L Irish v Leicester: Teams

London Irish welcome back Samoa trio George Stowers, Seilala Mapusua and Sailosi Tagicakibau for the visit of fellow Aviva Premiership high-flyers Leicester on Saturday.

Tagicakibau returns to the squad for the first time since October as he recovers from injury, while Mapusua and Stowers are back from international duty, with the latter coming into the staring XV at flanker at the Madejski Stadium.

There are more changes in the pack as hooker David Paice, prop Faan Rautenbach and flanker Richard Thorpe come in, while Kieran Roche moves to the second row alongside Nick Kennedy.

Exiles head coach Toby Booth will be hoping that the changes can change the fortunes of his side, who are currently on a four-match losing streak in all competitions.

"We're pleased to be playing at home in front of a good crowd this week. Leicester has always provided a tough challenge; however, we won the same fixture last year so have a lot of belief in our ability to do the same again on Saturday," he said.

"The key will be the breakdown. Dave Pearson is an international referee who prides himself on breakdown accuracy and he is aggressive on its policing. This should enable us to get a good platform to launch the potent attack which we pride ourselves on."

Boost

Leicester will also be boosted by the return of several internationals as six players come back into the match-day squad after spending the autumn away with their countries.

Ireland full-back Geordan Murphy returns to captain a starting line-up that includes England pair Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, Samoa's Alesana Tuilagi and Marcos Ayerza of Argentina. Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni is named among the replacements for the clash.

However, England internationals Tom Croft and Toby Flood will not be available due to injury, with the former likely to become a long-term casualty with a fractured shoulder.

The Tigers will move above their opponents into second place in the Aviva Premiership table if they can continue their impressive league form and claim a win on Saturday.

"We've come through a testing spell while the internationals have been away, with 10 points in the last three league games," director of rugby Richard Cockerill said.

"That has been pretty important for us. But now we're into another massive period with London Irish on Saturday and then back-to-back fixtures against Perpignan in Europe. If we can win at Irish that will cement us in the top four, but if we lose we could slip out of the top places, so it is a big game for us."

London Irish: 15 D Armitage, 14 T Ojo, 13 E Seveali'I, 12 D Bowden, 11 J Joseph, 10 R Lamb, 9 P Hodgson; 8 C Hala'ufia 7 R Thorpe, 6 G Stowers, 5 K Roche, 4 N Kennedy, 3 F Rautenbach, 2 D Paice, 1 C Dermody (capt).
Replacements: 16 B Blaney, 17 A Corbisiero, 18 P Ion, 19 M Garvey, 20 S Armitage, 21 S Tagicakibau, 22 S Mapusua, 23 C Malone.

Leicester: 15 G Murphy (capt), 14 S Hamilton, 13 M Smith, 12 A Allen, 11 A Tuilagi, 10 B Twelvetrees, 9 B Youngs, 8 J Crane, 7 C Newby, 6 T Waldrom, 5 G Skivington, 4 L Deacon, 3 D Cole, 2 G Chuter, 1 M Ayerza
Replacements: 16 R Hawkins, 17 M Castrogiovanni, 18 P Bucknall, 19 E Slater, 20 S Mafi, 21 J Grindal, 22 J Staunton, 23 M Tuilagi