Wasps travel to Castres's Stade Pierre ­Antoine tomorrow, looking for a repeat of the rousing victory at the same venue which set them on their way to ­winning the 2007 Heineken Cup. This year, a bonus-point-enhanced victory should be enough to see the Premiership champions into the quarter-finals – as winners of Pool Two if Leinster fail to take five points at home to Edinburgh, or as one of the two best runners-up.

Few who were in south-western France two years ago will ever forget Wasps' incredible defensive performance. This year, though Castres have nothing to play for but pride, the Wasps head coach, Shaun Edwards, expects another test.

"We have got word through that they will be fielding their strongest team," he said. "We're expecting a similar ­experience to 2007 and a very tough game. All the players who played in 2007 agree that Castres away was the toughest game of that campaign, no disrespect to any of the other teams we played."

Playing on Sunday is an advantage for the London club. The majority of the final pool games will have already been played and Wasps will have a relatively clear idea of what will be required to secure at least one of those runner-up spots in the quarter-finals. But Edwards said he and the club's director of rugby, Ian McGeechan, were looking for a victory: "We're just going for the win, never mind the tries."

The England prop Phil Vickery said he was expecting another stiff challenge: "I remember going down last time and it was a pretty physical and intense place to go and play, but the Heineken Cup for me sums up everything that is great about our game – a partisan crowd, a bit of a bearpit of a place to go and play, ­wonderful ­players, and it's backs against the wall stuff. As a player I think that is what you want."

The Leicester wing Tom Varndell has been called into the England Saxons squad for next Friday's match against Portugal at Edgeley Park. Varndell, who has four ­England caps, scored two tries in his last Saxons appearance, in a 31–13 victory over Ireland A at Welford Road last February. He will join the previously confirmed 21-man squad at next week's Saxons ­training camp in Stockport.

The Eastern Province Rugby Union plans to invite several former ­players, who are now with other teams, to play for a Coastal XV against the British and Irish Lions later this year. The South ­African Rugby Union this week confirmed the match for 16 June at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The Coastal team will reportedly contain players from some of South Africa's lesser unions, including Eastern Province, ­Border, Boland, Griquas and South Western ­Districts. The game will also mark the launch of a new Super 14 franchise for the area.

"It is the unveiling of the new Eastern Cape regional side and the plan is to bring back players that moved from here," said Cheeky Watson, the president of the EPRU.