The Premiership continues on Friday with two matches scheduled to take place as London Irish take on Saracens and Newcastle Falcons host Sale Sharks.
London Irish v Saracens
Declan Kidney has named the London Irish squad that will welcome Saracens to the Gtech Community Stadium in the Gallagher Premiership on Friday.
Will Goodrick-Clarke, Mike Willemse and Oliver Hoskins are in the front-row, with Api Ratuniyarawa and Adam Coleman at lock. Coleman will captain the side from the five jersey.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Tom Pearson and So’otala Fa’aso’o are the back-row trio.
In the backs, Ben White and Paddy Jackson link up as the half-back duo, with Benhard van Rensburg partnering Will Joseph in the centres.
Ollie Hassell-Collins, Lucio Cinti and Ben Loader complete the line-up from the back three.
Click Here: nsw blues rugby store
For Saracens, Nick Isiekwe, who hasn’t played for the club since June, returns for the game against the Exiles as the Men in Black go in search of their 10th consecutive Premiership victory.
Director of rugby Mark McCall has made four changes to the starting line-up from the side that beat Lyon last weekend in the Heineken Champions Cup, with three up front and one alteration to the backline.
Props Mako Vunipola and Marco Riccioni are joined by Tom Woolstencroft in the front-row, with Isiekwe alongside Hugh Tizard in the second-row, whilst Andy Christie also gets the nod to start in the back-row with Ben Earl and Billy Vunipola.
There is one change to the back-line following Alex Lozowski’s one-week suspension, so Elliot Daly moves in to the midfield on what will be his 50th appearance for the club, and Alex Goode comes in to wear the 15 shirt.
On the bench, there could be a Premiership debut for summer signing Eduardo Bello, and there is also a significant injury boost as Duncan Taylor returns to the match day squad for the London derby.
Form: London Irish’s 39-17 home win over Newcastle in Round 12 ended a five-game losing run in Premiership Rugby. The Exiles have lost only one of their last six home games at GTech Community Stadium in Premiership Rugby and that by a solitary point to Gloucester on October 21. Saracens have won all nine matches they have played in Premiership Rugby this campaign. Saracens have lost just once away from home in Premiership Rugby since mid-February: 54-7 at Gloucester on June 4. London Irish beat Saracens 32-30 at GTech Community Stadium in February to end a nine-game winless run against Saracens in Premiership Rugby. Saracens’ only other previous visit to London Irish’s new home ended in a 20-29 defeat in the Premiership Rugby Cup in November 2021.
The teams:
London Irish: 15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Adam Coleman (c), 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Rob Simmons, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Caolan Englefield, 23 Rory Jennings
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan Van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Max Malins
Venue: GTech Community Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
Gary Graham makes his first appearance of the season for Newcastle Falcons on Friday when they host northern rivals Sale Sharks.
Graham returns to action after injuring his knee on pre-season duty at Leicester Tigers in August.
The Scottish international joins a re-jigged back row which sees the return of Carl Fearns following the head knock he picked up three weeks ago at London Irish, with Callum Chick completing the trio. Guy Pepper misses out with the foot injury he sustained at home to Cardiff last weekend, with Sean Robinson also ruled out after leaving the field with a shoulder injury.
Hooker Jamie Blamire returns to the fray after recovering from the head knock he picked up away to Connacht two weeks ago – Trevor Davison switching to the tight-head side as the Falcons set out in search of their fifth consecutive home league win over Sale Sharks.
That run stretches back to May 2016, with Newcastle’s last home game of 2022 seeing the return of USA international Greg Peterson to the second row. He partners Sebastian de Chaves, who in the last round of Premiership games topped the league-wide stats for line-out steals and line-outs taken on his side’s own throw.
Brett Connon comes in at fly-half after kicking 100% at goal on his last three Premiership outings, with Tom Penny and Matias Moroni forming the centre partnership. Adam Radwan and Mateo Carreras line up on the wings, with head coach Dave Walder relishing the prospect of hosting their nearest Premiership rivals.
Meanwhile, Alex Sanderson makes three changes to Sale’s pack ahead of Friday’s trip to the north east, as Ewan Ashman, Ben Curry and Daniel du Preez all return to freshen up the Sale forwards.
Scotland international Ashman comes in at hooker and lines up alongside Bevan Rodd and Nick Schonert at loosehead and tighthead respectively, with the front-row trio bolstered by the imposing presence of Jonny Hill and Cobus Wiese in the second row.
Ben Curry returns to captain the side, replacing twin brother Tom for Friday night’s fixture. The flanker lines up alongside Jono Ross who retains his place from the Champions Cup. The ever imposing Daniel du Preez returns at number eight in place of Jean-Luc.
Gus Warr and Robert du Preez look to continue in their rich vein of form and will marshal the side at half-back tomorrow.
In the backs, Ryan Mills makes his Premiership debut for Sale at outside centre and lines up alongside Sam Hill, who keeps his spot in the absence of Manu Tuilagi following the England international’s head injury 11 days ago.
Arron Reed continues to impress and is named on the wing alongside Tom O’Flaherty with Luke James making his long-awaited return at full-back.
On the bench, Akker van der Merwe, Ross Harrsson and Joe Jones provide plenty of bulk to cover the front-row with Josh Beaumont and Jean-Luc du Preez acting as further forward replacements.
In his penultimate game before retirement, Joe Simpson takes the 21 shirt to cover Gus Warr, with Tom Curtis and Byron McGuigan providing options for Sanderson in the backs.
Form: Newcastle Falcons’ two-game winning run in Premiership Rugby ended with their 39-17 defeat at London Irish in Round 12. The Falcons have won just twice at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby this season, beating Bristol in Round Four and Exeter in Round 11. Sale Sharks have won their last two Premiership Rugby encounters, both at home to Gloucester and Bristol. The Sharks lost their most recent away game in Premiership Rugby 33-22 at Saracens on October 30 to end a four-game unbeaten run on the road in the tournament. The last seven fixtures between the two clubs in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day. The Sharks have not been victorious at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby since a 21-15 win in May 2016.
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Tom Penny, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Zach Kerr
Sale: 15 Luke James, 14 Arron Reed, 13 Ryan Mills, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Jono Ross, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nic Schonert, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Byron McGuigan
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Dean Richards