Preview: Leicester v Harlequins
Harlequins have made a handful of changes for their Guinness Premiership trip to Welford Road to face Leicester this Saturday.
Harlequins have made a handful of changes for Saturday's trip to face Guinness Premiership leaders Leicester.
Renowned as one of the toughest places to go – Tigers have won their last 19 home league games – Quins will be looking to upset the balance this week with a win that would banish their most recent Wembley loss to Saracens.
After being injured in Quins' game at the Stoop against Newcastle, Chris Robshaw returns to the forward pack. The two other changes in the forwards are in the front-row with the injured Chris Brooker and Ceri Jones being replaced by Matt Cairns and Aston Croall.
The last-minute withdrawal of Nick Evans last week saw Rory Clegg step into the number ten shirt, where he will also start tomorrow. Ugo Monye regains his starting position on the wing.
After impressing in Monday night's A league game at the Stoop against Wasps, academy stars, Joe Marler and Sam Smith get called up to the bench.
Meanwhile, international forwards Dan Cole and Craig Newby return to the Tigers line-up for Saturday's home game.
Cole, one of England's top performers in this season's Six Nations, starts at tighthead prop, while Newby takes the number eight shirt after Jordan Crane was ruled out by a knock picked up in last Sunday's win over Newcastle.
The back-line from the trip to Newcastle remains intact as Alesana Tuilagi is recovering from the calf injury which ruled him out last weekend.
Martin Castrogiovanni is named among the replacements and fellow front-rower Boris Stankovich returns to the matchday 23 after illness. Brett Deacon is added to the squad as cover in the back-row positions.
“Harlequins are still trying to get a European spot so they have their targets and they will want to come and finish the season on a high,” said Tigers Head Coach Richard Cockerill.
“If we win that definitely gives us a home semi-final, but we need to go out and perform, we can't sit back.”
Form: Leicester are unbeaten in their last 13 matches against Harlequins in all competitions since Quins won 26-23 in the semi-final 1st leg of the Zurich Wildcard at the Stoop on 14 May 2003. Leicester Tigers have suffered just one defeat in their last ten matches in the Guinness Premiership: 3-19 at Northampton on 27 February. The Tigers have won their last 19 home games in the competition – currently the third best home winning run in Premiership history. Harlequins tripped up, 18-37, against Saracens at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, and have not won away from home in the Guinness Premiership since a visit to Leeds Carnegie on 4 December. Harlequins most recent win at Welford Road was 13-12 in the old Division One on 26 April 1997.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt), 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Craig Newby, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Ben Kay, 20 Brett Deacon, 21 James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Lucas Amorosino.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Danny Care 8 Nick Easter, 7 Will Skinner (capt), 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Robson, 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Matt Cairns, 1 Aston Croall.
Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga, 17 Joe Marler, 18 James Johnston, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Sam Smith.
Date: Saturday, April 24
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Venue: Welford Road
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth