London Irish v Sale: Teams
Sale welcome back flanker David Seymour to their starting XV for Sunday's trip to the Madejski Stadium.
Last Updated: 31/10/10 5:23pm
Sale welcome back flanker David Seymour to their starting XV for Sunday's Aviva Premiership encounter at the Madejski Stadium.
The all-action forward has been out of action for over a month after picking up an injury in the Premiership match at Bath on September 25th.
Prop Henry Thomas is again named on the bench, on standby to make his debut.
Speaking ahead of the match, Sharks' head coach Mike Brewer said: "The way we play will depend on our supply of ball. Irish have got a very good defensive line-up. We'll have to be smart there, more accurate than we were last week.
"Our set piece showed 85 per cent success and we can improve on it. Where we have to improve our game is taking the ball into the collision. We were losing the ball too soon, too quickly at the first tackle.
Fantastic
"If we do kick the ball from a position on the field, we're giving away soft penalties.
"For the game against Irish, we've devised a strategy where we think we can put them under pressure. They're a good side. Dave Ellis is probably one of the best defensive coaches in the World. He did a fantastic job in France and the London Irish defence is a tough nut to crack."
Meanwhile, London Irish make two changes to the team that started against Exeter Chiefs last weekend for Sunday's clash.
Both changes are among the backs where Tom Homer makes his first appearance of the season at full-back in place of Delon Armitage who is with the England squad. Jonathan Joseph takes over on the left wing for Sailosi Tagicakibau who picked up an injury in last week's match.
"The Aviva Premiership is the mainstay of our season and is the tournament that provides a true measure of our progress season upon season," said London Irish boss Toby Booth.
"We want to continue the momentum we've established in the league to date into the forthcoming break for the autumn internationals.
"We've scored 16 tries in eight matches so far this season and intend to build on that. Our success in try-scoring depends on quick ball so that is a paramount concern this afternoon. Sale showed against Leeds last weekend just how effective they can be at slowing the ball so we will have to be effective today, especially at the breakdown."
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Daniel Bowden, 11 Jonathan Joseph, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Chris Hala'Ufia, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Alex Corbisiero, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody (capt).
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Faan Rautenbach, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Steffon Armitage, 21 Elvis Seveali'i, 22 Chris Malone, 23 Darren Allinson.
Sale: 15 Paul Williams, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Chris Bell, 12 Anitelea Tuilagi, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Will Cliff; 1 Aston Croall, 2 Neil Briggs (capt), 3 Karena Wihongi, 4 Wame Lewaravu, 5 Nic Rouse, 6 Carl Fearns, 7 David Seymour, 8 Kristian Ormsby.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Lee Imiolek, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 21 Chris Brightwell, 22 Chris Leck, 23 Rob Miller.