New arrival Brendon O'Connor will make his Leicester Tigers debut in the opening game of this season's European Rugby Champions Cup, against Stade Francais Paris at Welford Road on Friday evening (7.45pm).O’Connor started work at Tigers last week after completing his commitments in New Zealand, and is named in the back row for Friday’s Pool 4 opener alongside Tom Croft and Lachlan McCaffrey.
Marcos Ayerza makes his first appearance of the season after recovering from an injury suffered on the eve of Argentina’s game in the Bronze Medal Final at the Rugby World Cup and he joins fellow internationals Tom Youngs and Dan Cole in the Tigers front row.
Peter Betham and captain Mathew Tait return to the starting team and Ben Youngs starts a game on home turf for the first time since the World Cup.
Leonardo Ghiraldini, who captained Italy at the World Cup, returns from injury and is included among the replacements alongside international team-mate Matias Aguero who has been added as front-row cover in the absence of Michele Rizzo and Logovi’i Mulipola.
Pool games in the Champions Cup are included in Tigers season tickets. For all other supporters, match tickets are still available. The ticket office is open at Welford Road 9am-5.00pm Thursday and from 9.00am up to kick-off on Friday, or phone 0116 319 8888 (option 2) 8.30am-5.00pm Thursday and from 8.30am Friday. Or click here to book online. A print at home function is available on online purchases.
Leicester Tigers (v Stade Francais Paris, Welford Road, Friday 7.45pm)
15 Mathew Tait (c)
14 Adam Thompstone
13 Peter Betham
12 Matt Smith
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Owen Williams
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Mike Williams
5 Mike Fitzgerald
6 Tom Croft
7 Brendon O’Connor
8 Lachlan McCaffrey
Replacements
16 Leonardo Ghiraldini
17 Matias Aguero
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Dom Barrow
20 Jordan Crane
21 Sam Harrison
22 Seremaia Bai
23 Telusa Veainu
Stade Francais Paris: 15 Hugo Bonneval; 14 Julien Arias, 13 Paul Williams, 12 Herman Meyer Bosman, 11 Jérémy Sinzelle; 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Julien Dupuy; 1 Zak Taulafo, 2 Laurent Panis, 3 Adrien Oleon, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 5 Pascal Papé, 6 Patrick Sio, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 8 Sergio Parisse (c)
Replacements: 16 Dany Priso, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Jonathan Ross, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 23 Josaia Raisuqe
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Team news: Tigers v Stade Francais
12 November 2015 12:00 PM
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