Leeds v London Irish: Teams
Paul Hodgson will mark his 100th appearance for London Irish by leading out his side when they take on Leeds on Sunday.
By Joe Drabble
Last Updated: 27/01/08 7:11pm
Paul Hodgson will have the honour of leading out London Irish onto Headingley Carnegie Stadium on Sunday when he makes his 100th senior appearance for the Exiles.
London Irish take on Leeds Carnegie in the Guinness Premiership - and the 26-year-old is hoping to mark his momentus day with a much needed victory.
Hodgson's 100th appearance caps an exciting week for the scrum-half who trained with the England squad last Monday following the withdrawl of his team-mate Peter Richards through injury.
Hodgson's return is one of six changes to the Exiles team that secured an historic Heineken Cup quarter-final place for the club in Treviso last weekend.
Eoghan Hickey is joined by Hodgson in a new half-back partnership as Shane Geraghty moves to inside centre.
In the pack Danie Coetzee swaps with David Paice at hooker. Kieran Roche returns from the eye injury he suffered against Perpignan last-year and will play at blindside flanker.
Difficult task
Richard Thorpe moves to number eight and Bob Casey captains the team.
"After the excitement of the past fortnight's Heineken Cup action it will be good to return to our Guinness Premiership campaign this Sunday," said London Irish coach Brian Smith.
"That said we face a very difficult task in Leeds where we haven't won since 2004.
"Leeds Carnegie's league position belies a strong and talented team.
"Stuart Lancaster is moulding them into an attacking unit that can punish any opposition that is not at its best, especially at Headingley.
"We'll be travelling north under no illusions about the difficulty of the task that awaits us in West Yorkshire."
For Leeds winger John Holtby and back row Adam Balding are set to return for the visit of the Exiles.
Balding, who is currently on loan from Gloucester will start on the bench in place of Calum Clark, who returns to the starting line-up.
Holtby is set to make only his fifth start of the campiagn after impressing the Leeds coaches in training.
Record breaker
The Tykes also welcome back Jon Dunbar into the starting line-up after the explosive wing missed last week's defeat against Castres.
Leigh Hinton will revert to full-back and Johnny Hepworth will start in the centre in place of Rob Vickerman who is named as a replacement.
James Brooks is hoping to make his first appearance in the league since he featured against London Wasps at the start of January - he is named on the bench.
Joe Bedford will captain the team once again after Stuart Hooper was ruled out with an ongoing injury.
Tom Biggs is still searching for try 37 as he bids to equal Dan Scarbrough as the highest ever try scorer in the history of the club.
Leeds: 15 Leigh Hinton, 14 John Holtby, 13 Jonny Hepworth, 12 Lee Blackett, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Joe Bedford (c), 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Jon Dunbar, 5 Erik Lund, 4 Pablo Bouza, 3 Tommy McGee, 2 Vili Ma'asi, 1 Mike MacDonald.
Replacements:16 Fosi Pala'amo, 17 James Parkes, 18 Danny Paul, 19 Adam Balding, 20 James Brookes, 21 Andy Tuilagi, 22 Rob Vickerman
London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 Tomas De Vedia, 13 Delon Armitage, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Eoghan Hickey, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Richard Thorpe, 7 Declan Danaher, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Bob Casey (c), 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 Danie Coetzee, 1 Tonga Lea'aetoa.
Replacements: 16 Dan Murphy, 17 David Paice, 18 James Hudson, 19 Phil Murphy, 20 Steffon Armitage, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi