Preview: Leicester v Saracens
during the Aviva Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Saracens at Welford Road on January 1, 2017 in Leicester, England.
Logovi’i Mulipola returns to the Leicester Tigers starting XV for their Christmas Eve fixture against Saracens at Welford Road.
Mulipola comes in at loosehead prop in the only change to the starting team from the side that played against Munster in the Champions Cup. He replaces Kyle Traynor, who moves to the bench.
Harry Wells comes in for Dom Barrow on the bench in the only other change to the matchday 23.
Head coach Matt O’Connor said: “We did a lot of good things against Munster last weekend and moving back into the Premiership over the next couple of weeks, that will put us in good stead.
“Saracens have been through the rigours of Europe too, so they are going to be battle-hardened and ready. We need to make sure that we make a couple of refinements in our game and that we put out a performance that is good enough to win the game.”
For Saracens, Owen Farrell continues as captain while Michael Rhodes makes his long-awaited return to the bench after injury and Juan Figallo comes into the team in place of Vincent Koch.
Schalk Burger replaces Calum Clark at openside flanker and Alex Lozowski continues at inside centre in place of Brad Barritt, who remains sidelined following a head injury against Clermont at Allianz Park.
Ben Spencer starts at scrum-half with skipper Farrell at 10, Nick Isiekwe continues on the blindside after an impressive showing in Clermont while Will Skelton partners George Kruis in the second-row.
Mako Vunipola starts along with Jamie George and Figallo in the front-row as Jackson Wray continues in the eight shirt. Chris Wyles, Alex Goode and Sean Maitland make up the back-line.
Tom Whiteley continues on the bench alongside fellow academy graduates Nathan Earle and Nick Tompkins. Rounding off the bench are Christopher Tolofua, Richard Barrington, Koch and Clark.
The teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Mike Williams, 6 Valentino Mapapalangi, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Logovi’i Mulipola
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Nick Malouf
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Calum Clark, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Nathan Earle
Date: Sunday, December 24
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Peter Allan, Paul Dix
TMO: Rowan Kitt