L Irish v Racing Metro: Teams
London Irish will look to complete a Heineken Cup double over Racing Metro at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.
Last Updated: 18/12/11 3:07pm
London Irish will look to complete a Heineken Cup double over Racing Metro at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.
The Exiles opened their account in Europe this season when they triumphed 34-14 over their Top 14 rivals at Stade Yves du Manoir last Saturday.
Having been beaten by Edinburgh and Cardiff in their opening two fixtures, the Aviva Premiership club cannot afford too many more slip-ups if they are to have any hope of reaching the knockout stages.
Paul Hodgson will lead London Irish out this weekend to celebrate his 200th appearance for the club, though he will actually start the game on the bench.
Tom Homer has been named on the wing for the crucial reverse fixture, while Adrian Jarvis will start at fly-half alongside Darren Allinson.
The other change for the Exiles sees Jamie Gibson comes in at openside flanker, meaning Ofisa Treviranus moves to number eight.
Fighting
"It was fantastic to win away at Racing Metro last week. We proved that we can compete at the top level in Europe away from home," said London Irish head coach Toby Booth.
"We're still very much in this tournament and fighting for our place. It is important we capitalise on last week's game and make tomorrow count."
Meanwhile, Racing have made several changes from the team that was so comprehensively beaten in Paris.
Julien Saubade starts on the wing and there are places at fly-half and scrum-half respectivelt for Jonathan Wisniewski and Nicolas Durand.
In the pack, Sebastien Chabal, Alvaro Galindo and Remi Vaquiin form a new-look back row, with Francois van der Merwe and Santiago Dellape selected as the lock partnership.
Racing currently prop up the rest in Pool 2 having lost all three of their European outings so far this year.
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Tom Homer, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Matthew Garvey, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Brian Blaney, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Faan Rautenbach, 19 Bob Casey, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Topsy Ojo, 22 Shontayne Hape, 23 Paul Hodgson.
Racing Metro: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Julien Saubade, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Sereli Bobo, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 Alvaro Galindo, 6 Remi Vaquiin, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Thomas Bianchin, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Mikaele Tuugahala, 18 Johannes Coetzee, 19 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 20 Sebastien Descons, 21 Juan Martin Hernandez, 22 Bernard Le Roux, 23 Karim Ghezal.
