L.Irish v Leicester Anglo Welsh LV= Cup preview

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith has named a squad that is a mix of youth and experience for their Anglo Welsh LV= Cup match against Leicester Tigers.

Topsy Ojo captains the side from full-back, joined in the back three by Guy Armitage and Academy player Cameron Cowell who starts his first senior game for the club.

The centre partnership of Eamonn Sheridan and Eoin Griffin is reunited with Myles Dorrian, who was man-of-the-match versus Rovigo, starting at fly-half with Darren Allinson at scrum-half.

The front row sees Jamie Hagan alongside Jimmy Stevens and Leo Halavatau, with Kieran Low and Dave Lyons packing down in the second row.

Jebb Sinclair starts at number eight with Luke Narraway, who scored the crucial try last weekend against Grenoble in the Challenge Cup, on the blindside and Conor Gilsenan wearing the number seven jersey.

The bench sees many of the London Irish senior Academy players given a chance to impress; with Tom Smallbone, Ollie Curry, Connor Murphy, Ross Neal and Harry Lightfoot-Brown hoping to get their first taste of senior rugby of the season after impressing in the ‘A’ League.

Meanwhile, recent signings Tommy Bell and Jack Roberts are both included in the Leicester Tigers squad.

Bell, signed from Jersey earlier this month, starts at full-back while former Rotherham Titans centre Roberts is named among the replacements for the trip to the Madejski Stadium.

Scrum-half Sam Harrison has the honour of captaining the Tigers for the first time.

Tigers hand senior debuts to England Under-20 squad members Jake Farnworth and Charlie Beckett in the forward pack and to development squad fly-half Oli Bryant. Paul Grant, on loan from Nottingham, is at No8.

The replacements include development squad back-rower Ed Milne and academy duo Joe Maksymiw and Charlie Thacker who have all gained Premiership ‘A’ League experience this season.

Date: Saturday, November 1
Venue: Madejski Stadium
Kickoff: 15:00 (GMT)
Match Officials
Referee: Steve Lee
Assistant Referees: Kelvin Stewart, Paul Burton

Teams

Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo (c), 14 Guy Armitage, 13 Eamonn Sheridan, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Cameron Cowell, 10 Myles Dorrian, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Luke Narraway, 5 Kieran Low, 4 Dave Lyons, 3 Leo Halavatau, 2 Jimmy Stevens, 1 Jamie Hagan

Replacements: 16 Mike Mayhew, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Ollie Curry, 21 Connor Murphy, 22 Ross Neal, 23 Harry Lightfoot-Brown

Leicester: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Miles Benjamin, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Javiah Pohe, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Oli Bryant, 9 Sam Harrison (c), 8 Paul Grant, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Charlie Beckett, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Jake Farnworth, 1 Tom Bristow

Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Fraser Balmain,. 19 Joe Maksymiw, 20 Ed Milne, 21 David Mele, 22 Jack Roberts, 23 Charlie Thacker