News

Preview: Harlequins v London Irish

September 25 2008

Harlequins have made three changes for the visit of London Irish to the Stoop, as they look to return to winning ways in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday.

Having seen their perfect start to the season brought to an end by Gloucester last week Head Coach Deans Richards is hoping the changes will do the magic.

All three come in the forwards, with Springbok hooker Gary Botha starting his first game of the season as he packs down between Mike Ross and Ceri Jones.

In the second row Jim Evans comes in to partner Ollie Kohn, with the final change seeing Tom Guest get a run in favour of Chris Robshaw. To that note Nick Easter shifts to number six, with Guest slotting in at eight.

Meanwhile, London Irish have named an unchanged starting line-up for the local derby with the only squad change coming through Bob Casey's return to the bench.

The imposing lock appears on the team sheet for the first time this season since breaking a bone in his wrist in the pre-season fixture with Munster at the end of August.

"[Saturday] afternoon's match provides us with a chance to keep up with the early pace setters in the Premiership," said Head Coach Toby Booth.

"Having started so well on the opening weekend, we're disappointed to have missed out on maximum points, albeit narrowly, over the past fortnight.

"There is no shortage of commitment or skill among our squad and with the injury list beginning to diminish, our selection options will improve as we go into a crucial ten week period in terms of our objectives for the season.

"We know and respect the Harlequins players and coaching staff. They have had a great start to their season which comes as no surprise to us having played a tough pre-season match against them last month.

"They are among the form teams in the Premiership just now and we are going to have to be at our best to come away with any points."

Form: Harlequins 100% winning record was spoiled by Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday, although the Londoners' last six defeats have all earned them a losing bonus point. Their only home defeat in the Guinness Premiership since early January was 16-23 to Sale on 4 May. London Irish have suffered back to back narrow defeats to Leicester and Bath, but the Exiles have won two of their last three away games. London Irish have won just once at the Stoop in the Premiership since 2001: 25-20 on 9 April 2005.

The Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Will Skinner (c), 6 Nick Easter, 5 Jim Evans, 4 Ollie Kohn, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Ceri Jones.

Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 George Robson, 19 Chris Robshaw, 20 Andy Gomarsall, 21 Tom Williams, 22 Waisea Luveniyali.

London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Delon Armitage, 12 Seilala Mapusua (c), 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau,10 Eoghan Hickey, 9 Peter Richards, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Richard Thorpe, 5 Gary Johnson, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Alex Corbisiero.

Replacements: 16 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 17 Danie Coetzee, 18 Bob Casey, 19 Jonathon Fisher, 20 Adam Thompstone, 21 Paul Hodgson, 22 Elvis Sevealii.

Date: Saturday 27 September, 2008

Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 BST)

Venue: The Stoop

Referee: Dean Richards