Lood de Jager and Sean O’Brien set for Premiership debuts

David Skippers

There are two Premiership fixtures scheduled for Friday with Worcester Warriors and Sale Sharks hosting Northampton Saints and London Irish respectively.

Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints

Brothers Graham and Andrew Kitchener will start together for the first time in a Premiership match when Warriors host Northampton Saints at Sixways.

The brothers – both locks – were on opposing sides when Warriors faced Leicester Tigers in a Premiership Rugby Cup match in November 2018 but have become team-mates since Graham, the elder brother, rejoined Warriors from Tigers last summer.

The Kitcheners played together for the first time in a Premiership Rugby Cup match against Exeter Chiefs in October and they have played parts of Warriors’ last two Premiership matches alongside each other in the second-row after Andrew replaced Anton Bresler.

Bresler failed a head injury assessment at Leicester last Saturday and will miss the Northampton match but Graham, who also took a knock to the head at Welford Road, has come through the concussion protocols.

Sam Lewis starts on the openside flank as Marco Mama suffered a foot injury against Leicester and he has been ruled out for around five weeks.

There are two changes in the backs with former England international Chris Pennell recalled at full-back and Jono Lance at fly-half in place of Duncan Weir who has been named in Scotland’s squad for their last two Six Nations matches.

Former Scotland U20s back-row forward Tom Dodd is in line to make his Premiership debut having started in three European Challenge Cup matches this season.

Dodd, who recently signed his first senior contract with Warriors, is one of three members of the Warriors Academy in the squad to face Northampton along with wing Nick David and replacement loosehead prop Kai Owen.

Meanwhile, Northampton Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd has made five changes to his side for this fixture.

The men in Black, Green and Gold enter the clash without a win in four matches, but despite a frustrating run of results they still sit fourth in the league standings, and will be looking to extend a superb recent run against Worcester which has seen Saints win seven of the last eight meetings between the sides.

Three of Boyd’s changes to the starting XV come in the backline, with Tom Collins returning to the wing to join Taqele Naiyaravoro and full-back Harry Mallinder in the back three.

Andrew Symons is drafted into the centres to add some ballast to Northampton’s midfield, with Rory Hutchinson moving outside him into the number 13 jersey, and James Grayson steps back in at fly-half to partner Cobus Reinach.

The only change to the front-row is at hooker, where Mikey Haywood is selected to pack down in between props Francois van Wyk and Paul Hill.

Meanwhile, locks Alex Coles and Lewis Bean retain their places in the engine room, but Saints’ back-row sees one change as Lewis Ludlam returns from international duty to partner Tom Wood at flanker, with skipper Teimana Harrison leading out the side wearing the number eight jersey.

Amongst the replacements the Franks brothers and Fiji’s Sam Matavesi bring some international pedigree to the front-row, while the likes of Henry Taylor, Fraser Dingwall and Ahsee Tuala will hope to make an impact off the bench if they enter the action.

Form: Worcester Warriors’ only victory in the last seven rounds of Premiership Rugby was 20-6 at home to London Irish on 28 December. The Warriors have slipped to three straight defeats in all tournaments at Sixways, they have not lost four in succession at home in the same season since 2015/16. Northampton Saints have lost their last four Premiership Rugby encounters, their worst run since December 2017. The Saints have won two of their last three away games in all competitions. Northampton have lost only one of their last eight encounters with Warriors – 15-30 at Sixways in November 2017.

The teams:

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Nick David, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Matt Moulds (c), 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 GJ van Velze, 20 Tom Dodd, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Scott van Breda

Northampton Saints: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Andrew Symons, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 James Grayson, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison (c), 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Lewis Bean, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Ben Glynn, 20 JJ Tonks, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Ahsee Tuala

Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Jamie Leahy
TMO: David Rose

Sale Sharks v London Irish

Sale Sharks boss Steve Diamond has named a strong matchday squad to take on London Irish in their Premiership encounter at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Diamond has made five changes to his squad that defeated Gloucester at Kingsholm in Round 12 as World Cup winner Lood de Jager prepares to make his club debut after recovering from the shoulder injury he sustained during the World Cup Final in November.

Jake Cooper-Woolley is the sole change in the forwards for Friday’s match, with the experienced Premiership tighthead trading places with WillGriff John in the starting line-up.

Cooper-Woolley joins Rob Webber and Coenie Oosthuizen in the front-row with the now familiar lock partnership of Jean-Luc du Preez and Bryn Evans in the engine room behind them. Jono Ross captains the side from an unchanged back-row including Ben Curry and the formidable Daniel du Preez.

Will Cliff continues to impress at scrum-half and will marshal the team alongside Robert du Preez. The Springbok fly-half has the James brothers outside him with Luke and Sam at inside and outside centre respectively.

The only other change in the starting line-up sees Denny Solomona return on the right wing in place of Byron McGuigan who has been in Six Nations camp this week with Scotland. Solomona joins the in-form Marland Yarde and ever-present Simon Hammersley in the back three.

After dropping out late in round 12, Ross Harrison returns to the squad as a replacement for Oosthuizen. The Sharks stalwart is joined on the bench this week by World Cup-winning duo Faf de Klerk and De Jager along with returning Scotland international McGuigan.

Meanwhile, Seán O’Brien will make his London Irish debut as he starts on the blindside flank for the Exiles in this match.

The Irish international is one of three changes from the side that hosted Wasps last weekend with Sekope Kepu and Ben Donnell also coming into the starting line-up.

Harry Elrington, Motu Matu’u and Sekope Kepu start in the front-row with Adam Coleman alongside captain Franco van der Merwe in the engine room. O’Brien and Ben Donnell are the two flankers respectively with Fiji international Albert Tuisue at number eight.

Ben Meehan and Stephen Myler are the half-back pairing with Terrence Hepetema and Curtis Rona in the midfield. An all-academy back three of Ollie Hassell-Collins, Ben Loader and Tom Parton start together.

Saia Fainga’a, Will Goodrick-Clarke, Ollie Hoskins, Steve Mafi, Matt Rogerson and Blair Cowan are the forward replacements with Nick Phipps and Bryce Campbell covering the backs.

Form: Sale Sharks’ only defeat in the last five rounds of Premiership Rugby was 22-36 at Saracens on 15 February. The Sharks have won their last four home games in Premiership Rugby since their 16-18 reversal to Gloucester in Round One. London Irish’s three game winning run in Premiership Rugby ended with their defeat at home to Wasps on Sunday. The Exiles have won their last two away games in the tournament at Northampton and at Harlequins, but have not won three in succession on their travels in Premiership Rugby since November 2008. The Sharks have won their last five Premiership Rugby encounters with London Irish since the Londoners’ 25-23 victory at Madejski Stadium in April 2015. The Exiles have never won on five previous visits to AJ Bell Stadium.

The teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Luke James, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Jean-Luc du Preez, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 WillGriff John, 19 James Phillips, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Byron McGuigan

London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Ben Donnell 6 Seán O’Brien, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Franco van der Merwe (c), 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Motu Matu’u, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Matt Rogerson, 21 Blair Cowan, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Bryce Campbell

Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt

London Irish