Geordan Murphy, Toby Flood and Martin Castrogiovanni return from the Six Nations to take their place in the Leicester Tigers team for Saturday's Guinness Premiership fixture against London Irish (5.35pm).
Club captain Murphy returns at full-back after gaining his 63rd cap for Ireland at Twickenham last Saturday.
Scott Hamilton moves to the wing to accommodate Murphy, while Flood resumes at fly-half, and Lote Tuqiri makes his final appearance for the club before his return to Australia next week.
Castrogiovanni takes the tighthead prop shirt and the only other change since last week’s trip to Northampton Saints is in the second row, where Calum Green takes over from the injured Ben Kay.
Back-rower Tom Croft is named among the replacements on his return from injury.
Head coach Richard Cockerill said: “We played poorly at Northampton last week, our standards are higher than that, and the manner of the defeat hurts. But we move on and we are still a good team, we are still the defending champions.
“We didn’t like losing last week and we have to do everything we can to bounce back.
“Irish are a good side, they play with some width, their back-rowers are very direct and very good over the ball, and they have some stand-out performers across the pitch. If you make mistakes or if you are not on top of your game, they can punish you.”
As well as Kay, Tigers have Lucas Amorosino, Richard Blaze, Dan Hipkiss and Aaron Mauger sidelined, while England trio Dan Cole, Louis Deacon and Lewis Moody are unavailable.
Tickets for Saturday’s game are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Phone the hotline on 0844 856 1880, book online or call in at Welford Road.
Leicester Tigers (v London Irish, Welford Road, Saturday 5.35pm)
15 Geordan Murphy (c)
14 Scott Hamilton
13 Lote Tuqiri
12 Anthony Allen
11 Alesana Tuilagi
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Mefin Davies
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Calum Green
5 Geoff Parling
6 Craig Newby
7 Ben Woods
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 George Chuter
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Julian White
19 Brett Deacon
20 Tom Croft
21 James Grindal
22 Jeremy Staunton
23 Matt Smith
Scrum-half Paul Hodgson returns to London Irish’s 23-man squad and former Tigers hooker James Buckland is called into the front row.
Ryan Lamb reverts to his usual fly-half role and John Rudd comes into the team on the right wing in place of the injured Topsy Ojo.
Head coach Toby Booth said: “We go into the Leicester match with a lot of self-belief. Leicester will be smarting after their defeat to Northampton Saints, so we have to be mindful of that.
“They are top of the table at the moment, but we’ve made significant improvements in recent weeks, and this will be a great opportunity to measure that improvement.” Booth added.
Club captain Murphy returns at full-back after gaining his 63rd cap for Ireland at Twickenham last Saturday.
Scott Hamilton moves to the wing to accommodate Murphy, while Flood resumes at fly-half, and Lote Tuqiri makes his final appearance for the club before his return to Australia next week.
Castrogiovanni takes the tighthead prop shirt and the only other change since last week’s trip to Northampton Saints is in the second row, where Calum Green takes over from the injured Ben Kay.
Back-rower Tom Croft is named among the replacements on his return from injury.
Head coach Richard Cockerill said: “We played poorly at Northampton last week, our standards are higher than that, and the manner of the defeat hurts. But we move on and we are still a good team, we are still the defending champions.
“We didn’t like losing last week and we have to do everything we can to bounce back.
“Irish are a good side, they play with some width, their back-rowers are very direct and very good over the ball, and they have some stand-out performers across the pitch. If you make mistakes or if you are not on top of your game, they can punish you.”
As well as Kay, Tigers have Lucas Amorosino, Richard Blaze, Dan Hipkiss and Aaron Mauger sidelined, while England trio Dan Cole, Louis Deacon and Lewis Moody are unavailable.
Tickets for Saturday’s game are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Phone the hotline on 0844 856 1880, book online or call in at Welford Road.
Leicester Tigers (v London Irish, Welford Road, Saturday 5.35pm)
15 Geordan Murphy (c)
14 Scott Hamilton
13 Lote Tuqiri
12 Anthony Allen
11 Alesana Tuilagi
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Mefin Davies
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Calum Green
5 Geoff Parling
6 Craig Newby
7 Ben Woods
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 George Chuter
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Julian White
19 Brett Deacon
20 Tom Croft
21 James Grindal
22 Jeremy Staunton
23 Matt Smith
Scrum-half Paul Hodgson returns to London Irish’s 23-man squad and former Tigers hooker James Buckland is called into the front row.
Ryan Lamb reverts to his usual fly-half role and John Rudd comes into the team on the right wing in place of the injured Topsy Ojo.
Head coach Toby Booth said: “We go into the Leicester match with a lot of self-belief. Leicester will be smarting after their defeat to Northampton Saints, so we have to be mindful of that.
“They are top of the table at the moment, but we’ve made significant improvements in recent weeks, and this will be a great opportunity to measure that improvement.” Booth added.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer; 14 John Rudd; 13 Elvis Seveali’i; 12 Seilala Mapusua; 11 Peter Hewat; 10 Ryan Lamb; 9 Paul Hodgson; 1 Dan Murphy; 2 James Buckland, 3 Faan Rautenbach; 4 Nick Kennedy; 5 Bob Casey (c); 6 George Stowers; 7 Steffon Armitage; 8 Chris Hala’Ufia. Reps: 16 Danie Coetzee; 17 Max Lahiff; 18 Paulica Ion; 19 Kieran Roche; 20 Jamie Gibson; 21 Chris Malone; 22 Mike Catt; 22 Jamie Lennard€* Denotes international
