Quins v Newcastle: Teams

Quins director of rugby Conor O'Shea makes a number of changes to his team for the LV= Cup clash with fellow Aviva Premiership side Newcastle.

Ross Chisholm takes on the full-back role and is joined in the backline by Sam Smith and George Lowe.

Tom Casson takes the captaincy where he will no doubt appreciate the support of fellow centre Ollie Smith.

Casson's fellow England U20 team-mate, Rory Clegg will take up the reins at fly-half, combining with Dave Moore, who makes his first competitive start in the Quins shirt.

The familiar faces of Joe Marler, Chris Brooker and Mark Lambert link together in the front-row, with Ollie Kohn and Pete Browne supporting them in the second-row.

The back-row sees all three players making competitive starts for the club; new signing Maurie Fa'asavalu starts on the blindside.

"On the back of an outstanding performance last week up in Welford Road it is vital we back that up on Sunday," said O'Shea.

"We have made a number of changes to the team but are confident that we are really developing the depth within the group, and that this team will do a job on Sunday and continue to provide us with the options you need if you are going to compete week in week out in all competitions."

Newcastle head coach Alan Tait has made a whole host of changes to the side that defeated Ospreys 18-17 last week.

Alex Tait starts at full-back in place of Jeremy Manning who slots in at ten and the Falcons welcome back Michael Tait, Gcobani Bobo and Andrew Henderson to the backline.

Chris Pilgrim is replaced by Micky Young at scrum-half with Will Welch, Redford Pennycook and Tim Swinson in.

"The injuries have taken their toll again and we're a couple of guys down this week and obviously we've got a massive game the week after," said Tait.

"Some of the calls were not 50-50 but the likes of Rob Vickers were close to been in the 20 to play. But I said to Rob it's a long way to travel and it's a big journey and I wanted him to stay at home because he'll start against Gloucester.

"There's been a couple of decisions like that where players need to rest and nurse their niggles rather than push them out this week.

"This gives some of the other lads an opportunity but this is what this competition is all about for us and it gives some of the other lads a chance, particularly the youngsters."

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Sam Smith, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Tom Casson (capt), 11 George Lowe, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Dave Moore, 8 Chris York, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 Pete Browne, 4 Ollie Kohn, 3 Mark Lambert, 2 Chris Brooker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 James Johnston, 19 George Robson, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Urdapiletta, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague.

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Michael Tait, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Jeremy Manning , 9 Micky Young, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Redford Pennycook, 6 Will Welch, 5 Tim Swinson (capt), 4 Glen Townson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Joe Graham, 1 Grant Shiells.
Replacements: 16 Sean Crombie, 17 Micky Ward , 18 James Hall, 19 Brent Wilson, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 James Fitzpatrick, 23 Tom Catterick.