Scrum-half Scott Steele starts for London Irish on his 100th appearance for the Exiles in their Championship Cup clash with Cornish Pirates at the Madejski Stadium this Sunday (kick-off 3pm).

Marking the milestone against the same opposition from his 50th appearance, Steele will lead out the team as they look to continue the strong start made to the Cup campaign.

Terrence Hepetema is set to make his debut for the club after being named at inside centre, accompanying academy graduate Tom Fowlie who wears the 13 jersey.

Stephen Myler retains his place at fly-half and partners Steele at the heart of the Exiles’ backline.

Napolioni Nalaga continues his comeback from injury and gets the nod in a backline made up of England under-20 international winger Ben Loader and full-back Greig Tonks.

Lovejoy Chawatama switches sides at the front of the scrum and packs down with former Wallaby Saia Fainga’a and Ollie Hoskins.

Barney Maddison captains the side alongside Sebastian De Chaves in the second-row whilst Max Northcote-Green, Isaac Curtis-Harris and Jake Schatz make up the back-row.

Group 2 fixtures:-

Sun 18 Nov London Irish v Cornish Pirates (kick-off 3pm)

Sun 25 Nov London Irish v Bedford Blues (kick-off 3pm)

Sat 1 Dec Bedford Blues v London Irish (kick-off 3pm)

Sun 9 Dec London Irish v Hartpury RFC (kick-off 3pm)

Sat 15 Dec Cornish Pirates v London Irish (kick-off 2pm)

Tickets for all home fixtures can be purchased at ticketing.londonirish.net or by calling 0118 968 1016 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 12pm).

Following the pool stage, the quarter-finals are scheduled to be played on the weekend 1-3 February, the semi-finals on the weekend 22-24 February, and the final on Saturday the 4 May.

London Irish: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Scott Steele, 1 Lovejoy Chawatama, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 4 Barney Maddison (C), 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 6 Max Northcote-Green, 7 Isaac Curtis Harris, 8 Jake Schatz

Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 18 Matt Rogerson, 19 Jack Cooke, 20 Rory Brand, 21 Jacob Atkins, 22 Matt Williams 

 

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