Planet Rugby

Preview: London Irish v Sale Sharks

06th January 2012 11:24

SKY_MOBILE Clarke Dermody London Irish

100 games for Exiles: Clarke Dermody

Clarke Dermody will celebrate his 100th appearance for London Irish in Sunday's Aviva Premiership clash with Sale Sharks at the Madejski Stadium.

Dermody will start at loosehead prop and will be joined in the front row by David Paice and Paulica Ion.

Matt Garvey will start alongside Nick Kennedy in the second row with Bryn Evans moving to the back row with Jamie Gibson and Alex Gray. Adrian Jarvis will partner Darren Allinson at half back and Jonathan Spratt will play at outside centre.

"Consistency comes from continuity in selection," said London Irish Head Coach Toby Booth.

"It would be nice to be able to select the same team two weeks in a row. Having said that the boys coming in have done well in the earlier part of the season and get the chance to put on the shirt in a very important time of the season for us."

Meanwhile, Sale have made three changes, one positional, to their side.

Tony Buckley and Onosa'i Auva'a replace Henry Thomas and David Seymour in the front and back rows respectively.

James Gaskell moves to the second row, allowing Richie Vernon to come in at flanker.

"We're going down to one of the most difficult away venues," said Sharks boss Steve Diamond.

"London Irish are a side whose results can be hard to predict, but they'll be fired up after their reverse at Bath last Sunday. We'll be travelling with a largely similar team to that which played at Leicester, and with the same mindset."

Form: London Irish's last four games in Aviva Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day, however the Exiles have won just two of their last five matches at Madejski Stadium in all competitions. Sale Sharks' four game winning run ended at Leicester on New Year's Day. The Sharks' only away win in the Premiership since round three was 16-13 at Bath on 3 December. Sale won 30-29 at Edgeley Park when the two sides met in round two, and are going for a first season's double over the Exiles since 2005/06.

Rugby Union betting odds

The teams:

London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Tom Homer, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Alex Gray 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Bryn Evans, 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody (c).
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Faan Rautenbach, 19 Bob Casey, 20 David Sisi, 21 Adam Thompstone, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Paul Hodgson

Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou (c), 11 Joaquin Tuculet, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Onosa'i Auva'a, 6 Richie Vernon, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Lee Imiolek, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Luther Burrell, 23 Will Addison.

Date: Sunday, January 8
Venue: Madejski Stadium
Kick-off: 15.00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes

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