Thursday 2 May 2019 16:38, UK
The race for the play-offs hots up as Round 21 of the Gallagher Premiership season gets under way on Friday evening.
Harlequins and Sale Sharks are both chasing a place in the top four as the season reaches its climax, and wins for both would allow them to seize the initiative ahead of Saturday's matches.
Quins are at home to a Leicester Tigers side aiming to make certain of their place in the Premiership for next season after a difficult campaign.
Meanwhile, Sale make the trip to Bristol Bears, who have their own ambitions of finishing in the top six to cap of an impressive season following their promotion from the Championship in 2018.
Danny Care and James Horwill are among those returning to Harlequins' squad on Friday evening as they aim to steal a march on their rivals in the race for a Gallagher Premiership play-off place.
Influential scrum-half Care and former Australia international second row Horwill both go straight back into the starting line-up for the visit of Leicester Tigers to The Stoop.
Joe Collier comes back into the side at centre too and the pack is further boosted by the presence of prop Will Collier on the bench in a match where a win would take Quins back into the top four until at least the completion of Saturday's fixtures.
"We are still fighting to be in the top four and we'll be giving our all for that on Friday," said Harlequins head of rugby Paul Gustard.
"We have had a good week's preparation and we are pleased to welcome back a few of our injured boys in this crucial fixture."
Leicester can make certain of their Premiership status for another season if they pick up at least two points from the match - an outcome which would confirm Newcastle Falcons' relegation.
Tigers include former Quins player Sam Aspland-Robinson on the wing in place of Clayton Blommetjies (ill), with Telusa Veainu starting at full-back after completing his recover for a foot injury and Mike Williams coming into the back row.
"We've had good spells in games but we've not put together a full 80-minute performance and we've been working on our resilience and belief," said Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy.
The match is also set to see England international front row Ellis Genge make his 50th appearance for Leicester.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Gabriel Ibitoye, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Elia Elia, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Mat Symons, 5 James Horwill, 6 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Jack Clifford.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Nic Auterac, 18 Will Collier, 19 Stan South, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 James Lang, 23 Ross Chisholm.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Sam Aspland-Robinson, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Sam Harrison, 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Will Spencer, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Mike Williams, 7 Guy Thompson, 8 Sione Kalamafoni.
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Mike Fitzgerald, 20 Brendon O'Connor, 21 Ben White, 22 George Worth, 23 Jordan Olowofela.
Steve Diamond has the luxury of being able to name an unchanged side as they bid to keep their play-off hopes alive when they head to Bristol Bears in Friday's other Premiership game.
A crowd of over 20,000 is expected at Ashton Gate for the game and Sale director of rugby Diamond is wary of the danger posed by the home side, who have comfortably secured their place in the top flight for next season.
"Bristol Bears have had a great year, following their promotion from the Championship," said Diamond.
"They're well-coached, appear to be a great set of lads and we'll have a big task on our hands in front of a near-capacity crowd at Ashton Gate on Friday."
The return of full-back Charles Piutau is one of three changes for Bristol from last Saturday's 23-20 win over Leicester, along with Siale Piutau slotting in at centre in place of the injured Sam Bedlow and Yann Thomas coming into the front row.
Replacements Nick Fenton-Wells and George Smith are likely to make their final appearances for the Bears as well and head coach Pat Lam has his sights set on securing a top-six finish in the team's first season back in the Premiership.
"I think our vision has given us that opportunity to really show what we can do as a group, and it's given us real excitement and focus for the season and for Friday night," said Lam.
"There's been a real edge and boys are keeping each other accountable - and if we do that and finish the week well, then that's going to give us the best chance to have the ultimate celebration of a victory."
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau; 14 Tom Pincus, 13 Piers O'Conor, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua; 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 1 Yann Thomas, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 John Afoa, 4 Ed Holmes, 5 Chris Vui, 6 Steve Luatua, 7 Dan Thomas, 8 Nick Haining.
Replacements: 16 Nick Fenton-Wells, 17 James Lay, 18 Lewis Thiede, 19 Jordan Crane, 20 George Smith, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Daniels.
Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Chris Ashton; 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 1 Ross Harrison, 2 Rob Webber, 3 Willgriff John, 4 Josh Beaumont, 5 James Phillips, 6 Ben Curry, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Jono Ross.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Valery Morozov, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Matt Postlethwaite, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Arron Reed.
