Planet Rugby

Preview: London Welsh v London Irish

30th November 2012 12:12

gordon ross northampton london welsh

Pivot: Gordon Ross

London Welsh head coach Lyn Jones keeps faith with the side that ground out a hard earned bonus point at Franklin's Gardens, for the visit of London Irish to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.

"The boys were extremely disappointed after last week's game to only come away from Franklin's Gardens with a losing bonus point, when we had the ability and the opportunity to get a win," said Lyn Jones.

"After their performance last weekend we're backing the same group of players to go out against London Irish and perform again.

"We've a huge amount of respect for London Irish and Brian Smith, and we know how tough a game it's going to be."

George Skivington returns to the London Irish side for tomorrow afternoon's Aviva Premiership match. Skivington will partner Bryn Evans in the second row with Matt Garvey moving to the back row. Jebb Sinclair is named as a replacement after returning from his loan with Western Province in South Africa.

"Lyn Jones has done a great job at London Welsh, they are a tough side to play and will be tough tomorrow. We have prepared well this week and will be ready to go come 1pm tomorrow afternoon," said London Irish Director of Rugby Brian Smith.

Form: The 'Battle of the Exiles' pits tenth against eleventh in the Aviva Premiership table with Welsh holding a slender four-point advantage. The two sides have met frequently in pre-season. The last meeting between the clubs ended in a 30-21 victory for London Irish at Sunbury in August 2011. Welsh have already claimed the scalps of Exeter Chiefs and Bath Rugby at the Kassam Stadium this season. Irish still have won just once on their travels in the Aviva Premiership since September 2011. This is the first Premiership clash between the two sides.

London Welsh: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Dan Caprice, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Adam Balding, 7 Ed Jackson, 6 Daniel Browne, 5 Kirill Kulemin, 4 Jonathan Mills (capt), 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Franck Montanella.
Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 James Tideswell, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Alfie To'oala, 21 Jamie Stephenson, 22 Alex Davies, 23 Seb Jewell.

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 Anthony Watson, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Chris Hala'ufia, 7 Matt Garvey, 6 Declan Danaher (c), 5 Bryn Evans, 4 George Skivington, 3 Leo Halavatau, 2 Brian Blaney, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements 16 Gerard Ellis 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Kieran Low, 20 Jebb Sinclair, 21 Jamie Gibson, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Jack Moates.

Date: Saturday, December 1
Kick-off: 13:00
Venue: Kassam Stadium
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Andrew Watson
Timekeeper: Brian Abrahams
Assessor: Jerry Wallis

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