L Irish v Harlequins: Teams

Harlequins are facing something of an injury crisis going into Sunday's Guinness Premiership clash against London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.

With an already lengthy injury list, Quins director of rugby John Kingston has now been hit by the absence of wing, Tom Williams who, although making a return last week to the starting line-up, is once again rested after sustaining another injury against Saints last week.

His place on the wing will be taken by Sam Smith, who makes his third starting appearance for the club this season.

The last time he started was against Irish in January, where his intercepted try helped clinch the victory for Quins. The first choice England U20 winger will be keen to make it three tries from three starts.

With Smith starting, Nils Mordt comes in to cover the space on the bench, which also sees the return of the fans favourite, Tani Fuga, who held his Testimonial dinner on Wednesday night.

Spectacle

Meanwhile, Nick Kennedy returns to the London Irish team, partnering Bob Casey in the second row as the Exiles make six personnel changes to the team that drew away at Newcastle last weekend.

There are three other changes among the forwards, Dan Murphy and Faan Rautenbach come in at loose head and tight head prop respectively. George Stowers moves to blindside flanker as Chris Hala'Ufia returns at number eight.

In the only change to the backs, Ryan Lamb links up with Alfredo Lalanne, the Argentine international scrum half, in a new half-back combination.

"We're looking forward to returning to Madejski Stadium on Sunday afternoon," said Toby Booth, London Irish head coach.

"The playing surface there suits the way we want to play the game. We want to get the ball in hand, play with some style and provide a good spectacle for all in the stadium.

"Matches with Harlequins are often a bit of an arm wrestle and I'm sure this one will be no different.

"We will be looking to our forwards to make a big impact both in the set pieces and in the tackle area where we know our contact skills will have to be at their best if we are to succeed in influencing the outcome of the match," Booth concluded.

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Will Skinner (c), 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Matt Cairns, 1 Ceri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga, 17 Aston Croall, 18 James Johnston, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Chris York, 21 Steve So'oialo, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Nils Mordt.

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Peter Hewat, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Alfredo Lalanne, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 George Stowers, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 James Tideswell, 19 Kieran Roche, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Chris Malone, 22 Peter Richards, 23 Mike Catt.