Five fresh faces as Falcons face Welsh
Newcastle Falcons have made five changes to their starting line up against London Welsh as they look to build on recent excellent performances and secure their first Aviva Premiership win of 2015.
Dean Richards is able to welcome Simon Hammersley, Sinoti Sinoti, Juan Pablo Socino, Rob Vickers and Ally Hogg back to the starting XV for the 2pm kick off at Kingston Park.
Hammersley returns to the fray after a two week absence, after he sustained a knock to the head against Harlequins in mid December and takes up his now familiar berth of fullback, with last week’s incumbent Alex Tait moving onto the Left Wing.
Leading try scorer Sinoti comes in for Chris Harris on the right, while the tried and trusted centre pairing of Adam Powell and Juan Pablo Socino take the 13 and 12 shirts respectively.
For a fourth week running, Mike Blair and Tom Catterick line up at Scrum Half and Fly Half respectively, in a developing partnership that has drawn plenty of praise from pundits in recent weeks.
A change at Loose Head Prop sees Rob Vickers replace Eric Fry while Scott Lawson retains the hooker’s shirt alongside Kieran Brookes at Tight Head.
In the second row, Calum Green and Josh Furno will once again provide a mix of power and line out prowess while in the back row, Ally Hogg returns at number 8 with Mark Wilson moving onto the blindside flank and Club Captain Will Welch again starting on the openside.
On the bench, Fry takes up the space occupied by Vickers at Northampton, while George McGuigan continues to provide backup to Lawson at two.
New signing and Argentine international Juan Pablo Orlandi could be in line for his first start for the club, after signing from Bath earlier in the week as he completes the front row replacements, while Kane Thompson and Richard Mayhew provide further forward options.
The back replacements sees Ruki Tipuna, Chris Harris and Alex Tuilagi complete the bench.
Newcastle Falcons vs London Welsh:
15 S. Hammersley, 14 S. Sinoti, 13 A. Powell, 12 JP. Socino, 11 A. Tait, 10 T. Catterick, 9 M. Blair; 1 R. Vickers, 2 S. Lawson, 3 K. Brookes, 4 C. Green, 5 J. Furno, 6 M. Wilson, 7 W. Welch, 8 A. Hogg.
Replacements: 16 G. McGuigan, 17 E. Fry, 18 JP. Orlandi, 19 K. Thompson, 20 R. Mayhew, 21. R Tipuna, 22 C. Harris, 23 Al. Tuilagi.
