Scottish provided London Welsh’s first-ever opponents in October 1885, winning by a goal and a try to no score at the Athletic Ground, while Saturday’s Championship clash will be the fourth league meeting between the two great rivals.

The last time they locked horns in the league was in 1989/90 when Scottish won 18-14 in League 3 at the Athletic Ground. In 1988/89 in League 2 the two sides played out a 24-24 draw at Old Deer Park, while in 1987/88 Welsh came out on top 29-10, again at Old Deer Park.

London Welsh head coach Lyn Jones makes 11 changes for the visit of London Scottish, with hooker Vili Ma’asi, second row Adam Brown, flanker Mike Denbee and Seb Jewell the only players to retain their starting places from the side that beat Aberavon in the British & Irish Cup. Jewell, though, moves from outside centre to full back.

Gordon Ross takes over the captain’s armband from Gary Johnson, while Welsh give a start to on loan London Irish back row forward, and former Scarlet, Ed Siggery.

Welsh have had the upper hand in the sides’ recent meetings, enjoying a 44-9 win earlier this season at the Athletic Ground in the British & Irish Cup, as well as recording a pre-season victory over Scottish at the same venue in August 2010.

London Welsh: 15. Seb Jewell, 14. Will Hurrell, 13. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 12. Simon Whatling, 11. Joe Ajuwa, 10. Gordon Ross*, 9. Rob Lewis, 1. Shawn Pittman*, 2. Vili Ma’asi*, 3. Billy Moss, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Martin Purdy, 6. Ed Siggery, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Lee Beach.

Replacements: 16. Nathan Morris, 17. Marc George, 18. Mike Powell, 19. Ed Jackson, 20. Ben Stevenson, 21. Alex Davies, 22. Edd Thrower.

* Denotes full international

London Scottish goes into Saturday’s derby match (ko 2pm) with confidence and heart gained from their recent form, which has seen them gain seven points from their last four fixtures, especially in the way which they dealt with a stubborn and resolute Esher side. London Welsh are in many ways a side Scottish can learn from as they have established themselves as one of the leading contenders for the Championship title.
The fixture represents the first league meeting between the two sides for over 10 years, and for the more senior supporters of Scottish the match on Saturday will bring back many memories of games gone past between these famous old rivals. From the early seventies when both Scottish and Welsh were littered with internationalists and British & Irish Lions players and the matches were sometimes even considered to be international trial matches, through to the last time the teams played one another for league points in the 1989/90 season when Scottish came out on top 18 -14.
Injuries and recalls have disrupted Scottish’s preparations somewhat: recent dual-registration signings Elliot Daly and Guy Armitage have been called back into the Wasps and London Irish squads respectively, while full back Oli Grove is ruled out through injury. Argentine international wing Agustine Gosio moves to full back, and scrum-half Matt Heeks will hope to continue his try-scoring form as he shifts to the wing.
Scottish team:
15 Gosio
14 Heeks
13 O Holmes
12 O Brown
11 Howells
10 J Brown
9 Lalanne (c)

1 Liffchak
2 Kwasnicki
3 Thiede
4 Rudzki
5 Thomas
6 Andrews
7 Lonergan
8 Kellard

Replacements: Clarke, Stanfield, MacKenzie, Josh Thomas Brown, Calder, Amor, Holgate.

In addition, there are only three survivors from the Welsh side which last weekend overturned a 10-6 half-time deficit at Castle Park against Doncaster Knight to win the second half 15-0 – fly half Alex Davies, second row Adam Brown and number eight Ed Jackson.

The Exiles opened their B&I Cup campaign with a bonus point win over London Scottish, but then went down to Bedford Blues to the last play of the game at Sunbury. However, the Exiles still sit top of Pool 4, albeit only by points difference from Esher.

Saturday’s clash at Old Deer Park will be Aberavon’s first outing in this season’s B&I Cup, with the Welsh Premiership leaders drawn in Pool 3 alongside Leinster, Bedford and Scottish.

