Scott Hamilton is recalled to the backline and George Chuter is named at hooker for his 250th club appearance.

Chuter made his Tigers debut in March 2001 and the England international is also third on the all-time Premiership appearances list with 234 in his career with Leicester and Saracens.

Tom Croft also makes a landmark appearance as his reaches 100 games for the club since his debut in November 2005.

International prop Martin Castrogiovanni returns to the squad for the first time this season and is included among the replacements alongside Ed Slater, Steve Mafi and Niall Morris who were all rested last week after playing in each of the opening seven matches of the season.

Director of rugby Richard Cockerill has selected Matt Smith and Horacio Agulla in a new partnership at centre after injuries to Manu Tuilagi and Anthony Allen.

Cockerill said: “Manu suffered a broken cheekbone after a clash of heads in the Gloucester game and we’ll be without him for about six weeks. Anthony Allen has had an operation on his thumb after an injury in an accident at home.

“We’re having a terrible run of luck, especially with Mathew Tait’s groin injury and Billy Twelvetrees out with an ankle injury.

“But we knew we would need the whole squad to front up if we were going to push on this season. Matt Smith has been playing really well and Horacio Agulla came back from the World Cup and fitted right back in last week.

“We now have all the Test players back with us and we’ve been working hard to integrate them as quickly as possible.”

Ben Youngs remains on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Leicester Tigers (v Sale Sharks, away, Friday 7.45pm)
15 Geordan Murphy (c)
14 Scott Hamilton
13 Horacio Agulla
12 Matt Smith
11 Alesana Tuilagi
10 Toby Flood
9 Sam Harrison
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 George Chuter
3 Dan Cole
4 George Skivington
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 Tom Youngs
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Steve Mafi
20 Ed Slater
21 James Grindal
22 Jeremy Staunton
23 Niall Morris

Wasps go into the game on the back of a confidence boosting 20-15 victory over the reigning champions Saracens and Young says that a large vocal crowd could make a massive difference as his side aims to continue their good form from the weekend.

“It’s my first game in front of the home fans and so I’m hugely looking forward to it,” he said.

“The players and management were obviously delighted to start the campaign with a win but we’ve no doubt that this weekend we’re going to have to be better again because Leicester are a quality team who will be frustrated after a defeat last weekend, and a frustrated Leicester side will be very dangerous.”

Young said he was looking forward to meeting the Wasps home fans at Adams Park.

“From what I could see there were a large number of Wasps fans at Twickenham last weekend and they were fantastic in their support. It will be great to see them this weekend when the team are back at home and I’d encourage them to be as loud and vocal as possible so that Adams Park can continue to be somewhere that is an extremely difficult place for away teams to visit.

Young added that despite the delight with a win on the opening day, no-one at the club is getting carried away.

“I asked the players for commitment and I got it. I have asked them this week to move on and focus totally on Leicester and they are doing that now. We did some things well last weekend and some things not so well. It was a win and a good one but it means very little now going into a game against a top side like Leicester. There is nothing like facing a quality team to focus the minds and we’re going to have to be at the top of our game on Sunday.”

London Wasps take on Leicester Tigers in round two of the Aviva Premiership this weekend at 14.15. The game is live on ESPN.

Tait, 25, has played more than 150 first-team games in eight seasons in club rugby, starting at Newcastle Falcons and then moving to Sale Sharks.

Capped 38 times by England, Tait has played at wing and full-back as well as at centre, and is now looking to make an impact at Welford Road.

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “We think Mathew is an excellent addition to the squad.

“He has gained a lot of experience for a player who is still just 25 years old and he has played at the highest level, including the World Cup Final in 2007.

“But he is still young, he is still ambitious and he wants to challenge himself here.”

County Durham-born Tait made his senior debut for Newcastle Falcons in 2004 and gained his first England cap as an 18-year-old during the 2005 Six Nations.

He moved to Sale Sharks in 2008 and gained his most recent England cap in Australia last summer.

Tait said: “The move to Leicester Tigers gives me a great opportunity to continue my development as a player and I know there is still a lot to come in my career.

“I’ve enjoyed some great times in the game already and I still have ambitions and goals to achieve in rugby.

“There is a superb set-up at Leicester and a very competitive squad. I’m looking forward to trying to establish myself in the team here.”

“To be involved in any final is a massive honour, the boys have worked so hard to get to where we are. We started out as a group back in September with the ultimate aim of winning both the 6 Nations and the Junior World Championships. We won the 6 Nations back in March and now we’ve got a chance of winning the JWC.

