Exiles make two changes

London Irish have made two changes for Sunday’s trip to play Newcastle Falcons.

Nick Kennedy replaces the injured Bob Casey (calf muscle) in the second row, and squad rotation sees Paul Gustard start instead of Declan Danaher at flanker.

Looking forward to Sunday’s match, head coach, Gary Gold said: “Our last visit to Kingston Park for the Powergen Cup quarter-final was most disappointing.

"This Sunday we face a Newcastle team that will be celebrating their recent Cup final success in front of a sell-out crowd. We know that we have a difficult task on our hands.”

LONDON IRISH: 15. Michael Horak*; 14. Paul Sackey; 13. Geoff Appleford*; 12. Nils Mordt; 11. Justin Bishop*; 10. Barry Everitt; 9. Darren Edwards; 1. Doug Wheatley; 2. Adrian Flavin; 3. Rob Hardwick*; 4. Ryan Strudwick (captain); 5. Nick Kennedy; 6. Paul Gustard; 7. Kieron Dawson*; 8. Phil Murphy*.

Replacements: 16. Naka Drotske*; 17. Neal Hatley; 18. Kieran Roche; 19. Declan Danaher; 20. Rob Hoadley; 21. Kevin Barrett; 22. Mark Mapletoft*.

*Denotes International