and Oyonnax. Charrier also had European experience as a player with 16 games for Montpellier. https://twitter.com/LaveauMartin/status/1033788001975984128 Who are their principal new signings? Castres’ main summer signings have been from their TOP 14 rivals, with full-back Scott Spedding and flanker Camille Gérondeau joining from ASM Clermont Auvergne, and centre Yann David arriving from Toulouse. The 32-year-old Spedding, who has won 23 caps for France, made an immediate impression with two tries in their TOP 14 opener at Montpellier last weekend and has plenty of European experience, having played a total of 41 European games for Brive, Bayonne and ASM Clermont Auvergne. David is a European Cup winner, having lifted the trophy with Toulouse in 2010, when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 21-19 final win over Biarritz Olympique. The 30-year-old, who can also play on the wing, has played 39 European games for Toulouse and Bourgoin. Gérondeau is also 30 and has 18 European appearances to his name with Racing 92 and ASM Clermont Auvergne. https://twitter.com/CastresRugby/status/1032535671385337857 Who are some of their other key players? Spedding and David will have linked up with several familiar faces when they arrived at the Stade Pierre Fabre, since Castres have a strong base of French internationals, including prop Daniel Kötze, lock Christophe Samson, flanker Mathieu Babillot, scrum-half Rory Kockott and full-back Geoffrey Palis. Also on the TOP 14 champions’ books are Tonga prop Paea Fa’anunu, lock Steve Mafi and No.8 Maama Vaipulu, Argentinian international fly-half Benjamín Urdapilleta, Canada wing Taylor Paris and Uruguay lock Rodrigo Capó Ortega.