“The semi-final against France was tough, as we always knew it would be. They gave us a good game in the 6 Nations and they were only going to get better.  We’re delighted to pull the win out of the bag though, they made it a bit nervy for us at times, but fortunately we held out for the win.

“We can’t wait for the final now – New Zealand have an aura about them but they definitely aren’t unbeatable. They sweat, they bleed – they’re human, so if we go out there with the right game plan then I’m confident we can give them a run for their money. A final is a one off game, it’s all or nothing rugby and we’ve got a chance.

“It will be my last game as an Under 20 player and I expect it will be pretty emotional. It’s been a long run, and a few of us have played together since we were with the Under 16s so it just gives us an added incentive to pull out all the stops when we play the Baby Blacks.”

Leicester Tigers fly half George Ford:

“It was a really tough game against the French, but we prepared well and executed our game plan pretty well. France are a physical side who have an air of unpredictability so it was really pleasing to get the four tries and secure the win. They caught us out on a couple of occasions which made it close but we pulled through in the end.

“It was nice to go over for my try – I don’t get many, but the phase play in the build up was excellent. We’ve got players who don’t know when to give up and the forwards looked after the ball very well and things just opened up for me, but there’s no way I’m taking any of the credit – it was a massive team effort.

“We know that were in for a tough match against New Zealand in the final, but anyone can beat anyone on their day so we’ll prepare as well as we can and look to produce our best rugby. It will be our last game together as a group and we want to give it absolutely everything.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing in the Junior World Championship. It’s a valuable experience and to be able to test yourself against the best players from across the world will stand us all in good stead in the future.”

Saracens prop Mako Vunipola:

“We went into the game knowing that France would be up for it, and they were. We played them in the 6 Nations but they upped their game for the semi-final and gave us a scare, but overall our hard work paid off.

“The lead changed hands on a few occasions and maybe they surprised us a little bit, but we knew that they would come at us for the first 50 minutes and we had to weather the storm. Our defence held out and our attackers were clinical when it mattered, so I think we deserved it in the end.

“New Zealand in the final will be a huge test for all of us, but they’re beatable – every team is beatable, no one has a right to win a game.  It’s our last game together as a group so we will be leaving absolutely everything out on the pitch and hopefully that will be enough, we’re just going to go for it.”

London Irish centre Guy Armitage:

“It was a great honour to be named in the starting line up for the semi, it was my first start so it was a bit of a baptism of fire but I enjoyed every minute of it. Having played France in the 6 Nations we weren’t totally in the dark about what they were about, but it was important not to get complacent and I think we showed real professionalism with our performance, we got the job done and we look ahead to the final now.

“New Zealand did very well in their group stages, but Argentina and Australia have both given them good games, so we’ll be studying the videos and plotting a game plan to try and beat them – it’s a huge game for us and there’s a lot of excitement in the camp.

“I got a good luck text from Delon (Armitage) before the game yesterday which was a nice touch, and I’m pleased for him to be named in the initial training squad ahead of the seniors World Cup, but for now I’m focusing on our final!”

Forwards:
Mako Vunipola Saracens
Mikey Haywood (Northampton Saints)
Will Collier (Harlequins)
Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors)
Matt Everard (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Gray (C) (Newcastle Falcons)
Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
Koree Britton (Gloucester Rugby)
Rob Buchanan (Harlequins)
Ryan Bower (Leicester Tigers) 
Sam Twomey (Harlequins)
Sam Jones (London Wasps)

Backs:
Ben Ransom (Saracens)
Jonathan Joseph (London Irish)
Guy Armitage (London Irish)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Christian Wade (London Wasps)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Cook (Bath Rugby)
Andy Short (Worcester Warriors)
Elliot Daly (London Wasps)
Dan Robson (Gloucester Rugby)
Ryan Mills (Gloucester Rugby) 
Marland Yarde (London Irish)

Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium will set a Heineken Cup quarter-final attendance record when it hosts the all-French clash between Perpignan and Toulon on Saturday. With a sell-out now guaranteed in the Catalan capital, the 55,000 gate will surpass the previous quarter-final high of 48,500 at the old Lansdowne Road, Dublin, in 2005 (Leinster v Leicester Tigers) and 2006 (Munster v Perpignan).

And the old record will also be overtaken at the new Aviva Stadium when Leicester Tigers return to the Irish capital for a 2009 Heineken Cup final re-match with Leinster. A full-house of 51,700 is expected at the Aviva.

The sold-out signs have been up for a while at both Estadio Anoeta, where Biarritz Olympique will face Toulouse in a re-run of last year’s final on Sunday, and at stadium:mk in Milton Keynes for the Anglo-Irish contest between top seeds Northampton Saints and Ulster Rugby.

