All change for London Welsh

Only Brendon Snyman Thretton Palamo and Martyn Thomas remain from the starting XV defeated 27-3 by Ealing Trailfinders in Round 9 of the Greene King IPA Championship, with Richard Thorpe, Jesse Liston, Will Robinson and Alan Awcock all set to make their first competitive appearance of the season.
 
In the forwards, Ricky Reeves returns to the side after helping the British Army reach the final of the International Defence Rugby Competition. Richard Thorpe comes in at blindside flanker after his exploits at the Rugby World Cup with Canada, and will captain the team. Jesse Liston starts at openside flanker.
 
In the backs, Will Robinson is named at fly half and Alan Awcock on the left wing. Centre James Lewis makes his 90th appearance for the club, while scrum half Josh Davies makes his first competitive start.
 
London Welsh head coach Rowland Phillips said: “The British & Irish Cup is a competition we respect and want to do well in, and it has the added incentive of being an opportunity for players to put their hands up.
 
“League results recently haven’t been good enough so although it’s a different competition our focus remains the same – we have to raise our standards. We know what we need to improve and the players know what I need to see, so that we can move this club in the right direction.
 
“To move forward we have to improve our discipline – that’s the key area that’s not allowing us to play with any momentum and is putting us under pressure defensively. Talking about it and addressing it in training is all well and good, but now we have to take it on to the pitch.
 
“After the Ealing game we now know where we stand. Ealing was the biggest disappointment of the season but the reaction of the players this week has been positive and the energy within the group has been positive, and that is commendable.
 
“But to turn a good week into a great week we have to get the result on Saturday against Cornish Pirates, and there’s no reason why we can’t do that.”
 
The sides met twice during the 2013/14 Championship season with the Exiles winning 20-5 at Mennaye Field and 41-6 at the Kassam Stadium. Saturday will be the first meeting between the two teams in the British & Irish Cup.
 
London Welsh: 15. Martyn Thomas, 14. Guy Armitage, 13. James Lewis, 12. Thretton Palamo*, 11. Alan Awcock, 10. Will Robinson, 9. Josh Davies, 1. Ricky Reeves, 2. Nathan Morris, 3. Eddie Aholelei*, 4. Brendon Snyman, 5. Ben West, 6. Richard Thorpe*, 7. Jesse Liston, 8. Will Skuse.
 
Replacements: 16. Koree Britton, 17. Nathan Trevett, 18. Ben Cooper, 19. Josh McNally, 20. Ben Pienaar, 21. Rob Lewis, 22. Olly Barkley*.
 
* Denotes full international