London Irish have made six changes for tomorrow’s Anglo-Welsh Cup opener against Bath Rugby at the Madejski Stadium (kick-off 3pm).
Scrum-half Brendan McKibbin partners fly-half Theo Brophy Clews at the heart of the Exiles’ backline, while Italian international Luke McLean starts at centre.
Max Northcote-Green, who graduated from Bath’s academy, gets the nod against his former club with the flanker currently enjoying a good run of games following a lengthy injury lay-off.
Jake Schatz packs down at No 8, while Harry Elrington rounds off the changes at loosehead as Irish look to get their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign off to a winning start.
“We’ve had a good training week and everyone is looking forward to playing at the Madejski this weekend,” said Exiles’ director of rugby Nick Kennedy.
“I’ve made a few changes to freshen things up and it’s an opportunity for a number of the guys to cement their place in the team leading up to the midway point of the season.
“Bath are a very well organised and well coached side who have been in good form of late to move into the top four of the Aviva Premiership.
“We are looking forward to starting our Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign and hopefully we can put on a good performance for our supporters.”
London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Theo Brophy Clews, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 1 Harry Elrington, 2 David Paice (c), 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 6 Max Northcote-Green, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Jake Schatz
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 23 Ben Ransom
With under 13s £1 throughout the stadium and adults from only £15, join us on Saturday at the Madejski Stadium with tickets available from www.lidirect.co.uk or call 0118 968 1016.
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