L Irish v Newcastle: Teams
Shontayne Hape will make his debut for London Irish in Sunday's clash with Newcastle at the Madejski Stadium.
Last Updated: 21/10/11 8:07pm
Shontayne Hape will make his debut for London Irish in Sunday's LV= Cup clash with Newcastle at the Madejski Stadium.
The England centre moved to the Exiles in the summer but is only now available to appear for his new club after returning from World Cup duty.
His international team-mate Delon Armitage is also available again and starts at full-back, while Alex Corbisiero and Sailosi Tagicakibau return to the fold too - both are named amongst the replacements.
Experienced lock Nick Kennedy will captain the home side and clock up his 200th appearance in an Exiles shirt.
"It is important to get the right result this weekend and build some momentum moving back into the Premiership," said head coach Toby Booth.
"Newcastle are coming off a good win from last weekend and will be confident coming to play us, so we will have to be at our best to get the win."
Gopperth rested
Meanwhile, Newcastle have made four changes to the side that beat Cardiff Blues 33-3 last week in their opening game in this year's competition.
Jimmy Gopperth was instrumental in that victory but he has been rested for the trip to Reading. Jeremy Manning is named at fly-half, with Jamie Helleur taking up the inside centre berth occupied by Manning against the Blues.
Luke Eves replaces Corne Uys at outside centre with Alex Tait returning to the wing. Chris Pilgrim has been chosen ahead of Jordi Pasqualin to start at scrum-half.
Falcons head coach Alan Tait makes just one alteration in the pack, James Hall replacing Euan Murray in the front row.
"We were outstanding in the first-half and we played some really good rugby," said Tait who guided the northeasterners to the Anglo=Welsh final last term.
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Steve Shingler, 9 Ross Samson, 8 Richard Thorpe, 7 Jamie Gibson , 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Nick Kennedy (C), 3 Paulica Ion, 2 James Buckland, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Brian Blaney, 17 Alex Corbisierio, 18 Faan Rautenbach, 19 James Sandford, 20 David Sisi, 21 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 22 Daniel Bowden, 23 Darren Allinson.
Newcastle: 15 Greg Goosen, 14 Rikki Sheriffe, 13 Luke Eves, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 Alex Tait, 10 Jeremy Manning, 9 Chris Pilgrim, 8 Ally Hogg (c) 7 Redford Pennycook, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Andrew van der Heijden, 4 Glen Townson, 3 James Hall, 2 Michael Mayhew, 1 Darren Fearn.
Replacements: 16 Joe Graham, 17 Ashley Wells, 18 Dan Frazier, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Will Welch, 21 Jordi Pasqualin, 22 Corne Uys, 23 Joel Hodgson