Welsh and Aberavon do, however, have previous B&I Cup history. The two sides were pooled together in 2009/10 with the Exiles winning 36-7 at the Talbot Athletic Ground. Paul Sampson and Tom Brown both scored two tries a piece, while Simon Whatling completed the try scoring. On Saturday at Old Deer Park, Paul Mackey and Matt Corker will be Welsh’s only survivors from that meeting on November 27, 2009.

The two sides also faced each other in a friendly on August 2, 2008, at the Talbot Athletic Ground. The Exiles coming out on top that day 48-17 with tries coming from Joe Ajuwa (2), Ed Lewis-Pratt, Aaron Hopkins, Mark Odejobi, Alex Walker and Darryl Ball, with Lewis-Pratt adding 13 points with the boot.

London Welsh: 15. James Lewis, 14. Liam Gibson, 13. Paul Mackey, 12. Seb Jewell, 11. Ashley Smith, 10. Alex Davies, 9. Ben Stevenson, 1. Guillermo Roan, 2. Vili Ma’asi*, 3. James Tideswell, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Matt Corker, 6. Gary Johnson ©, 7. Michael Hills, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. George Thomas, 17. Billy Moss, 18. Martin Purdy, 19. Michael Denbee, 20. Jack Moates, 21. Will Hurrell, 22. Edd Thrower.

* Denotes full international

The Exiles will no doubt have a spot of revenge in mind, but will be even more eager to end a run of three consecutive losses, following Championship defeats to Bristol and Rotherham, and to Bedford in the British & Irish Cup.

Welsh will be particularly keen to wipe out the memory of their last outing at Old Deer Park when they went down 33-25 to the Titans. Head coach Lyn Jones got the response he was looking for at Bristol in front of the live Sky Sports cameras – although not the result thanks to Jack Tovey’s late try.

Jones makes four changes to the Welsh starting line for Saturday’s visit of the Pirates. One of those comes on the wing with James Lewis, who returns from injury to make his first appearance since the Exiles’ home win over Plymouth Albion, coming in for Liam Gibson.

There’s a double change in the front row with Shawn Pittman and Billy Moss coming in for Guillermo Roan and Greg Bateman, while Lee Beach replaces Jon Mills at blindside flanker. Gordon Ross takes over the captain’s armband.

Welsh will be looking to make it three wins in a row over the Pirates on home soil. The Exiles came out on top 23-16 last season at Old Deer Park, thanks to Dom Shabbo’s try and six penalties from Aled Thomas, while in 2009/10 Welsh won 34–10 with Rob Lewis crossing twice and the home side’s other tries coming from Simon Whatling, Shabbo, Errie Claassens and Dorian Williams.

The Pirates have to go back to 2008/09 for the last time they tasted victory at Old Deer Park, when they won 38-23.

London Welsh: 15. Edd Thrower, 14. Will Hurrell, 13. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 12. Simon Whatling, 11. James Lewis, 10. Gordon Ross* ©, 9. Rob Lewis, 1. Shawn Pittman*, 2. Dan George, 3. Billy Moss, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Martin Purdy, 6. Lee Beach, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. Saul Nelson/Vili Ma’asi*, 17. Greg Bateman, 18. Matt Corker, 19. Ben Russell, 20. Jack Moates, 21. Alex Davies, 22. Ashley Smith.

* Denotes full international

Five points clear at the top of the RFU Championship, Bristol make the long journey to Clifton Lane on Saturday to face a resurgent Rotherham Titans (3pm KO).

In the backline, Junior Fatialofa returns after a five-game absence to start alongside top-scorer Jack Tovey in the midfield. Matty James continues at fly-half with Tristan Roberts still unavailable through injury.

Middleton shuffles his pack in the forwards, making two changes in the front row. Darren Crompton and Ross Johnston replace Mark Irish and Rhys Lawrence, while Darren Barry makes his first league start of the season.

A very strong replacement bench, including Roy Winters and Rhys Lawrence, sees a five forwards and two backs split.

