Farrell to make debut start against Tigers... |
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It will be the former Great Britain Rugby League captain’s first start at centre and he is one of six changes in the starting XV for the match which promises to be yet another in the series of close encounters between the two sides at Vicarage Road. The game ended 19-19 three years ago with Saracens then getting the better of the Tigers 19-17 in the 2004/05 season. Last year the Tigers were 13-12 winners – so what will the score be on Sunday? With three members of last week’s starting line-up away on international duty, along with Farrell, Director of Rugby Alan Gaffney also brings Tevita Vaikona, Shane Byrne, Kris Chesney, Tom Ryder and Paul Gustard into the line-up. Ben Johnston and David Seymour are rested while Hugh Vyvyan moves to the replacements bench. On the bench, Ben Russell also returns to the squad as does Thomas Castaignede following his return from a calf injury. And although he came through 40 minutes of A-team rugby last week, it was considered too early for Richard Hill to return to first team action and he is set to continue his comeback in a Guinness A-League match against Wasps on Monday night. In the absence of Simon Raiwalui, who is on international duty with the Pacific Islands, Kevin Yates will captain the side. “We had to make some changes this week with players away on international duty, but this selection is also about giving an opportunity to the guys who have been performing well in the A-team in recent weeks,” explained Gaffney. “The likes of Andy Farrell, Paul Gustard and Tevita Vaikona have all been pushing hard for a starting place and they deserve a chance. “Having played continuous rugby for over three months, we’ve also decided to give Ben Johnston and David Seymour a rest. Johnno has also been carrying a slight knock for the past few weeks so this will give time for it to heal. “We go into the Leicester game expecting a very hard match. Like us, they are missing players on international duty but their result against Worcester last weekend showed that they have enormous strength in depth and that’s something that we are aiming for as a club.” |
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