Leeds v London Irish: Teams

Leeds head coach Neil Back has made wholesale changes to his line-up for the visit of London Irish on Sunday.

Stung by the defeat to Newcastle last time out, Back has changed six players and made four positional switches.

The big boost for Leeds is the return of England internationals Steve Thompson and Hendre Fourie, while Gareth Hardy, Adrian Jarvis, Scott Mathie and Luther Burrell also start.

Daniel Browne will move to the second row, while Michael Stephenson starts at full-back, Lachlan MacKay is named in the centres and Henry Fa'afili shuffles to the wing.

Momentum

London Irish have made just the one change following their victory over Harlequins.

Jonathan Joseph, who has just signed a new deal at the Exiles, replaces Adam Thompstone on the wing.

"It was good to get back to winning ways last week but this Sunday's fixture presents a fresh challenge," said boss Toby Booth.

"The boys have trained well and we know what is at stake. We're at the business end of the season now and so we will be going all out to build momentum and come away from the game with a win."

Leeds Carnegie: 15 Michael Stephenson, 14 Henry Fa'afili, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Lachlan MacKay, 11 Peter Wackett, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Scott Mathie, 8 Alfie To'oala, 7 Hendre Fourie, 6 Kearnan Myall, 5 Marco Wentzel (capt), 4 Daniel Browne, 3 Phil Swainston, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Scott Freer, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Sean Hohneck, 20 Danny Paul, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Ceiron Thomas, 23 Scott Barrow.

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Dan Bowden, 11 Jonathan Joseph, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody (capt).
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Kieran Roche, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Adam Thompstone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Darren Allinson.