41 - 24HT 13 - 3

Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium
Att TBC
Sat 06 Feb 21, 3:00pm

Team news | Pennell to make 250th appearance at Leicester

Full-back Chris Pennell will make his 250th appearance for Warriors in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership match against Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road (kick-off 3.00pm).

Pennell is just the second Warriors players to reach the landmark with only lock Craig Gillies, who made 288 appearances between 2002 and 2013, ahead of him.

Pennell, 33, made his debut against Bath in 2007 and the highlights of his illustrious career include being capped by England on the tour of New Zealand in 2014 and scoring two tries in the dramatic victory over Bristol Bears in the 2015 Championship final second leg.

Pennell will have the honour of leading out Warriors at Leicester in a side that will captained by Matt Kvesic.

As part of a rotation policy to ensure player welfare during a demanding run of nine consecutive Premiership matches, Club Captain Ted Hill, scrum-half Francois Hougaard, loosehead prop Ethan Waller and lock Justin Clegg will be used as impact players off the bench this week.

With Billy Searle sidelined by a lacerated thigh muscle sustained against Exeter Chiefs, Duncan Weir will start at fly-half with his fellow Scotland international Cornell du Preez brought it into the back-row. Marco Mama switches from number eight to blindside to accommodate du Preez.

Experienced loosehead prop Marc Thomas will make his first start in the Premiership since he joined Warriors from Harlequins during the close season.

Scrum-half Gareth Simpson will make his first Premiership start of the season after five appearances off the bench and Anton Bresler will renew his second row partnership with Graham Kitchener.

Warriors | 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Nick David, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Perry Humphreys, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Gareth Simpson, 1 Marc Thomas, 2 Niall Annett, 3 Nick Schonert, 4 Anton Bresler, 5 Graham Kitchener, 6 Marco Mama, 7 Matt Kvesic (C), 8 Cornell du Preez.

Replacements | 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Justin Clegg, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Sam Lewis, 22 Francois Hougaard, 23 Jamie Shillcock.

Unavailable | Conor Carey, Matt Cox, Tom Dodd, Noah Heward, Lewis Holsey,  Andrew Kitchener, Matt Moulds, Melani Nanai, Billy Searle, Matti Williams. International duty | Ollie Lawrence.

Leicester Tigers | 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus Van Wyk, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 1 Luan de Bruin, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Tomás Lavanini, 5 Calum Green, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Cyle Brink, 8 Jasper Wiese.

Replacements | 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Harry Wells, 20 George Martin, 21 Jack Van Poortvliet, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Kini Murimurivalu.

 

Competition: Gallagher Premiership Rugby
Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Game Type: Away
Fixture Round: 8
Attendance:
No. Name T C D P
15 Freddie Steward
14 Kobus van Wyk
13 Matias Moroni
12 Matt Scott
11 Nemani Nadolo
10 Zack Henry 5C 2P
9 Richard Wigglesworth
1 Luan de Bruin
2 Julian Montoya 2T
3 Dan Cole
4 Tomas Lavanini
5 Calum Green
6 Hanro Liebenberg
7 Cyle Brink
8 Jasper Wiese 2T
Replacements
16 Tom Youngs 1T
17 Nephi Leatigaga
18 Joe Heyes
19 Harry Wells
20 George Martin
21 Jack van Poortvliet
22 Johnny McPhillips
23 Kini Murimurivalu

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