L Irish v Northampton: Teams
London Irish boss Toby Booth has called on his side to make the club's supporters "proud" when they entertain Northampton.
By Tony Curtis - Twitter: @SkySportsTC
Last Updated: 22/04/11 1:48pm
London Irish boss Toby Booth has called on his side to make the club's supporters "proud" when they entertain Northampton.
The Exiles are four points off the fourth-placed Saints in the race for the play-off - and a win on Saturday would set up a thrilling final weekend.
And Booth admitted: "The whole squad knows what is at stake on Saturday and they will be going out there to put in a performance to be proud of in front of our loyal supporters."
Booth has made two changes for the match, with Clarke Dermody and Faan Rautenbach returning to the front row.
Northampton go into the match on the back of their loss to Gloucester in midweek - and director of rugby Jim Mallinder knows his side cannot afford to slip up if they are to secure a play-off place.
"London Irish have come back into good form recently and it will be a tough game," said Mallinder.
"They have been playing well over the past few weeks, especially at home, and we know that we need to be fully focused right from the first whistle.
"We came literally within a couple of inches of getting something out of the game against Gloucester on Tuesday, and all of the players have been determined to go one better at the Madejski Stadium and regain the momentum which we had built up over the past month or so."
Mallinder has again made wholesale changes to his line-up - with only Calum Clark retaining his place in the starting XV.
That means the England contingent of Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley all return.
London Irish:15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Tom Homer, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody (c).
Replacements: 16 James Buckland 17 Max Lahiff 18 Paulica Ion 19 Gary Johnson 20 Richard Thorpe 21 Jonathan Joseph 22 Chris Malone 23 Darren Allinson
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Stuart Commins, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Joe Ansbro.
