Newcastle v L Irish: Teams
Newcastle boss Alan Tait welcomes back Filipo Levi and Andy Henderson for the visit of London Irish.
Last Updated: 24/09/10 2:00pm
Newcastle boss Alan Tait welcomes back Filipo Levi and Andy Henderson for the visit of London Irish.
Levi comes into the side for the injured James Hudson - with the skipper facing two months out - while Henderson replaces Rob Vickerman.
With Hudson missing, Rob Vickers will captain the side with Joe Graham poised to make his debut of the bench.
London Irish head coach Toby Booth has kept faith in the same starting XV that overcame Gloucester last time out.
"I was very pleased with the manner of our victory over Gloucester last weekend. Once again we were defensively excellent and very dominant in the scrum," said Booth.
"We have spoken about the different challenges of playing away from home against teams like Newcastle, and as a squad we are very clear what we need to do to be successful, both individually and collectively."
Booth has made one change on the bench with winger Sailosi Tagicakibau named among the replacements after missing the past two matches with a sprained ankle.
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Gcobani Bobo, 13 Luke Eves, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Redford Pennycook, 6 Brent Wilson, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Tim Ryan, 2 Rob Vickers (c), 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Joe Graham, 17 Micky Ward, 18 Grant Shiells, 19 Glen Townson, 20 Will Welch, 21 Chris Pilgrim, 22 Jeremy Manning, 23 Luke Fielden.
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Daniel Bowden, 11 Jonathan Joseph, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson,8 George Stowers,7 Declan Danaher,6 Kieran Roche, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Nick Kennedy,3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody (c).
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Jonathon Fisher, 21 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 22 Chris Malone, 23 Darren Allinson.