London Irish has named its match day 23 to play Harlequins at The Stoop on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Harry Elrington, Dave Porecki and Sekope Kepu start in the front row with captain Franco van der Merwe and Adam Coleman in the second row. Matt Rogerson, Blair Cowan and Albert Tuisue are the back-row trio. 

Ben Meehan and Stephen Myler continue their combination at 9 and ten with Terrence Hepetema and Curtis Rona in the midfield. Ollie Hassell-Collins and Waisake Naholo start on the wing with Ben Loader making his return from injury to start at full-back. 

Ben Atkins, Allan Dell and Ollie Hoskins are the front row replacements with Steve Mafi and Ben Donnell covering the second and back row. Atkins and Donnell return for the break in the U20 Six Nations to be included in the match day squad, with Dell returning from senior international duty with Scotland. Nick Phipps, James Stokes and Matt Williams will cover the back positions. 

London Irish director of rugby, Declan Kidney said: “The squad are looking forward to the contest on Saturday having not played for a few weeks. 

“Harlequins will be buoyed by their performance against Exeter in the Premiership Rugby Cup and Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership. They are playing with confidence, so we know it will be tough, but we are excited by the challenge.”

For tickets to London Irish home fixtures, please click here.

London Irish:
15 Ben Loader, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Ben Meehan, 1 Harry Elrington, 2 Dave Porecki, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Franco van der Merwe ©, 5 Adam Coleman, 6 Matt Rogerson, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Albert Tuisue

Replacements:
16 Ben Atkins, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Williams, 23 James Stokes

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