Marcus Smith starts for Quins after signing new deal

Colin Newboult
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Harlequins' Marcus Smith during the Gallagher Premiership match at Twickenham Stoop, London.

The Premiership continues on Saturday and Sunday as three matches take place, including the clash between Harlequins and Leicester Tigers.

Saturday

Harlequins v Leicester Tigers

Second-row Matt Symons is set to make his 50th appearance for Harlequins this weekend having been named in the club’s starting line-up to face Leicester Tigers.

Quins’ coaching team opt for an almost unchanged side for a third week in a row, with one change to the starting line-up as tighthead prop Simon Kerrod starts in the three jersey in place of Springbok Wilco Louw, who takes up a spot on the bench.

There are two further changes to the matchday 23, as fly-half Brett Herron takes up the 22 jersey on the bench, joined by Wallaby centre Ben Tapuai, who will wear 23.

On the hunt for a third consecutive Premiership win for the first time since the 2018/19 season, Quins look to secure a first home win of the season, having gone unbeaten against Leicester Tigers in the last three encounters between the two clubs.

Meanwhile, Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick has made four changes to the matchday squad which defeated Worcester Warriors at Welford Road last weekend, including a new captain in Jaco Taute.

Luan de Bruin and Julián Montoya retain their places in the front-row and are joined by Joe Heyes at tighthead prop.

Heyes is among 10 Tigers academy graduates included in the squad for trip to Twickenham Stoop, including Calum Green who is joined by Argentina international Tomás Lavanini in an unchanged second-row.

In the back-row, Hanro Liebenberg shifts from the blindside flanker to number eight, with Cyle Brink retaining his spot at openside flanker. Tigers Academy graduate George Martin comes in to the back-row at blindside flanker.

At half-back, Jack Van Poortvliet starts alongside Zack Henry and, in the midfield, skipper Taute is joined by fellow international Matt Scott.

Full-back Freddie Steward, in his 20th appearance for Leicester, is joined in a new-look back three by international duo Kini Murimurivalu and Matías Moroni.

Tom Youngs, Nephi Leatigaga and Dan Cole are included as the front-row replacements with Harry Wells and Tommy Reffell the other forwards on the bench.

Ben White, Johnny McPhillips and Dan Kelly are included as the replacement backs.

Form: Harlequins have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches and have not won three in a row in the tournament since March 2019. The Londoners have not been victorious at the Twickenham Stoop in any competition since beating Northampton there on 30 August. Leicester Tigers’ only defeat in the last four Rounds of the Premiership was at home to Sale on 29 January, although this sequence does include a declared win over Northampton in Round 6. The Tigers have not won a league match played away from home since a trip to Newcastle in April 2019. Harlequins are unbeaten in their last three encounters with the Tigers since Leicester’s 35-24 victory at Welford Road in December 2018. Tigers have won on two of their last three visits to the Stoop in Premiership Rugby.

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aaron Morris, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Archie White, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Glen Young, 20 Richard de Carpentier, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Brett Herron, 23 Ben Tapuai

Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Kini Murimurivalu, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Jack Van Poortvliet, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 George Martin, 5 Calum Green, 4 Tomás Lavanini, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Luan de Bruin
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Ben White, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Dan Kelly

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 16:00 GMT
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Mike Hudson, Paul Dix
TMO: Graham Hughes

Exeter Chiefs v London Irish

Exeter Chiefs are boosted by the return from England duty of tighthead prop Harry Williams for their Premiership clash with London Irish.

Williams was released from the England squad earlier this week and returns to the Chiefs front-row in one of three changes boss Rob Baxter has made to his starting line-up.

The tighthead comes in to replace Marcus Street, who drops to the bench, whilst the other two changes see Tom Hendrickson and Josh Hodge added to the back division in place of Ian Whitten and Facundo Cordero.

For London Irish, Will Goodrick-Clarke and Lovejoy Chawatama are the starting props and, fresh from signing a new deal with the club, Agustin Creevy is at hooker.

Steve Mafi and Rob Simmons combine in the second-row, with Ben Donnell at blindside flanker and Blair Cowan at openside flanker, with the latter captaining the side. Albert Tuisue completes the pack from number eight.

Ben Meehan and Paddy Jackson are the half-back duo, as Terrence Hepetema and Curtis Rona continue their partnership in the centres.

Ben Loader and Ollie Hassell-Collins are named on the wings, with James Stokes set to wear the 15 jersey.

