Penny returns for clash with his former club

FIT-AGAIN Tom Penny will play against his old club this afternoon when Newcastle Falcons host Harlequins in Gallagher Premiership action.

The full-back spent part of last season with the Twickenham Stoop outfit and returns as part of a Newcastle side playing its first game since February 7 following the cancellation of its last two league fixtures.

Callum Chick makes his first appearance of the campaign with the No 8, having recovered from a knee injury sustained during pre-season - Adam Radwan and Luther Burrell also returning to fitness.

On the bench there could be a debut for Argentina Sevens’ wing Mateo Carreras, director of rugby Dean Richards relishing the visit of an in-form Quins side which has won its last four Gallagher Premiership outings.

He said: “Everybody has missed match day and this is a really exciting one to come back to.

“The boys are up for it. We have missed a lot of training over the past two weeks but ultimately if we cannot drop straight back into it then there is something wrong with us.

“We have a fresh squad, a fresh set of legs and we are raring to go.”

The Falcons are up against a Harlequins side unbeaten following last month’s change of management, Richards adding: “We have only looked at their last four games and put everything prior to that to one side.

“They are playing in a totally different way now and it is very effective for them.

“Danny Care at scrum-half, Marcus Smith at ten, Joe Marchant in the centre, Joe Marler at prop, Dombrandt, Evans and Chisholm in the back row to name just a few – they are a really good side and they will be hard to beat.

“However, the main focus for us has been on ourselves.

“We have only had two training sessions in the past three weeks, which presents its own problems, but if we get our shape right and run our plays as we intend to it should be a good contest.

“The one upside of not playing is that we are going to be fresher than they are - and that could be important.”