Bristol Rugby team to face Rotherham at Clifton Lane on Saturday 29 October (3pm KO):

Sean Marsden; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Junior Fatialofa, Jon Goodridge; Matty James, Tom Slater; Darren Crompton, Ross Johnston, Jason Hobson, Mariano Sambucetti, Darren Barry, Josh Ovens, James Merriman, Iain Grieve (c).

Replacements: Rhys Lawrence, Mark Irish, Wayne Thompson, Roy Winters, Marco Mama, Louis Silver, Mark Davies.

The powerful number eight missed last week’s trip to Leeds due to a knee injury, but he has recovered to make his second appearance of the season for Albion, who will be looking to make it four home wins from five.

"Hopefully, he will bring all his international experience to the team," said chairman of rugby Graham Dawe, who is also able to welcome back fellow back-rower Herbie Stupple to the squad after five weeks out.

The game will be Albion’s second Friday night fixture of the season and the club are planning a Halloween special, with children who arrive in fancy dress being admitted free of charge. The children will also be invited on to the pitch at half-time for a fancy dress parade.

Albion: 15 J Love, 14 S Johns, 13 B Armitage, 12 K Fisilau, 11 M McGrath, 10 P Bailey, 9 R Cushion, 1 R Dugard, 2 G Evans, 3 R Hopkins, 4 D Collier, 5 T Hotson, 6 S Hocking, 7 W Sprangle, 8 A Carpenter. Reps: 16 D Farnham, 17 T Lewis, 18 D Morton, 19 D McGregor, 20 J Tyas, 21 H Stupple, 22 A Lockley, 23 C Grace

With Tristan Roberts picking up a knock in training this week, new signing Matty James is set to make his first start for the Club. Jon Goodridge is named on the wing in place of Matt Williams while Ben Mosses retains his place at centre after being released from LV Cup duty by Bath.

In the absence of Jason Hobson, Darren Crompton starts in the front row alongside Wayne Thompson and Rhys Lawrence. Captain Iain Grieve is still recovering from an ear infection, so Marco Mama continues at no.8.

On the replacements bench, Middleton opts for a five forwards and two backs split. Mitch Eadie and Ben Mercer feature in the 22-man squad for the first time in the league this season.

Bristol Rugby team to face Esher at Molesey Road on Saturday 15th October (3pm KO):

Sean Marsden; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Ben Mosses, Jon Goodridge; Matty James, Louis Silver; Darren Crompton, Rhys Lawrence, Wayne Thompson, Mariano Sambucetti, Roy Winters, Josh Ovens, James Merriman (c), Marco Mama.

Replacements: Ross Johnston, Mark Irish, Dan Montagu, Darren Barry, Mitch Eadie, Tom Slater, Ben Mercer.

Unavailable: Jason Hobson, Junior Fatialofa, Mark Davies, Tristan Roberts

Jewell came off the bench in the Exiles’ 34-23 win over Nottingham, having kicked three conversions on his debut for Welsh in their British & Irish Cup win over London Scottish.

His first Championship start, though, since joining Welsh in the summer, will come at the club he spent three seasons during his time at Wasps and Harlequins. Indeed, his 23 tries helped the club win promotion to the Championship in 2009/10 and he scored a further 25 points for Esher last season.

Jewell lines up at inside centre and is one of ten changes, including two positional, made by London Welsh head coach Lyn Jones from the side that beat Nottingham at Old Deer Park last Saturday.

There’s a first start for Joe Ajuwa, with Will Hurrell switching from the right to left wing, while Rob Lewis comes back into the side at scrum half. It’s all change in the front row as Jones names Dan George at hooker and Greg Bateman at tight head, with James Tideswell moving to loosehead.

Martin Purdy makes his first Championship start of the season, having come off the bench against Nottingham, with Ben Russell another to make his first Championship start of the season, at blindside flanker.

Russell comes in for club captain Jon Mills, with vice captain Gordon Ross taking over the captain’s armband for the trip to Molesey Road.

London Welsh may be third in the table, with three wins from their opening four Championship games while Esher are still searching for their first win of the league season, but the Exiles will be taking nothing for granted on Friday evening.

