Image source, Getty Images

My man to watch is Saracens' forward Maro Itoje. The former captain of England's Under-20 World Junior Championship-winning team is equally at home at either second row or blind-side flanker.

Today he plays at six - personally, I believe that to be the position from which he can have maximum impact, and at age 20 this is his chance to show he is going to be a major player for club and country for a decade and more to come.

Typically of French sides these days, Clermont are the usual array of star-studded jerseys from around the world, although they have a stronger French flavour than some of their compatriots.

Ex-England full-back Nick Abendanon pulled Northampton to pieces in the last eight and Fiji winger Napolioni Nalaga is as potent a finisher as exists in the world game, while Wales' Jonathan Davies and France's Wesley Fofana form a classy centre partnership.

Up front, big Canadian Jamie Cudmore brings the grunt, flanker Julien Bonnaire the brain...

Image source, Getty Images

Let's have a look at Sarries first. The Londoners are captained by defensive lynch-pin Brad Barritt - anyone who saw his heroics in England's win over Australia in November will need no reminding of his qualities.

But for those who didn't, think brick wall, and one that comes actively looking for you - the picture above will give you the right idea.

England number eight Billy Vunipola will have a big role to play if Sarries are to match Clermont physically, while veteran fly-half Charlie Hodgson is the man tasked with getting them in the right areas to put pressure on the French side.

Clermont Auvergne: Abendanon; Nakaitaci, Davies, Fofana, Nalaga; James, Radosavljevic; Debaty, Kayser, Zirakashvili, Cudmore, Vahaamahina, Bonnaire, Bardy, Chouly.

Replacements: Ulugia, Chaume, Ric, Pierre, Lapandry, Parra, Lopez, Rougerie.

Saracens: Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Barritt, Wyles; Hodgson, Wigglesworth; M Vunipola, George, Du Plessis, Kruis, J Hamilton, Itoje, Burger, B Vunipola.

Replacements: Brits, Gill, Johnston, Brown, Wray, de Kock, Farrell, Strettle.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

And how about having your say? Lord knows there's plenty of other stuff to attract your attention today, including association football, something called 'snooker' and men practising driving around a desert in cars.

But why not ping me a tweet at #bbcrugby and there's a good chance you'll get to see your name right here on the BBC website in traditional black and white. Tempting hey?

In addition to my chitchat you can follow today's match through 5 live sports extra's commentary by clicking the live tab at the top of the page.

Chris Jones and ex-England fly-half Paul Grayson are the men on the scene...

The weekend starts with Clermont v Saracens in Saint-Etienne today, before the European Champions Cup circus heads south to Marseille for Sunday's match.

That features two-time defending champions Toulon and three-time winners Leinster, who between them have been European champions five times in the past six years.

Meanwhile, our first semi-final is a repeat of last year's record-breaking encounter at Twickenham, when Saracens took Clermont apart with a record 46-6 victory...

Salford Quays is, however, doing its best impression of the Barcelona waterfront, with glorious sun glinting off the water in the docks under a cloudless blue sky: 'Dos cervezas por favor.'

No really. It's quite beautiful outside, so naturally we've pulled down the shades and I'm sitting under strip lights staring at a computer screen - good thing we've got some top-notch rugby coming our way!

I am speaking French not to prove that I am a cosmopolitan man of the world - never in doubt, I hear you say in unison - but because we are in the sunny south of France for this weekend's semi-finals.

I'm not of course, I'm in the BBC Sports Centre at Media City in what people would have you believe is the perpetually damp north west of England.

So then; new competition, new contenders?

Er, hardly.

The semi-finals contain three of the four from last season - Saracens, Clermont and two-time defending champions Toulon - plus Leinster.

And the Irish province not only won three of the last six Heineken Cups but after missing out in 2014, duly sated their ravenous hunger for European silverware by winning the second-tier Challenge Cup.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?

It's the semi-finals of the inaugural European Champions Cup, the re-engineered jewel in the European club calendar which promised to be a bigger, shinier and altogether more competitive version of its predecessor the Heineken Cup.

Out went four teams as the tournament was trimmed to 20, in came ruthless competition in the Pro 12 as its four competing countries were only guaranteed one entrant each alongside the top six (or seven, but let's not complicate this) from the English Premiership and French Top 14.

It was a new chapter of European rugby and now we're approaching the final pages of this page-turner of a first edition...