As part of their preparations for the 2007 Boat Race, sponsored by Xchanging, Cambridge will tomorrow (Saturday 3 March) take on a German eight - featuring six of the reigning world champions - on the Boat Race course from Putney starting at 12.50pm.

Seeking his first win - after a losing debut last year - coach Duncan Holland has gone in search of early competitive opportunities.

“Racing, and in particular racing on the Tideway, is always useful”, he said this week.

He could not have picked a sterner test for his fledgling first-string line-up whose names will be formally announced on March 12th.

Germany are the reigning world champions and are missing two of their oarsmen - Thorsten Engelmann and Sebastian Schulte - tomorrow only because they are rowing for Cambridge. So the German eight has called up the stern pair of its coxed four to fill the gaps.

Cambridge, meanwhile, look set to race with Engelmann at stroke, Schulte at seven with British Olympians Kieran West and Tom James at six and five respectively.

Another British oarsman, Peter Champion, has come through the ranks this season to claim a place in the first eight - at least for the opening fixture - whilst last year’s Canadian stroke, Kip McDaniel has moved to the bow seat.

Goldie, Holland’s reserve crew, will also race tomorrow against the University of London, starting at 12.20.

Cambridge will follow up tomorrow’s race with an outing against a leading British club, Molesey, on Friday 23rd March.

Oxford meanwhile are savouring the opportunity to face a USA eight on Saturday March 10 with an outing against Leander, another top-flight British club, on Saturday 24th March.

This year’s Boat Race, sponsored by business processes company, Xchanging, takes place on April 7th at 4.30pm.

The earlier pair of outings will give both coaches - Sean Bowden for Oxford and Holland at Cambridge - a chance to fine-tune their final line-ups before finalising their crews and announcing them formally to the media on Monday March 12th in an event, sponsored by Xchanging, during which the formal and traditional "Challenge" to race will also take place.

CREW LISTS (listed from bow to stroke, with cox)

Cambridge

Kip McDaniel, Dan O’Shaughnessy, Peter Champion, Jacob (Jake) Cornelius, Tom James (President), Kieran West, Sebastian Schulte, Thorsten Englemann, Russell Glenn (cox)

Germany

Joerg Diessner, Stephan Koltzk, Jan-Martin Broer, Matthias Flach, Ulf Sienes, Jan Tebruegge, Phillip Stuer, Bernd Heidicker, Peter Thiebe (cox)

"Reserves"

Alastair MacLeod, Doug Perrin, Colin Scott, Tobias Garnett, Oliver (Oli) de Groot, Johannes (Wanne) Kromdijk, Don Wyper, David Billings, Rebecca Dowbiggin (cox)