Topsy Ojo makes his long awaited return for tomorrow’s Greene King IPA Championship clash with newly-promoted Richmond at the Madejski Stadium (kick-off 3pm).
Ojo, who embarks on his twelfth campaign with Irish, sustained an arm injury during his side’s Premiership trip to Worcester Warriors last Easter.
And the experienced winger, 31, will be looking to add to his career tally of 72 tries when the south-west London club visit the Madejski.
Ojo is one of three changes to the side that defeated Doncaster Knights 19-0 in last week’s opening Championship fixture.
Centre Fergus Mulchrone and blindside flanker Joe Trayfoot get the nod as Irish look to make it back-to-back league wins.
Mulchrone partners Johnny Williams at centre, with both Ojo and fellow Academy product Ross Neal providing the pace on either wing. Greig Tonks retains his place at full-back, while Tommy Bell and Brendan McKibbin start at fly-half and scrum-half respectively.
Hooker David Paice captains the Exiles in the absence of Luke Narraway, who picked up a knock last week, and is supported by loose-head Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi and tight-head Ben Franks in the front-row.
George Robson and Sebastien De Chaves occupy the second-row with Trayfoot, Blair Cowan and Ofisa Treviranus adding significant weight to the back-row.
“I’m delighted to welcome back Topsy [Ojo] to the starting XV, his experience this season will be crucial,” said Exiles Director of Rugby Nick Kennedy.
With a keen eye on improvement, Kennedy added: “I was very pleased with last week’s winning start, but it’s important that we build on that and continue to improve.
“Richmond will be a physically tough test and as always, we will need to be ready for the challenge. There were a few things that we needed to work on following the Doncaster game and hopefully we ironed those things out and put things right this weekend.”
Tickets are available from £18 for Members and £20 for non-members with discounts available for those under 25. Kids go for £3 in the unreserved areas.
Call 0118 968 1016 or click here to buy online.
Hospitality packages are still available for this fixture, starting at just £36 +vat per person. For more information or to buy a package please email [email protected] or call 01932 750 113.
London Irish: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Ross Neal, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 David Paice (c), 3 Ben Franks, 4 George Robson, 5 Sebastien De Chaves, 6 Joe Trayfoot, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Ofisa Treviranus
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Max Northcote-Green, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Ben Ransom
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