L Irish v Saracens: Teams

Talented tyro Alex Goode will get the chance to show there is life after Glen Jackson after being handed the No.10 shirt to face London Irish.

Goode has been more accustomed to life at full-back but with Jackson retiring to take up refereeing in his native New Zealand, the Saxons star will step into some pretty big boots.

Goode will be partnered by new signing Richard Wigglesworth, with fellow summer arrival Kelly Brown named in the pack.

Two players are set to make their debuts off the bench with South Africa prop Deon Carstens, who has joined from the Sharks, and academy lock George Kruis, an England Under-20s international, included among the replacements.

David Strettle, who has impressed in pre-season following his move from Harlequins, and Neil de Kock have been ruled out through injury.

"Everyone in the squad is excited about the start of the new season and what better way to begin than in front of a crowd of more than 70,000 at Twickenham," said director of rugby Brendan Venter.

"We've had a good pre-season and now we can't wait for the action to begin. We face London Irish on Saturday and they have a talented squad of players under the direction of Toby Booth and I am sure they will be challenging for honours at the end of the season."

Pleased

Highly-rated Daniel Bowden will make his London Irish debut at Twickenham, with the New Zealander handed the No.12 shirt.

Exiles boss Toby Booth has also handed Sailosi Tagicakibau a place on the wing after his impressive form in the Premiership Sevens.

New captain Clarke Dermody will partner David Paice and Faan Rautenbach in a powerful-looking front row.

"Everyone is really looking forward to getting the season underway at the Double Header on Saturday," said Booth.

"I am really pleased with our pre-season preparations. We have trained hard and played well, but the real work starts now with our first real competitive test against Saracens."

London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage; 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Daniel Bowden, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 George Stowers. 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Kieran Roche, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody (capt).
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 Nick Kennedy, 20 Matt Garvey, 21 Seilala Mapusua, 22 Jonathon Joseph, 23 Chris Malone.

Saracens: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Ernst Joubert (capt), 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Hugh Vyvyan, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 George Kruis, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Derick Hougaard, 23 Kameli Ratuvou.