Key players back for Saracens and Glasgow
England stars Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell have been named in the Saracens side to take on Glasgow Warriors in the Champions Cup quarter-final encounter at Allianz Park.
Meanwhile, Ben Spencer will make his 150th Sarries appearance and he forms a half-back partnership with the returning Farrell.
The England captain’s inclusion sees Alex Goode move back to full-back while Liam Williams switches to the wing.
In the pack, Maro Itoje has recovered from his knee injury to slot in at blindside flanker and George Kruis is back in the second-row following a week’s RNR.
Props Richard Barrington and Christian Judge join hooker Jamie George in the front-row in Saracens’ only other changes from the side that defeated Harlequins at London Stadium last time out.
For Glasgow, Stuart Hogg has recovered from the injury he suffered in the Six Nations and will start at full-back for against Saracens on Saturday.
The 26-year-old plays for the first time since injuring his shoulder in Scotland’s game against Ireland.
Kyle Steyn scored his first try for the club in last weekend’s victory over the Cheetahs at Scotstoun and he switches from centre to wing this Saturday with Rory Hughes completing the back three.
Sam Johnson returns from international duty to start at inside centre, while Stafford McDowall moves to 13 having also got on the scoresheet against the Cheetahs.
Ali Price is brought back into the starting XV and combines with Adam Hastings in the half-backs.
George Horne has returned from injury to be selected among the replacements and Jonny Gray will also look to make an impact off the bench.
Glasgow head coach Dave Rennie said: “It’s a massive weekend and exactly the kind of game we want to be competing in.
“We know Saracens well having played them twice already this season. We tested them for big chunks of those games and know that if we play at our best for 80 minutes we have the firepower to make it to the semi-finals.”
The teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Liam Williams, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Titi Lamositele, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 David Strettle
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Samuel Johnson, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu
Date: Saturday, March 30
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Ian Davies (Wales)
Television match official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)