L Irish v Saracens: Teams

At Madejski Stadium, Sunday November 23, kick-off 3pm

Last updated: 21st November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

L Irish v Saracens: Teams

Van Heerden: Wil make his first start for Saracens

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London Irish coach Toby Booth has kept faith with the same line-up that toppled Newcastle for the visit of Saracens.

That means assistant coach Mike Catt will captain the side with Bob Casey away on Ireland duty.

The only change comes on the bench, with Tom Homer coming in after Tonga Lea'aetoa was called into the Pacific Islands squad for their match with Italy.

South African Wikus van Heerden will make his starting debut for Saracens having impressed off the bench.

Van Heerden replaces Andy Saull in the line-up, with Rodd Penney and Tom Ryder also handed starts.

Penney replaces Kevin Sorrell on the wing after recovering from injury, while Ryder is given the nod to start in the second row ahead of Kris Chesney.

"Andy Saull has played extremely well all season but we just feel that we'd get a better 80 minutes out of Wikus van Heerden this week," explained Saracens director of rugby Eddie Jones.

"Both Wikus and Brad Barritt showed up well in their debuts last week so they continue in the side. Rodd Penney is fit again so he returns in place of Kevin Sorrell who did very well for us last week on the wing.

"It's going to be a tough game against London Irish but we will be going there looking to impose our attack and defence.

"We were disappointed with the performance against Gloucester last week and we've identified the areas in which we need to improve and I expect us to do just that this weekend."

London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 James Bailey, 10 Mike Catt (c), 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia, 7 Declan Danaher, 6 Richard Thorpe, 5 Kieran Roche, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Gary Johnson, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Charlie Gower, 22 Tom Homer.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Rodd Penney, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Andy Farrell (c), 11 Noah Cato, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Cobus Visagie, 2 Matt Cairns, 1 Nick Lloyd.
Replacements: 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Tom Mercey, 18 Kris Chesney, 19 Andy Saull, 20 Micky Wilson, 21 Brad Barritt, 22 Kevin Sorrell.