Taufua named in Tigers squad after his knee operation
NEW ZEALAND-BORN FORWARD ON BENCH TOMORROW
JORDAN Taufua has returned from his knee injury to be named in the Leicester Tigers squad to take on London Irish tomorrow (4.15pm).
The New Zealand-born forward underwent knee surgery in September and missed the remainder of the 2019/20 season and the opening round win of the current campaign last weekend.
He is joined on the bench by fellow back row Tommy Reffell as head coach Steve Borthwick opts for the all-South African back row of Kyle Brink, Jasper Wiese and Hanro Liebenberg.
Facundo Gigena misses out after suffering a facial injury against Gloucester.
His place is taken by Ryan Bower while Nephi Leatigaga is on the bench.
The backline is unchanged from the victory over Gloucester with the exception of Matt Scott coming in for Guy Porter, who is among the replacements.
Borthwick said: “London Irish are a good side with a very experienced coaching team and I’m sure they’ll want to start well in their new stadium.”
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 1 Ryan Bower, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Harry Wells, 5 Calum Green, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Cyle Brink, 8 Jasper Wiese.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Tommy Reffell, 20 Jordan Taufua, 21 Ben White, 22 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 23 Guy Porter.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben Meehan, 1 Allan Dell, 2 Agustin Creevy, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 George Nott, 5 Andrei Mahu, 6 Seán O’Brien, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Matt Rogerson (c).
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Tom Parton.