London Irish near Premiership return

Two Canadians will line up for London Irish as they look to put a wrap on their return to the Aviva Premiership on Wednesday evening. With an 11-point buffer over Yorkshire Carnegie heading into the second leg of the Greene King IPA Championship final, a win at the Madejski would be icing on the cake but even a narrow loss will do. For a team that has lost only three from 32 matches across all competitions this season the result seems a formality but stranger things have happened in these fixtures, as Bristol can surely attest.

The match also takes on a bit of historical relevance, being the last time promotion will be decided in a knock-out game. Starting from next season the team that finishes at the top of the table in the Championship will be automatically promoted. Had that been the case for Irish they would have secured their spot in March. As it is their supporters must sweat through 80 more minutes before the taps can flow in full force.

Irish have been adopted as Atlantic Canada’s favorite club on account of two Canadians hailing from the east. New Brunswick’s Jebb Sinclair starts for the seventh consecutive game in the second row to complete a fine return from a serious knee injury. With Fijian ace Asaeli Tikoirotuma earning a four-week suspension thanks to a dangerous tackle last week, it’s Newfoundland’s Ciaran Hearn who gets the call to hold down the all-important outside centre channel against an attack-minded Carnegie side.

Others standouts featuring for the Exiles are former All Blacks prop Ben Franks, Scottish international flanker Blair Cowan, and Manu Samoa regular Ofisa Treviranus. Super Rugby exports Brendan McKibbin and James Marshall will steer the backline and there is strength in depth with Greig Tonks, recalled to Scotland’s touring side for June, and former England back row Luke Narraway among the replacements. Long-time Ireland prop Tom Court is set to make his final appearance with retirement from professional rugby on the cards during the summer.

Carnegie will bid farewell to several players following the match with skipper Ryan Burrows headed to Newcastle Falcons next season and two backfielders, Joe Ford and Jonah Holmes, packing their bags for Leicester. Bryan Redpath will step down from his role as head coach, departing rugby altogether as he moves into the financial sector after a lifetime of success as both a player and coach.

The final match of the Championship season kicks off at 7:45pm local time (2:45 Eastern) and will be broadcast list on Sky Sports 1.

LONDON IRISH
1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 David Paice (capt.), 3 Ben Franks, 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 6 Mike Coman, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 10 James Marshall, 11 Topsy Ojo, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 14 Alex Lewington, 15 Tommy Bell

Replacements: 16 David Porecki, 17 Tom Court, 18 Oli Hoskins, 19 George Robson, 20 Luke Narraway, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Greig Tonks

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE
1 Charlie Beech, 2 Mike Mayhew, 3 Michael Cusack, 4 Matt Smith, 5 Mike Myerscough, 6 Ollie Stedman, 7 Richard Mayhew, 8 Ryan Burrows (capt.), 9 Alex Davies, 10 Joe Ford, 11 Seg Stegmann, 12 Tom Casson, 13 Peter Lucock, 14 Jonah Holmes, 15 Chris Elder

Replacements: 16 Ross Graham, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Sione Faletau, 19 Ben West, 20 Richard Beck, 21 Max Green, 22 Max Wright

Date: Wednesday, May 24
Venue: Madejski Stadium, Reading
Kickoff: 19:45 local (14:45 Eastern)
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistants: Ian Tempest & Jack Makepeace
TMO: David Sainsbury
Broadcasts: Sky Sports 1