Friday 31 October 2014 18:01, UK
With several first-choice players away on international duty, the opening round of the LV= Cup presents a prize opportunity for the Aviva Premiership’s rising stars to showcase their talent and stake a claim for starting berths.
After the thrills and spills of back-to-back weekends of European action kicking off the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup, attention turns to the 10th edition of the Anglo-Welsh Cup, as the 12 Premiership teams and four Welsh regions do battle.
Reigning champions Exeter Chiefs, who claimed their first piece of major silverware when they saw off Northampton Saints last term, start their title defence by welcoming Gloucester to Sandy Park as one of six weekend fixtures.
The pick of the Round 1 fixtures comes on Sunday as Saracens lock horns with Harlequins at Allianz Park in an eagerly-anticipated derby.
Harlequins will not need reminding of the lone meeting between the sides so far this season, with Saracens running away from The Stoop with a resounding 39-0 victory, though Sunday’s starting line-ups are very different to those of that Friday night showdown.
After leading England to IRB Junior World Championship glory in June, 20-year-old flanker Maro Itoje will captain a Saracens side which sees Argentine prop Juan Figallo make his debut for Mark McCall’s side.
Ben Spencer and Nils Mordt form the axis paring, while Romanian winger Catalin Fercu, summer signing Mike Ellery and Ben Ransom team up in the back-three.
Similarly, Conor O’Shea fields a blend of youth and experience with senior and academy players teaming up throughout. Ross Chisholm makes his first start for the club this season at full-back and is joined by wingers Charlie Walker and Ollie Lindsay-Hague.
Karl Dickson captains the side from scrum-half and Louis Grimoldby gets the nod at fly-half, while seven of the starting pack are under 25, with Rob Buchanan, George Merrick, Sam Twomey, Joe Trayfoot and James Chisholm making their first starts of the season.
Not only did last season’s LV= Cup yield a first piece of silverware for the Sandy Park trophy cabinet, it also saw a number players rise to prominence and with four Chiefs in the England squad for the autumn internationals, Exeter’s next crop will be looking to lay their markers when they host Gloucester on Saturday.
With Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Thomas Waldrom and Dave Ewers all in Stuart Lancaster’s camp, the likes of full-back Jack Arnott, scrum-half Dave Lewis and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, all of whom start at Sandy Park, will be looking to follow in the footsteps of their Devon colleagues.
There is a welcome return to action for Exeter club captain Dean Mumm, after the Australia international missed the first two months of the season due a shoulder operation.
Gloucester are also delighted to welcome No 8 Gareth Evans back into the fray, with the back-row set to make his first appearance since injuring his knee against Bath.
Evans is joined in the run-on side by five players making their first competitive starts for Gloucester - Steve McColl, Mark Atkinson, Tom Isaacs, Aled Thomas and Dan Thomas, while James Hudson skippers the Cherry and Whites.
Steve Diamond, the Sale Sharks director of rugby, has captain Dan Braid back at his disposal for their opening LV= Cup clash against Wasps at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Braid came on as a second-half replacement against Clermont in the Champions Cup last week and is keen to get more game time under his belt, while Joe Ford starts his first game of the season at fly-half with Nick Macleod named among the replacements for the first time this term.
Diamond’s opposite number Dai Young boasts a wealth of experience as well as some exciting rising stars in his Wasps side, with Alex Lozowski getting the nod at fly-half in a side captained by centre Ben Jacobs.
Simon McIntyre, Tom Lindsay and Phil Swainston form the front row, with James Cannon and Will Rowlands the two starting locks and Buster Lawrence, Thomas Young and Ed Jackson making up the back-row.
Bath have made an impressive start to the Premiership campaign, winning four of their six outings to date, while London Welsh are yet to claim a single victory on either the domestic or European fronts.
Despite incoming rugby league convert Sam Burgess dominating the headlines this week, Bath head coach Mike Ford names a starting XV that showcases the strength of the West Country production line, with 19-year-old academy lock Charlie Ewels captaining a side which boasts 14 current or former academy stars.
Ollie Devoto and Matt Banahan make a powerful midfield combination, with a well-balanced back three of full-back Luke Arscott and wings Horacio Agulla and Olly Woodburn.
London Welsh director of rugby Justin Burnell has named a much-changed side for the trip to The Recreation Ground, but the game also provides an opportunity for captain Tom May to make his comeback from injury.
Chris Elder comes in at full-back, while Tristan Roberts and Rob Lewis start at fly-half and scrum-half respectively.
Northampton, last year’s losing finalists, will be determined to go one step further this season with the added incentive that the final will be held at their Franklin’s Gardens home.
Premiership and European Challenge Cup champions Saints have made another flying start, topping the English top flight, but Jim Mallinder will be after a strong start to the LV= Cup after letting it slip last season.
Joel Hodgson makes his debut for Northampton and is one of 14 changes to the starting line-up that downed Ospreys in Europe last weekend.
In contrast, Dean Richards makes just seven changes to his Newcastle Falcons side for the trip to Franklin’s Gardens, with overseas players who were not registered for the European Challenge Cup such as Uili Kolo’ofai and Mike Blair coming into the starting line-up; there is also a return for Alesana Tuilagi.
London Irish academy coach Nick Kennedy hopes second row Ollie Curry and scrum-half Connor Murphy, both 18-year-olds named on the bench for Saturday’s clash with Leicester Tigers, can use the LV= Cup to fast-track their careers.
Topsy Ojo captains Brian Smith’s Exiles from full-back as London Irish experiment with a mix a senior heads and junior talent.
The horrendous injury list which has hampered Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill so far this season appears to be easing, allowing him to ring the changes for the clash with the Exiles and hand debuts to new signings Tommy Bell and Jack Roberts.
Scrum-half Sam Harrison has the honour of captaining the Tigers for the first time, while there are senior debuts for England Under 20 squad members Jake Farnworth and Charlie Beckett in the pack.
