London Irish v Saracens: Teams
Saracens welcome back England international Dan Scarbrough to the starting line-up for Saturday's clash at London Irish.
Last Updated: 29/02/08 2:45pm
Saracens welcome back England international Dan Scarbrough to the starting line-up for Saturday's Guinness Premiership clash at London Irish.
The 30-year-old full back will make his first start for nearly five months against the Exiles having fully recovered from knee surgery and is one of a host of changes to Alan Gaffney's line-up.
In the forwards, Cobus Visagie earns a start at tight-head prop while Hugh Vyvyan, David Seymour and Ben Skirving all return to the starting line-up.
Glen Jackson also returns from the hamstring injury that saw him ruled out last week while Francisco Leonelli and Rodd Penney swap positions.
"We're not expecting Kevin Sorrell back for another few weeks so we're going to give Francisco (Leonelli) a run at outside centre - a position he has played at international level," said Gaffney.
Freedom
"That also allows us to move Rodd (Penney) back to the wing where he has performed well for us and it gives him a bit more freedom to play.
"We've addressed a few things in training this week and we've all agreed that we've been lacking a bit of ambition on certain areas of the pitch.
"We seem to have gone away from the principles that have served us so well and we have to get back to the way we have been playing for the past 18 months.
"We face a tough challenge at London Irish and they are a very good team and with guys like Bob Casey and Nick Kennedy in the side, they have one of the best defensive lineouts in the competition - the statistics prove that.
"While they have a few injuries in midfield like us, they can play with pace and have firepower and experience across the pitch."
Mapusua return
Seilala Mapusua returns as the hosts prepare for the visit of Sarries to the Madejski Stadium.
The Samoan international has recovered from the hand injury he suffered against Leicester Tigers last year - and will start at inside centre partnered by Delon Armitage.
Mike Catt continues at fly half with Paul Hodgson, back from the England senior squad, taking over at scrum half.
Bob Casey skippers the side and leads a settled pack into this important "London derby" match, and Exiles Director of Rugby, Brian Smith praised his injury-hit squad for their impressive recent displays.
"We go into tomorrow's match unbeaten in 2008 and with plenty of confidence," said Smith.
"We've been hit with an avalanche of injuries since Christmas but despite this we've found a way to keep winning.
"Our last home match against the Tigers was a victory full of passion, pride and endeavour. We'll need a performance of that quality again tomorrow in order to get a result.
"The Saracens squad is full of talent. The half back combination of Neil De Kock and Glenn Jackson are as good as any in world rugby.
"They have some talented 'monsters' in the pack, including Census Johnson and Chris Jack. And there is plenty of gas out wide with Brent Russell and Richard Haughton.
"We will have to produce another outstanding performance to stop them. With the enthusiastic backing of our supporters I'm confident that we can do so."
London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Delon Armitage, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Mike Catt, 9 Paul Hodgson, 1 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 2 David Paice, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 4 Nick Kennedy, 5 Bob Casey (capt) 6 Kieran Roche, 7 Steffon Armitage, 8 Richard Thorpe.
Replacements: 16 Dan Murphy, 17 Stuart Mackie, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 James Hudson, 20 Declan Danaher, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi.
Saracens: 15 Dan Scarbrough, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Francisco Leonelli, 12 Adam Powell 11 Rodd Penney, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil De Kock (capt), 1 Nick Lloyd, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 6 Paul Gustard, 7 David Seymour, 8 Ben Skirving.
Replacements: 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Cencus Johnston, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Kris Chesney, 20 Alan Dickens, 21 Brent Russell, 22 Kameli Ratuvou.