London Irish v Quins: Teams

There is a fresh look to the London Irish team for Sunday's match with Harlequins in the latest round of this season's LV= Cup.

With eight players in the England Elite, Saxons and Under 20s squads and a number of injuries, the Exiles call upon the resources of their squad for this fixture with the club's local rivals.

"Irrespective of the competition, matches between Harlequins and London Irish are always entertaining and hard fought and I'm sure this one will be no different," said London Irish Head Coach Toby Booth.

"There is no doubt that Quins will be looking to use this match as a way to kick-start their season and this is a threat we are well aware of. Our visitors are skilled in pushing the breakdown laws to the limit; ensuring that our contact skills remain first class will be key in determining the outcome of this match.

"We are fortunate to have a squad that has real strength in depth; the imminent arrival of the Six Nations and more Rugby World Cup qualifying matches provides us with the perfect platform to show what we are fully made of," Booth concluded.

Unbeaten

Meanwhile, with a win and a draw already under their belts so far in this season's LV= Cup, Quins find themselves unbeaten going into this Sunday's game.

With the absence of England Elite squad members Ugo Monye, Danny Care, Nick Easter and Chris Robshaw, along with David Strettle who starts for the England Saxons this weekend, there are a handful of changes to the side that ran out against Cardiff Blues last Sunday at the Stoop.

In the backs, Nick Evans and Mike Brown return to their familiar positions of fly-half and full-back, with Rory Clegg moving to the bench. Young George Lowe and Sam Smith (England U20's squad member), cover the wings, while last week's centre pairing of Jordan Turner-Hall and Gonzalo Tiesi remains intact.

Karl Dickson starts at scrum-half and Steve So'oialo makes a welcome return to the bench.

In the forwards, Matt Cairns comes in to link up with Ceri Jones and John Andress in the front row. There is no change to the second -row partnership of James Percival and Lewis Stevenson, but academy star Chris York starts on the flank, alongside Skinner, and Tom Guest starts in the number eight shirt.

Quins' most recent signing, Tomas Vallejos, makes his first appearance on the bench

London Irish:15 Peter Hewat (c), 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Peter Richards, 8 George Stowers 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Andy Perry, 4 Gary Johnson, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 James Buckland, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 James Tideswell, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 John Rudd, 22 Alfredo Lalanne, 23 Jamie Lennard.

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