It means there could be almost 160,000 fans going through the turnstiles in three countries – a figure second only to the tournament high of 162,500 that attended the quarter-final matches in 2005.

The 2011 Heineken Cup quarter-finals, venues and capacities are:

Perpignan v Toulon – Olympic Stadium, Barcelona – 55,000

Leinster v Leicester Tigers – Aviva Stadium, Dublin – 51,700

Northampton Saints v Ulster Rugby – stadium:mk, Milton Keynes – 21,500

Biarritz Olympique v Toulouse – Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastian – 32,000

Northampton Saints might not like to be reminded of this but no team that has qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals as the No 1 seeds has gone on to win the title. Since the introduction of the home and away format in the 1997/98 season, only two of the 13 top seeded teams have reached the final – Stade Français Paris in 2001 and Toulouse in 2004.

Five of the others fell at the first knock-out hurdle and six in the semi-finals. And while none of the No 1 seeds, including the eight who came through the Pool stages with six from six, have gone on to Heineken Cup glory, teams seeded as low as No 6 – Munster in 2008 and Leinster a year later – have lifted the silverware.

Ian Humphreys will be hoping to match the achievements of elder brother David by taking Ulster to a Heineken Cup final. David was captain of Ulster back in 1999 when they won the title at Lansdowne Road. But Ian has already experienced a Heineken Cup final having come on as a replacement for Andy Goode in the 62nd minute of Leicester Tigers 2007 defeat to London Wasps.

There were three other Irish players involved in that final at Twickenham who are still in the hunt for more glory this season. Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings were in the Leicester Tigers side, while Eoin Reddan was a try scorer for London Wasps. All three are in the Leinster squad preparing to face the Tigers on Saturday.

The grand old man of the Heineken Cup Cedric Heymans – who made his debut for Brive against Neath on 12 October, 1996 – will be chasing a fifth Heineken Cup winners medal with Toulouse in the knock-out stages of the 2010/11 tournament.

The French international wing is also one of only three players to have won the title with more than one club. An unused replacement in the 1997 Heineken Cup final with Brive, he then played in the winning Toulouse teams of 2003, 2005 and 2010. Leinster scrum half Eoin Reddan will be looking to join the list of double winners having played for London Wasps in their 2007 triumph over Leicester Tigers at Twickenham Stadium.

The full list of winners from two clubs is:

Philippe Carbonneau – Toulouse 1996, Brive 1997

Cedric Heymans – Brive 1997, Toulouse 2003, 2005, 2010

Federico Mendez – Bath 1998, Northampton Saints 2000

Biarritz Olympique prop Sylvain Marconnet will be hoping to make it third time lucky this season in the Heineken Cup after twice falling at the final hurdle in the past. France’s most capped prop was a loser with Stade Français Paris in the 2001 and 2003 Heineken Cup finals.

Toulouse prop Census Johnston knows all about the atmosphere at Estadio Anoeta. He helped Biarritz Olympique beat both Sale Sharks and Bath over the Spanish border in their march to the 2006 Heineken Cup final. That mission ended in disappointment in Cardiff with defeat at the hands of Munster, but since then the Samoan giant has tasted success with Toulouse in last year’s final at Stade de France.

No side has played against Leicester Tigers more times in the Heineken Cup than Leinster – and no team has beaten the Tigers more than the Irish province. So something will have to give when the perfectly balanced record of five wins apiece from 10 European clashes goes on the line at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Richard Cockerill was in on the ground floor of the great Euro rivalry between the two sides, making his Heineken Cup debut at Lansdowne Road on the night Leicester made their bow in the tournament on Wednesday, 16 October, 1996. The visitors triumphed 27-10, with another Front Row Union member Graham Rowntree scoring the Tigers’ first try, to notch the first of their two wins over Leinster in Dublin. But in seven games against the same opposition, five with Tigers and two with Montferrand, Cockerill has lost four and won only three.

Flying Biarritz back Iain Balshaw made his Heineken Cup debut for Bath against Brive as an 18-year-old on 5 October, 1997. His debut came in the season Bath became the first non-French champions, although his replacement appearance at Stade Municipal in a 27-12 defeat was his only one of that campaign. Balshaw will turn 32 next week and is seeking to avenge Biarrtiz Olympique’s final defeat by Toulouse last season in Sunday’s quarter-final.

Meanwhile, Balshaw’s Biarritz team-mate Dimitri Yachvili needs 18 points to become only the fourth player in Heineken Cup history to score 600 points.

