Leeds v London Irish: Teams
Leeds Carnegie have made five changes to their side for the visit of London Irish on Sunday.
Last Updated: 20/09/09 5:43pm
Leeds have made five changes to their side for the visit of last season's Guinness Premiership runners-up London Irish this Sunday.
Two of those alterations come in the backline with 21-year-old centre Luther Burrell set to make his first appearance for the first-team since May 2008.
Scott Armstrong also starts this week after being a replacement in the opening two games of the 2009-10 season.
Injuries to hooker Rob Rawlinson and captain Marco Wentzel have forced two changes in the forwards with Vili Ma'asi and Jon Pendlebury coming in whilst Juan Gomez will make his first start of the season in place of Tommy McGee.
Meanwhile, London Irish will be looking for an improvement on last Sunday's home win if they are to come away with the points.
Four changes
"Any team coached by two former Leicester stalwarts will certainly present a tough challenge as it will reflect the proven techniques that those coaches are used to," said Exiles head coach Toby Booth.
"As for ourselves we have to ensure that we improve on what we produced last Sunday if we are to be successful."
The Exiles make four changes to the team that played at Madejski Stadium.
The complete front-row is rotated as Faan Rautenbach, James Buckland and Dan Murphy make the starting XV for the first time this term. Peter Hewat takes over at full-back following the injury to Delon Armitage last Sunday.
In other selection news, summer signing Chris Malone is named among the replacements for the first time since joining the club in July.
Leeds: 15 Jon Goodridge, 14 Richard Welding, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Scott Barrow, 11 Scott Armstrong, 10 Ceiron Thomas, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 AlfieTo'oala, 7 Hendrie Fourie, 6 Kearnan Myall, 5 Jon Pendlebury (c), 4 Erik Lund, 3 Juan Gomez, 2 Vili Ma'asi, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Phil Nilsen, 17 Alex Moreno, 18 Tommy McGee, 19 Calum Clark, 20 Danny Paul, 21 Scott Mathie, 22 Henry Paul, 23 Jonny Hepworth.
London Irish:15 Peter Hewat, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Sailosi Tagickibau, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Bob Casey (c), 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Clarke Dermody, 17 David Paice, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Andy Perry, 20 George Stowers, 21 Chris Malone, 22 Peter Richards, 23 Alfredo Lalanne.
