50 up for Nizaam Carr as Wasps host Northampton

Adam Kyriacou

There’s two games on the Premiership schedule this Sunday as London Irish take on Exeter Chiefs while Wasps host Northampton Saints.

London Irish v Exeter Chiefs

Allan Dell, Saia Fainga’a and Ollie Hoskins start in the London Irish front-row for their home clash with league leaders Exeter Chiefs.

Franco van der Merwe and Adam Coleman form the second-row, with Steve Mafi, Blair Cowan and Albert Tuisue named in the back-row.

Ben Meehan starts at scrum-half and partners Stephen Myler, who is named at fly-half. Tom Stephenson is at inside centre with Curtis Rona at outside centre. Ollie Hassell-Collins, Belgium Tuatagaloa and Alivereti Veitokani are the back three.

Among the replacements sees a welcome return from injury for Dave Porecki, who is set to make his first competitive appearance of the season.

Meanwhile, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter has been forced to change his winning formula with England prop Harry Williams suspended following his red card against Saracens. His absence means a first Premiership start for Argentinian international Enrique Pieretto.

Other changes in the pack see Jannes Kirsten come into the engine room in place of Jonny Hill and Don Armand start in the back-row with Jacques Vermeulen sitting this weekend out.

Behind the scrum, the vastly experienced Gareth Steenson starts at fly-half, while Sam Hill comes into the centre alongside Ollie Devoto.

The teams:

London Irish: 15 Alivereti Veitokani, 14 Belgium Tuatagaloa, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Franco van der Merwe (c), 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Barney Maddison, 20 Matt Rogerson, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Jacob Atkins, 23 Bryce Campbell

Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Dave Dennis (c), 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Stuart Townsend, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Phil Dollman

Venue: Madejski Stadium
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Tim Wigglesworth
TMO: Geoff Warren

Wasps v Northampton Saints

Wasps academy graduate Tom West will make his first Premiership start against Northampton Saints this Sunday at the Ricoh Arena.

The 23-year-old loosehead prop is the only change to the starting line-up as Wasps look to back up last weekend’s bonus-point win over Bristol Bears.

West deputises for the injured Ben Harris who misses out with a shoulder injury, adding to Wasps’ injury woes in the number one position with Zurabi Zhvania (knee) and Simon McIntyre (concussion) also out.

Back-row Nizaam Carr, who was the hero last week when he raced over to earn Wasps the win at Bristol, is set to start again at number eight for his 50th club appearance.

Despite some illness across the squad, Thibaud Flament has recovered to be named among the replacements while Jack Owlett and Jeff Toomaga-Allen are named as loosehead and tighthead replacements respectively.

Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd has made four changes to his side to face Wasps. They are looking to maintain their excellent start to the league campaign, having won five of seven matches so far to sit second on the ladder.

Boyd has made three changes to the pack that helped see off Gloucester last time out at Franklin’s Gardens, with club captain Alex Waller and tighthead Paul Hill coming into the front-row either side of Mikey Haywood.

The other switch sees David Ribbans start his first match since mid-November at lock, with Courtney Lawes moving into the back-row and Alex Moon keeping his spot in the engine room.

Flanker Tom Wood and number eight Teimana Harrison round off the pack, with Cobus Reinach – scorer of two tries against the Cherry and Whites – and Dan Biggar shaking off knocks to start just behind them in the half-back berths.

Piers Francis and Rory Hutchinson start together again in the centres to complete a midfield of international quality for Saints, while the only change to the backline sees Ahsee Tuala come in on the wing to join Tom Collins and full-back George Furbank in the back three.

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Jack Willis, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Jack Owlett, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Juan de Jongh

Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison (cc), 7 Tom Wood, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller (cc)
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Matt Proctor, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro

Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Hamish Smales
TMO: Graham Hughes