Northampton Saints No 8 Roger Wilson will be playing against many of his former Ulster team-mates when he lines-up in Sunday’s quarter-final at Milton Keynes. Wilson has not missed a Heineken Cup game for Saints this season and has 10 wins from 13 games. That compares very favourably to his record of 12 wins in 26 outings for Ulster.

Perpignan lock Rimas Alvarez Kairelis is on the verge of making history by becoming the first Argentinian player to qualify for an ERC Elite 50 cap award. The long serving forward made his Perpignan debut against Amatori & Calvisano back in the 2001/02 Pool stages and was in the side that went to Dublin for the 2003 Heineken Cup final. If he appears in the quarter-final against Toulon it will be his 50th appearance for his club in the tournament.

Nick Evans, who has been sidelined since the away game against Exeter Chiefs, returns to the number 10 Quins shirt. Rory Clegg, who has been outstanding at fly-half in Evans’ absence, starts on the bench.

There is one final change to the side that defeated Gloucester last week; Matt Cairns replaces Chris Brooker on the bench.

Joe Marler and John Andress link either side of last week’s try scorer Joe Gray in the front row, with Ollie Kohn partnering the pack’s other try scorer George Robson. Maurie Fa’asavalu, Captain Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter make up the back row.

Danny Care and Nick Evans will look to re-ignite their scintillating 9-10 partnership, with Jordan Turner-Hall and try scorer George Lowe starting in the centre. Hat-trick man Ugo Monye and Gonzalo Camacho retain their positions on the wings, with Mike Brown at full-back.

Harlequins team to play Leicester Tigers. Saturday 2nd April. Kick off 5.30pm. Aviva Premiership Rugby. The Stoop.

15 MIKE BROWN

14 GONZALO CAMACHO

13 GEORGE LOWE

12 JORDAN TURNER-HALL

11 UGO MONYE

10 NICK EVANS

9 DANNY CARE

1 JOE MARLER

2 JOE GRAY

3 JOHN ANDRESS

4 OLLIE KOHN

5 GEORGE ROBSON

6 MAURIE FA’ASAVALU

7 CHRIS ROBSHAW ©

8 NICK EASTER

THE BENCH

16 MATT CAIRNS “FR”

17 CERI JONES “FR”

18 MARK LAMBERT “FR”

19 TOMAS VALLEJOS

20 WILL SKINNER

21 DAVE MOORE

22 RORY CLEGG

23 TOM WILLIAMS

Head Coach Steve Meehan explains how much the team relish the chance to play in this fixture, and the twists and turns that may still lie ahead this season.

“Having last week off gave everyone the chance to recharge mentally, and also physically it was a good time to have a break as we had four very tough games in quick succession, so there were tired and hurting bodies that had given their all around. Everyone has come back nice and fresh and ready, and looking forward to the game.

“It’s a funny old season – there is pressure all over the place, and a lot to play for. Clubs are battling to make the top four, and the top six to qualify for the Heineken Cup. I think there are a lot of twists still to come before the play-offs. If we win this week, perhaps it will mean slightly less pressure next week, but, although it’s a cliché, we really do just have to take one game at a time.

“This is the one that all the players want to be involved in. Games against Leicester are special games, with great rivalry between the two teams. They are the only two teams to have made the semi-finals every year the last three years running – obviously we’ve travelled to Welford Road for two, which is always a challenge, but it’s spiced up the relationship, and we’re looking forward to renewing acquaintances and challenging them again today.”

Bath team to face Leicester Tigers

15. Nick Abendanon 

14. Matt Banahan  

13. Ben Williams      

12. Sam Vesty       

11. Tom Biggs

10. Butch James     

9. Michael Claassens        

1. David Flatman    

2. Lee Mears

3. Duncan Bell       

4. Stuart Hooper    

5. Danny Grewcock

6. Ben Skirving      

7. Luke Watson (c)

8. Simon Taylor

Replacements

16. Pieter Dixon      

17. Nathan Catt     

18. David Wilson     

19. Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe        

20. Guy Mercer       

21. Mark McMillan   

22. Shontayne Hape

23. Jack Cuthbert   

Tim Taylor - Gloucester

He may only have been at the club for a few weeks having initially signed on loan from Nottingham until the end of the season, but Tim Taylor has impressed sufficiently to earn a two year deal with Gloucester Rugby.

Taylor, a former England U21 international and product of the Leicester Tigers Academy, joined from Nottingham towards the end of January until the end of the season as a replacement for Carlos Spencer who left the club to take up a player coach role with South African Super 14 franchise the Lions.

