Steele eyes big finish to stop-start season
London Irish v Yorkshire Carnegie
SCRUM-HALF Scott Steele aims to lay down a marker ahead of the season run-in as London Irish ramp-up their bid for a league and cup double.
Scotsman Steele has largely been confined to bench duty behind Aussie No.9s Brendan McKibbin and Ben Meehan in the league. However, the cup has given him starts and the former Leicester pivot wants silverware. Steele told The Rugby
Paper: “This season’s not been as good as I’d have liked but I’ve played a bit more in the second half of the season in the Championship and have started most of the cup games.
“With having a bigger squad than the rest but no A-League matches, it’s been hard to get guys games so the cup’s been important.
“We’ve played some good rugby in the competition and off the back of that I’ve managed to get more games in the league. It’s been really competitive for that 9 shirt with Ben and Brendan but I’m making headway.”
Experienced Steele partners academy star Jacob Atkins at half-back in a line-up showing 13 changes from last week’s thumping win over Coventry.
Greig Tonks gets a run at 15 with Luke McLean and Ben Loader making up the back three, with Tom Fowlie and Terrence Hepetema at centre.
Up front, prop Gordon Reid and hooker David Porecki are the only survivors from last week. Lovejoy Chawatama starts at No.3, Barney Maddison and Seb De Chaves are the locks, while a power-packed back row consists of Max Northcote-Green, Conor and Ofisa Treviranus.
Irish should comfortably dispose of a Yorkshire side struggling for numbers, but Steele cautions: “Yorkshire have strengthened their squad with some guys from New Zealand and they still have a lot of handy players.
“But this is a big game for us. Any silverware is welcome – the last time we were in this cup we got beaten in the semi-finals by Jersey, so we want to reach the final.”
Yorkshire make five changes to the side that lost to Jersey last week. Myles Throroughgood starts on the wing in place of Jacob Umaga, who is back at Wasps, while the rest are up front. A new front row consists of Marc Thomas, Dylan Donnellan and Sam Nixon, while Cian Romaine partners Matt Smith at lock.
Forwards coach Steve Boden told TRP: “London Irish could put three teams out to compete in the Championship but it’s a good opportunity to go there with no pressure, try to win a semi-final and do ourselves proud.”