TEAM NEWS | London Irish 'A' v Saracens Storm

Saracens Storm have named their team to take on London Irish ‘A’ at Hazelwood this afternoon. 

With strong depth in the Sarries armoury, the 25-man squad has first team experience throughout for their third friendly of the season. 

Their first match was a narrow defeat at Bedford back in mid September, before an emphatic win over Ealing Trailfinders at StoneX Stadium. 

The pack has a very exiting blend of experience and academy players for the trip to Irish. Richard Barrington, Ethan Lewis and Sam Wainwright are in the front-row, with Callum Hunter-Hill and Cameron Boon in the second-row. Theo McFarland, Ollie Stonham and Janco Venter will look to make the most of their opportunity in the back-row. 

Ruben de Haas starts at scrum-half after returning from international duty with USA, and Manu Vunipola will be his half-back partner. 

Ross Neal will pull on SportsEvents Guide shirt for the first time at inside centre, with Brandon Jackson who impressed against Ealing also in the midfield. 

Tom Mills will be on the left wing, with Ben Harris on the right wing fresh from scoring a hat-trick last time out, and Elliott Obatoyinbo starts at full-back. 

On the bench there is international experience in the form of Kapeli Pifeleti who has also been away with America, and Theo Dan will be looking for another chance to impress after returning from a long-term injury in the win over Ealing.

Coach Kelly Brown is looking to see further improvements from the Storm this afternoon.

“We took huge strides forward in our last match and we want to use that as a platform.” Said the former Scotland international. 

He added: “As we’ve seen in the past these games are a great chance for us to continue our development, and for us as a squad to show our work-rate and togetherness."

Saracens Storm team to play London Irish: 

1 Richard Barrington

2 Ethan Lewis

3 Sam Wainwright

4 Callum Hunter-Hill

5 Cameron Boon

6 Theo McFarland

7 Ollie Stonham 

8 Janco Venter (c) 

9 Ruben de Haas

10 Manu Vunipola

11 Tom Mills

12 Ross Neal 

13 Brandon Jackson 

14 Ben Harris

15 Elliott Obatoyinbo

Replacements:

16 Kapeli Pifeleti

17 Sam Crean

18 Harvey Beaton

19 Theo Dan 

20 Toby Knight

21 Sam Bryan

22 Josh Sharp

23 Francis Moore 

24 Obinna Nkwocha

25 Richard Streets