He made his first team debut as a replacement against Worcester in the LV=Cup tie at Kingsholm but really announced his arrival a week later in the same competition against Harlequins at the Stoop.

He started that day and finished with a personal haul of 11 points including the conversion with the last kick of the match that secured the win and Gloucester’s place in the semi finals.

Taylor’s performances on the pitch and the ease with which he has fitted in at Kingsholm have prompted Head Coach Bryan Redpath to move quickly and sign Taylor on a two year deal which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2011-12 season.

“Tim’s been a fine addition to the squad in recent weeks. He’s settled in really quickly which was vital as we needed him to contribute straightaway.”

“He’s a composed performer, as has been seen from his performances so far, and will have an important role to play over the next couple of seasons.”

“With Nicky (Robinson), Freddie (Burns) and Tim all on board for next season, I’m really pleased with our options at fly half.”

Recognising the need to provide alcohol information to players, Premier Rugby and Diageo have joined forces to develop and deliver an innovative attitudes to alcohol programme to every player and manager in the Guinness Premiership, achieving extremely positive results.

The programme has been designed to inform participants about alcohol and its effects on the body and behaviour, making them more aware of the choices they make when drinking.

Based on the DrinkiQ programme created by premium drinks company, Diageo, the programme was tailored by Premier Rugby specifically to connect with rugby players around scenarios and issues that are directly relevant to their health, career and life as a professional athlete.

All 12 Guinness Premiership clubs – 716 players and management in total – have now attended sessions run during the last two months and the response has been overwhelmingly positive to this first ever league-wide alcohol programme:

• 94% of players and 97% of management said they learnt something from the session .
• 91% of players and 97% of management would recommend the training to other players.
• 82% of players and 87% of management believed that the programme had been very good or excellent.

Martin Corry, former Leicester Tigers and England captain, who was involved in developing the programme to meet the needs of professional rugby players in the UK, said: “The programme has really opened the eyes of the rugby world to the effects of alcohol on the body and the impact of drinking too much on your performance. These are the sorts of issues that resonate with the players, so we are really speaking to them in their world to encourage them to assess their attitudes to alcohol. Before taking part in the programme, many players didn’t realise that overdoing it on a night out can impair your performance the next day and increase the risk of injury – a major consideration in a competitive sport.”

Ugo Monye of Harlequins and England said, “I enjoyed the session we had here at Harlequins and found it hugely educational and thought-provoking. As a professional athlete it’s essential to be aware what kind of effects alcohol can have on the body.”

Gerry Sutcliffe, Minister for Sport at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport added: “I applaud Premier Rugby’s moves to talk to players about responsible drinking and the impact that alcohol abuse could have on their health and professional careers. I am pleased that Premier Rugby, the Rugby Players’ Association and the clubs are working closely together on this and that coaches and managers are involved, who are important in imbedding the right type of culture in clubs.”

Phil Winstanley, Rugby Director at Premier Rugby said, “As employers, the clubs recognise the importance of their athletes being properly informed on the effects of alcohol on the body. We looked into using the DrinkiQ programme developed by Diageo and tailored it specifically for rugby players. I’d like to thank Diageo for their support. We’re extremely pleased with the results.”

During the sessions, players and managers gain a greater understanding of the effect of alcohol on the body and the potential dangers of misuse both from a health perspective and from the perspective of a professional athlete. The players are encouraged to discuss their personal experiences of alcohol in a safe environment and are given rugby specific scenarios in breakout groups, identifying how behaviour can deteriorate with irresponsible drinking but also looking at strategies to ensure that they approach their nights out in a responsible manner.

Ron Ainsbury, who developed the DRINKiQ programme for Diageo said: “DRINKiQ was designed to provide our 20,000 employees with information to make the right decisions about drinking so that they can enjoy alcohol responsibly. Sportsmen and women are important role models in today’s society so it’s great to see Premiership rugby teams responding so well to the sessions. I hope that other sporting associations will follow Premier Rugby’s example in recognising the importance of ensuring their players are aware of the facts about alcohol and its effects.”

This weekend (5th and 6th December) fans at all Guinness Premiership matches will also be reminded to drink responsibly as part of the Guinness Premiership’s Responsible Drinking Weekend and Diageo’s ‘bite to eat’ programme. A variety of activities will be happening at matches including giving free pies to supporters to highlight the importance of eating between drinks and inviting fans to take part in a ‘co-ordination challenge’ to bring the impact of excessive drinking to life. They will also be offered a free bottle of water after the game to encourage them to drink water between alcoholic drinks.

The match was originally scheduled for Friday January 1st, but the move has been made possible by Watford being drawn away from home in the Third Round of the FA Cup.