TEAM NEWS: London Irish unchanged for return leg

London Irish have named an unchanged side for this Saturday’s Greene King IPA Championship Play-off Semi-final second leg against Doncaster Knights at the Madejski Stadium (kick-off 1.15pm).

Irish take a 35-3 lead into this weekend’s return leg, Nick Kennedy’s men running in six tries at Castle Park last Sunday.

A brace apiece from David Paice and Aseli Tikoirotuma either side of the break, coupled with further scores from Alex Lewington and Sebastian De Chaves gives Irish the advantage.

Exiles boss Kennedy wants more of the same from his troops as the club targets a place in the Championship Play-off Final.

“We had to work extremely hard to come away from Doncaster with a healthy lead and we must continue to play with the same intensity this Saturday,” said the Heineken Cup winner.

“Doncaster will be keen to bounce back from defeat and as we saw in last year’s play-offs, they are a side that can come from behind so we are certainly taking nothing for granted.”

Opting to name the same XV as last weekend, Kennedy said: “Momentum is key at this stage of the season and it makes sense to stick with a winning formula.

“I thought we played some excellent free-flowing rugby at their place, which was good to see. This season has been all about peaking at the right time and that’s what we have been aiming to do by keeping the lads fresh throughout the campaign.

“Each department, whether it’s the strength and conditioning staff to the medical team, have done superbly to prepare the lads for this situation.”

London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 James Marshall, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 David Paice (c), 3 Ben Franks, 4 Sebastian De Chaves, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 6 Mike Coman, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Ofisa Treviranus

Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Tom Court, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 George Robson, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Greig Tonks

The time is now - the Play-off Semi-final, London Irish v Doncaster Knights on Saturday 6 May. Tickets from just £15 for adults and £2 for children from www.lidirect.co.uk or 0118 968 1016.