Form: Exeter Chiefs have lost only twice in their last 10 Premiership Rugby matches, both in early January, at Wasps and at home to Bristol. The Bristol defeat ended a four-game winning run at Sandy Park in all competitions. Excluding their two declared defeats in Rounds 4 and 5, London Irish have not lost in the Premiership since their home fixture with Sale on 6 December. The Exiles most recent away win in Premiership rugby was against today’s opponents, Exeter, at Sandy Park in Round 21 last season. London Irish have not won successive fixtures against Exeter since 2011. The Exiles only other victory at Sandy Park was 12-9 in October 2010.

The teams:

Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tom Hendrickson, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Will Witty, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 James Kenny, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Don Armand, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Ian Whitten

London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Blair Cowan (c), 6 Ben Donnell, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Lovejoy Chawatama, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 George Nott, 20 Matt Rogerson, 21 Jack Cooke, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Theo Brophy-Clews

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 16:15 GMT
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant Referees: Greg Macdonald, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Geoff Warren

Sunday

Worcester Warriors v Wasps

Jamie Shillcock will start his first Premiership match in almost a year when Worcester Warriors face Wasps in a West Midlands derby at Sixways on Sunday.

Shillcock will start at fly-half as Scotland international Duncan Weir faces a lengthy lay-off having sustained a shoulder injury at Leicester last weekend and Billy Searle is still recovering from a gashed thigh.

Shillcock, who replaced Weir at Leicester, made his last Premiership start at full-back on February 29 last year although he has started twice at fly-half this season in the Challenge Cup matches against Pau and Ospreys this season.

The pivot will have an experienced international pair outside him as South African Francois Venter returns to partner Welshman Ashley Beck in the centre. Venter will make his first start in two months having missed a month due to illness.

There are four changes to the pack that started at Leicester with hooker Isaac Miller called up for his first Premiership start of the season in place of Niall Annett who has been rested along with Marco Mama as part of the club’s rotation policy.

Ethan Waller and Justin Clegg, who were replacements at Leicester, return at loosehead prop and lock respectively, and Ted Hill returns to captain the side from the blindside flank.

Former captain GJ van Velze is in line to make his first appearance of the season off the bench having recovered from the serious shoulder injury he sustained at Exeter in late August.

Lock Andrew Kitchener has recovered from an elbow injury and is also on the bench along with rookie fly-half Fin Smith who is in line to make his debut.

If Smith does get on he will become only the second 18-year-old to play for Warriors in the Premiership. Lock Graham Kitchener, who will start on Sunday, was 18 years and 195 days old when he made his debut against Wasps in April 2008. Jonny Arr was only 18 years and 129 days old when he was named as a replacement against Bristol in 2007 but was not used.

Smith, who will be 18 years and 279 days old Sunday, impressed playing for Warriors U18s last season before joining the academy during the summer and has since been included in this season’s England U20s Elite Player Squad.

Meanwhile, Lee Blackett has named his Wasps side to travel to Sixways in the Premiership on Sunday.

There are six changes to the starting line-up from the fixture against Northampton Saints.

Josh Bassett is back from injury to start on the left wing. Bassett’s return sees Matteo Minozzi switch to full-back. The rest of the backline is unchanged.

Tom West returns from the England Six Nations squad to start at loosehead prop. West is joined in the front-row by Tommy Taylor and Kieran Brookes.

Levi Douglas and James Gaskell make up the second-row pairing.

Brad Shields captains the side once more and is joined in the back-row by Ben Morris at openside flanker and Tom Willis at number eight.

Amongst the replacements, Sione Vailanu is in line for his first appearance of the season.

Paolo Odogwu, Dan Robson and Jack Willis remain away with England, while Will Rowlands is with Wales for their Six Nations campaigns.

Form: Worcester Warriors’ only ‘victory’ in any competition since November was the declared win at home to Harlequins in Round 5 of Premiership Rugby. The Warriors’ most recent success in a match played at Sixways was 11-10 over London Irish on the opening weekend of the season. Wasps have lost their last two league matches both at home, to Harlequins and Northampton, but have not lost three in succession in the competition since December 2019. Wasps have lost only once away from home in their last nine trips in all tournaments: 24-40 against Gloucester at Kingsholm in Round 2 of Premiership Rugby. Wasps have won their last dozen fixtures against the Warriors in the Premiership since Worcester’s 29-23 victory at Sixways in March 2013.

The teams:

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Nick David, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Gareth Simpson, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ted Hill (c), 5 Justin Clegg, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Isaac Miller, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Oli Morris

Wasps: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Sam Wolstenholme, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Morris, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 James Gaskell, 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Theo Vukasinovic, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Michael Le Bourgeois

Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Dean Richards, Sara Cox
TMO: Claire Hodnett

 

Exeter Chiefs