Tigers coach Pat Howard has named his side to face unbeaten Gloucester at Welford Road this Saturday. Jordan Crane gets his first appearance for the club in the back row, Geordan Murphy returns to the back-line after missing the match at Bath through injury and Lewis Moody is in the matchday set-up for the first time this season.
Moody, who played the full 80 minutes for Tigers Development against Worcester on Monday night, is joined on the bench by fly-half Paul Burke, who is included for the first time since his summer switch from Munster.
Marcos Ayerza gains his first Premiership start in the front row, with Leo Cullen packing down alongside James Hamilton at lock.
"The four second rows are very close and Leo came back later in the summer after being involved in the Irish tour, so he has had to wait, but he was always going to play in this game," said Howard. "Jordan Crane has plenty of Premiership experience even as a young guy. He gets his chance and we are looking forward to having a look at him. Lewis Moody comes in on the bench and he will be raring to go."
Shane Jennings, Harry Ellis, Ben Kay, Henry Tuilagi, Alex Moreno and Louis Deacon are counted out by injury, while Howard had to consider the ruling on overseas players before finalising his side, with Daryl Gibson missing out. Samoan and Fijian players in the squad are covered by the Kolpak agreement and are not affected by the overseas ruling.
"We are only allowed one overseas player on the field at any time, which is why we withdrew Daryl when Marcos Ayerza had to go on at Bath last week," said Howard. "That can become difficult to manage and we felt on this occasion we would leave Daryl out."
Moody, who played the full 80 minutes for Tigers Development against Worcester on Monday night, is joined on the bench by fly-half Paul Burke, who is included for the first time since his summer switch from Munster.
Marcos Ayerza gains his first Premiership start in the front row, with Leo Cullen packing down alongside James Hamilton at lock.
"The four second rows are very close and Leo came back later in the summer after being involved in the Irish tour, so he has had to wait, but he was always going to play in this game," said Howard. "Jordan Crane has plenty of Premiership experience even as a young guy. He gets his chance and we are looking forward to having a look at him. Lewis Moody comes in on the bench and he will be raring to go."
Shane Jennings, Harry Ellis, Ben Kay, Henry Tuilagi, Alex Moreno and Louis Deacon are counted out by injury, while Howard had to consider the ruling on overseas players before finalising his side, with Daryl Gibson missing out. Samoan and Fijian players in the squad are covered by the Kolpak agreement and are not affected by the overseas ruling.
"We are only allowed one overseas player on the field at any time, which is why we withdrew Daryl when Marcos Ayerza had to go on at Bath last week," said Howard. "That can become difficult to manage and we felt on this occasion we would leave Daryl out."
Tigers team to play Gloucester, Saturday September 16, 3pm:
15 Sam Vesty
14 Geordan Murphy
13 Dan Hipkiss
12 Matt Cornwell
11 Seru Rabeni
10 Andy Goode
9 Scott Bemand
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 George Chuter
3 Julian White
4 Leo Cullen
5 James Hamilton
6 Jordan Crane
7 Luke Abraham
8 Martin Corry (c)
Replacements:
16 James Buckland
17 Martin Castrogiovanni
18 Lewis Moody
19 Brett Deacon
20 Frank Murphy
21 Paul Burke
22 Tom Varndell
There are still a limited number of tickets available for this game. Tickets can be purchased from the ticket office on 08701 28 34 30 or online at www.tigers.talentarena.co.uk
