L Irish v Leicester: Teams
London Irish have been boosted by the return of three of their England internationals for the clash against Leicester.
Last Updated: 27/02/09 2:50pm
London Irish have been boosted by the return of three of their England internationals for the clash against Leicester.
Steffon Armitage, Shane Geraghty and Paul Hodgson have all been cleared to play for the Exiles having been involved in the RBS Six Nations in recent weeks.
Irish also welcome Tonga Lea'aetoa back at tighthead prop, with coach Toby Booth expecting a closely-fought encounter.
"Our meetings with Leicester are always very competitive," said Booth.
"There was only one score in it when we met earlier in the season at Welford Road. We will have to replicate that performance on Sunday if we are to get a result against one of Europe's great clubs.
"The Tigers have a culture of success and are well resourced with a big squad of experienced players.
"We enjoy measuring ourselves against the big clubs at Madejski Stadium and are exited about the challenge ahead of us."
Return
Leicester will welcome back leading try-scoring Johne Murphy to the wing for the trip to Reading.
Murphy's return means Scott Hamilton switches to full-back, while Derick Hougaard comes on to the bench.
In the forwards, Mefin Davies and Dan Cole are drafted into the front row, with George Chuter included on the bench. Chuter is currently acting as cover to the England squad in Dublin, so his place will go to Greg Sammons if he is retained for the Six Nations tie against Ireland.
"We played some good stuff against Worcester last week, though we know we need to improve on our execution," said acting head coach Richard Cockerill.
"We have a tight-knit group of players and we need to transfer that spirit into points and results."
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Elvis Seveali'i, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Richard Thorpe, 5 Bob Casey (captain), 4 James Hudson, 3 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Alex Corbisiero, 17 Danie Coetzee, 18 Gary Johnson, 19 Declan Danaher, 20.Sailosi Tagicakibau, 21 Peter Richards, 22 Mike Catt.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Aaron Mauger (c), 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Ben Woods, 6 Craig Newby, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Santiago Bonorino, 18 Marco Wentzel, 19 Brett Deacon, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Derick Hougaard, 22 Ayoola Erinle.