Planet Rugby

Preview: Harlequins v Sale

11th December 2009 10:00

Dwayne Peel against the Dragons

At the base: Dwayne Peel

Harlequins will be delighted to have captain Will Skinner back in their starting line-up for this Sunday's Heineken Cup clash with Sale.

There are a handful of changes to the team that beat Leeds away last Friday. In the forwards, Skinner will join Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter in a familiar-looking back-row, allowing Robshaw to return to the familiar number six shirt.

Lewis Stevenson joins George Robson at lock, replacing the injured James Percival, and Chris Brooker starts in place of Tani Fuga.

In the backs, Lions finisher Ugo Monye returns to the wing after missing last week's game due to illness, moving George Lowe into the centres where he replaces the injured Nils Mordt.

Elsewhere and after having to retire from last week's game at the very last minute, Mike Brown returns to full-back, moving Tom Williams to the bench. Danny Care takes a one match break and is replaced by Karl Dickson.

Meanwhile, the Sharks will welcome back a clutch of key first-team players on Sunday.

Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones is once again able to choose from Dwayne Peel, Mark Cueto, Lee Thomas and Chris Jones but captain Dean Schofield misses out with a shin injury and Kristian Ormsby due to a knee problem

"We have been looking forward to this game after our home win over Cardiff Blues in October. It's the first of three games against Quins in 19 days and I am sure they will be three physical and very tough encounters," said Jones.

"Quins are improving every week and players like Easter and Care make a huge contribution, although I hear Care is suspended for this game.

"We are able to welcome back several players this week although my captain Dean Schofield is unavailable after picking up a shin injury last week."

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 George Lowe, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Will Skinner (capt), 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Robson, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 John Andress, 2 Chris Brooker, 1 Ceri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga, 17 Aston Croall, 18 Mark Lambert, 19 Neil McMillan, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Steve So'oialo, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Tom Williams.

Sale: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson (capt), 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 David Seymour, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Sean Cox, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Jack Forster, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Eifion Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Martin Halsall, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Luke Abraham, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 David Bishop, 23 Oriol Ripol.

Date: Sunday, December 13
Kick-off: 12:45 GMT
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: David Bodily (Wal), Colin Kirkhouse (Wales)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor: Steve Lander (England)

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