Back-rower Danaher returns to the fold

Declan Danaher will return to the London Irish back row to face Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership at Madejski Stadium this weekend (kick-off 1.15pm).

Topsy Ojo returns on the wing with Dan Bowden moving to inside centre. Adrian Jarvis and Ross Samson form the half back combination. Matt Garvey moves to the second row with Danaher and Hala’ufia returning to the back row alongside Richard Thorpe.

London Irish head coach Toby Booth said: “We were bitterly disappointed with our performance last Saturday and this has given us strong focus for training this week. The Premiership table is tight with only six points separating fourth and eighth positions. There is still a lot of rugby to be played and there is still everything to play for.”

Starting XV:
15. Delon Armitage
14. Topsy Ojo
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Daniel Bowden
11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
10. Adrian Jarvis
9. Ross Samson
1.Max Lahiff
2. David Paice
3. Faan Rautenbach
4. Nick Kennedy (Captain)
5. Matt Garvey
6. Declan Danaher
7. Richard Thorpe
8. Chris Hala’ufia

Replacements:
16. James Buckland
17. Clarke Dermody
18. Paulica Ion
19. Kieran Roche
20. Jebb Sinclair
21. Tom Homer
22. Jonathan Spratt
23. Darren Allinson