Almost a year to the day last season under floodlights on a Friday evening at Molesey Road the Exiles went down 22-19, while in the return game at Old Deer Park, Welsh edged out their rivals 24-17.

London Welsh team v Esher: 15. Edd Thrower, 14. Joe Ajuwa, 13. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 12. Seb Jewell, 11. Will Hurrell, 10. Gordon Ross* ©, 9. Rob Lewis, 1. James Tideswell, 2. Dan George, 3. Greg Bateman, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Martin Purdy, 6. Ben Russell, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. Vili Ma’asi*, 17. Guillermo Roan, 18. Gary Johnson, 19. Epi Taione, 20. Ben Stevenson, 21. Alex Davies, 22. Paul Mackey.

* Denotes full international

Mitchell Tamiau is omitted from the squad after suffering an injury during training this week, while Ryan Davis and Chris Mayor are also rested due to niggling injuries.

In their places come Mark Billings, Tom Nichols and James Tyrell, who are all guest players.

There will be six games each evening, with each match consisting of two seven minute halves with a two minute break.

Events kick off on Friday 22nd July at 7.30pm, finishing at 10.30pm with live music and family entertainment ensuring a great night out for everyone.

The winner and runner up of each regional event go through to the final on Friday 5th August at the Twickenham Stoop.

The three regional events will be broadcast live and exclusively on ESPN. Coverage will include pre-game build up and post-match analysis for all the matches directly from pitch side.

Schedule
Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints (7:30pm)
London Wasps v Saracens (7:55pm)
London Wasps v Gloucester Rugby (8:25pm)
Northampton Saints v Saracens (8:50pm)
Gloucester Rugby v Saracens (9:20pm)
London Wasps v Northampton Saints (9:45pm)

Team to play in the JP Morgan 7s Regional event at Franklins Gardens
1 Joe Burton
2 Alex Cheesman
3 Charlie Ingalls
4 Jonah Holmes
5 Mark Billings
6 Tom Nichols
7 Jack Wallace
8 Will Robinson
9 James Tyrell
10 Joseph Tariperiajua
11 Christopher Lewis
12 Stuart Bailey

The matches will start at 7.30pm and will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Wasps face Gloucester, Northampton Saints and Saracens in the regional stages of the JP Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby Sevens Series at Franklins Gardens on Friday 22nd July.

The 12 Premiership Rugby clubs have been split into three groups for the tournament, with Bath hosting Exeter, Harlequins and London Irish on July 14th, Northampton hosting Gloucester, Saracens and Wasps on July 22nd and Sale hosting Leicester, Newcastle and Worcester on July 29th.

There will be six games each evening, with each match consisting of two seven minute halves with a two minute break.

Events kick off on Friday 22nd July at 7.30pm, finishing at 10.30pm with live music and family entertainment ensuring a great night out for everyone.

The winner and runner up of each regional event go through to the final on Friday 5th August at the Twickenham Stoop.

The three regional events will be broadcast live and exclusively on ESPN. Coverage will include pre-game build up and post-match analysis for all the matches directly from pitch side.

London Wasps’ High Performance Manager, James Wade, said: “The JP Morgan Asset Management Sevens Series is a great event for fans because, with the 7s format, it is high paced and exciting, and it is also a great chance to see some of the younger players who will be pushing for first team places over the next few years.”

“We had a strong contingent of our young players in the England U20s squad for the Junior World Championships so they are not available for this which opens the door for some of the players who haven’t had that chance to show what they are capable of on such a public stage before.”

“We have tried to mix in a couple of more experienced players as well to add some leadership on the field to a predominantly young team.”

“If last year’s tournament is anything to go by it will be a great event and hopefully we will play well enough to make it through to the final at the Stoop.”

Team to play in the JP Morgan 7s Regional event at Franklins Gardens

1 Joe Burton
2 Alex Cheesman
3 Charlie Ingalls
4 Jonah Holmes
5 Ryan Davis
6 Chris Mayor
7 Jack Wallace
8 Will Robinson
9 Mitchell Tamiau
10 Joseph Tariperiajua
11 Christopher Lewis
12 Stuart Bailey

The matches will start at 7.30pm and finish by 10.30pm and will be broadcast live and exclusively on ESPN.

