Anglo-Welsh Cup
Harlequins v London Irish
Scrum.com
October 25, 2008
Shane Geraghty of London Irish and England, January 27 2008.
Shane Geraghty makes his first start of the season for London Irish © Getty Images
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Tournaments/Tours: Anglo-Welsh Cup

Harlequins and London Irish clash for their second derby fixture of the season in the Anglo-Welsh Cup at the Stoop on Saturday.

The Exiles have announced a starting line-up that has Shane Geraghty making his first start of the season at fly half and James Hudson making a welcome return to action in the second row having recovered from an ankle injury that delayed his start to the season.

Academy scrum half Tom Parker makes his first senior start. Two experienced, international prop forwards, Springbok Faan Rautenbach and All Black Clarke Dermody combine with James Buckland in a strong front row. James Bailey starts on the right wing for the first time for his new club. Dermody captains the team for the first time in place of Bob Casey who is named among the replacements.

Among the replacements is Argentine international scrum half Alfredo Lalanne who has joined the Exiles on trial. The 25-year-old, who has one cap for the Pumas, has been signed to provide cover during the period when international commitments in November will take Irish's two England scrum halves away from the squad.

The Wales scrum half Warren Fury, who is making good progress in recovering from a back injury, is expected to be available for selection in mid-November. "Whatever the competition, a local derby always highlights local rivalries and inevitably results in a hard fought contest. That is what we're expecting when we visit Harlequins tomorrow," said Toby Booth, London Irish Head Coach. "Both sides will give an opportunity to players to stake a claim to a regular starting spot and it will be interesting to see who takes it.

"Competing in and winning the match is important for us in building momentum going into the next rounds of the Guinness Premiership and European Challenge Cup in November and December," added Booth.

For Harlequins, Gareth Williams gets his first start of the season at scrum-half, with Academy player Seb Stegmann also getting his first start on the wing.

Springbok centre De Wet Barry and Academy player Chris York are both welcomed back from injury and take their place on the bench.

Harlequins have won three of their last four matches in all competitions with the loss being 23-24 at Ospreys in the 1st round of this season's Anglo-Welsh Cup on 5 October. Quins have won just one of their seven previous encounters in this competition however, 10-8 over the Exiles at the Madejski Stadium on 28 October 2007.

London Irish have won four of their last five games in all competitions, with their defeat also being three weeks ago in the EDF Energy Cup, 5-22 at Worcester. The Exiles' only win in the Anglo-Welsh Cup since September 2006 was 48-27 at home to Worcester Warriors on 2 December 2007.

London Irish have won the last two encounters between the two clubs including a 28-27 victory at the Stoop in the Guinness Premiership on 27 September.

London Irish: Peter Hewat; James Bailey; Dominic Shabbo; Charlie Gower; Adam Thompstone; Shane Geraghty; Tom Parker; Clarke Dermody (c); James Buckland, Faan Rautenbach; Gary Johnson; James Hudson; Declan Danaher; Steffon Armitage; Jonathon Fisher

Replacements: Dan Murphy; David Paice; Bob Casey; Richard Thorpe; Tom Homer; Alfredo Lalanne; Eoghan Hickey

Harlequins: Aston Croall, Chris Brooker, Mark Lambert, James Percival, George Robson, Phil Davies, Neil McMillan, Tom Guest, Gareth Williams, Waisea Luveniyali, Charlie Amesbury, Epi Taione, Tosh Masson, Seb Stegmann, Tom Williams

Replacements: Ignacio Elosu, Alex Rogers, Jim Evans, Chris York, Danny Care, De Wet Barry, Seb Jewell

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