Leicester Tigers v Harlequins
Tigers' Hamilton to make debut against Quins
Scrum.com
November 22, 2008
Scott Hamilton of the Crusaders runs at the Waratahs defence during the Super 14 final match between the Crusaders and the New South Wales Waratahs at AMI Stadium on May 31, 2008 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Former Crusaders wing Scott Hamilton makes his Leicester debut against Quins © Getty Images
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New Zealand international Scott Hamilton will make his debut for Leicester Tigers against Harlequins in the Premiership on Saturday.

Hamilton was a member of Canterbury's victorious New Zealand Cup squad before joining up with Tigers last week. "Scott is a top-quality player who gives us options on the wing and at full-back," said Tigers head coach Heyneke Meyer. "I have seen a lot of him in Super 14 rugby and he is a very consistent player. I am delighted he has joined us."

Hamilton wears the No15 shirt as Geordan Murphy is away on duty with Ireland in the only change to the Tigers backline from the match at Bath last Saturday. Up front, captain Martin Corry joins Ben Kay at lock, while Craig Newby teams up with Lewis Moody and Brett Deacon in the back row.

"We really want to take our game on and we probably produced our best 80 minutes of rugby so far this season at Bath last weekend," said Meyer. "The team stayed positive and showed great character, and now we want to build on that performance."

Quins have made few changes from the side that were victorious over champions Wasps last weekend. Andy Gomarsall, Tom Guest and Charlie Amesbury all retain their places as cover for Danny Care, Nick Easter and Ugo Monye, who are on England duty again, whilst Tosh Masson partners Jordan Turner-Hall in the centre whilst Gonzalo Tiesi is also away with Argentina.

Neil McMillan replaces the injured Will Skinner at flanker, with hooker Gary Botha being handed the captain's armband. The welcome return of Mike Brown to full-back sees Nick Evans return to fly-half, whilst Chris Malone moves to the bench.

Leicester Tigers:Scott Hamilton, Johne Murphy, Dan Hipkiss, Aaron Mauger, Matt Smith, Derick Hougaard, Julien Dupuy, Boris Stankovich, George Chuter, Dan Cole, Martin Corry (c), Ben Kay, Craig Newby, Lewis Moody, Brett Deacon

Replacements: Mefin Davies, Santiago Bonorino, Marco Wentzel, Dan Hemingway, Ben Youngs, Sam Vesty, Tom Varndell

Harlequins: Ceri Jones, Gary Botha (c), Mike Ross, Ollie Kohn, Jim Evans, Chris Robshaw, Neil McMillan, Tom Guest, Andy Gomarsall, Nick Evans, Charlie Amesbury, Jordan Turner-Hall, Tosh Masson, Tom Williams, Mike Brown

Replacements: Chris Brooker, Mark Lambert, James Percival, George Robson, Junior Polu, De Wet Barry, Chris Malone

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