HOW HAVE PREPARATIONS GONE THIS WEEK?

We gave the players some time off at the back end of last week and they appear to have really benefitted from the rest. Everyone came back in at the start of the week with a spring in their step and we are looking forward to going to Sale this week.

We are pleased to have Steve Thompson and Hendre Fourie back with us on a full time basis after the Six Nations and we have got a few guys back from injury who missed our last game against Northampton.

HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THIS GAME?

Last season we had a crucial win at Sale at a key time for us in the season and it really helped our momentum in the second half of the season and we will be looking for a similar performance on Friday night. We now have three massive games in the coming weeks to keep our destiny in our own hands and that is how we are approaching Friday’s game.

Sale are a very strong side with internationals across their team. I am sure, like ourselves, they are disappointed to find themselves at the wrong end of the table. However, we know that we can not focus on what has already happened this season, we need to look forward and that is what we have been doing.

HOW IS YOU SQUAD SHAPING UP?

We are in a fortunate position at this time of year to have a number of players coming back from injury to give us lots of competition for places. With Steve Thompson back at hooker, Scott Freer will start off the bench whilst Lee Blackett has overcome the injury he had recently which means we can move Henry Fa’afili back into the centres with Scott Barrow ruled out for a hernia operation.

With players returning from injury, we are able to get some consistency with our team selection and that is important at this time of year.

Five changes for Sharks trip

Leeds Carnegie Head Coach Neil Back has made five changes to his side for this Friday’s Aviva Premiership clash with Sales Sharks at Edgeley Park.

The majority of the changes come in the front row. Steve Thompson returns from his try-scoring appearance off the bench with England last weekend. Either side of Thompson are Mike MacDonald and Phil Swainston with Gareth Hardy and Juan Gomez this week starting on the bench.

There is only one change in the back line with Lee Blackett returning from injury to replace Scott Barrow, who has had a hernia operation this week. Henry Fa’afili reverts to centre to allow Blackett to return on the right wing.

The final change is the return of skipper Marco Wentzel from a hamstring injury suffered in the first half of the win over London Irish. He replaces Sean Hohneck.

The bench also sees back row Rhys Oakley return from injury, in place of James Craig, whilst Christian Lewis-Pratt could make his first appearance in the Aviva Premiership since the game at London Irish back in October.

The squad in full is:

15. Michael Stephenson
14. Lee Blackett
13. Henry Faafili
12. Luther Burrell
11. Peter Wackett
10. Adrian Jarvis
9. Scott Mathie
1. Mike MacDonald
2. Steve Thompson
3. Phil Swainston
4. Daniel Browne
5. Marco Wentzel (Captain)
6. Kearnan Myall
7. Hendre Fourie
8. Alfie Tooala
16. Scott Freer
17. Gareth Hardy
18. Juan Gomez
19. Rhys Oakley
20. Danny Paul
21. Warren Fury
22. Christian Lewis Pratt
23. Semi Tadulala

Sharks team news:

Sale Sharks have named their team for tomorrow’s Aviva Premiership home game against Leeds Carnegie (KO 7-45pm)

James Gaskell, Eifion Lewis Roberts and David Seymour all return after injury and Mark Cueto along with Dwayne Peel return after Six Nations Duties.

Team

Nick Macleod, Ben Cohen, Chris Bell, Andy Tuilagi, Mark Cueto, Charlie Hodgson, Dwayne Peel, Lee Imiolek, Neil Briggs, Henry Thomas, Chris Jones, Wame Lewaravu, James Gaskell, Neil Mcmillan, Sisa Koyamaibole

Replacements

Marc Jones, Eifion Lewis Roberts, Jack Forster, Sean Cox, David Seymour, Will Cliff, Paul Williams, Kyle Tonetti

Executive Director of Rugby Steve Diamond said, “ The players have been training hard since the defeat at Wasps preparing for this game. It’s a crucial game for both teams and we have been working on all areas of our game.”