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| First Team Debut For Clegg |
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| Falcons and England Under-18s fly half Rory Clegg |
| 14 August 2008, 10:03 am |
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| Newcastle Falcons director of rugby, Steve Bates, has named his side for Sunday's pre-season friendly against Leeds Carnegie at Headingley (kick-off 1pm). |
Fly half Rory Clegg makes his first team debut after helping England Under-18s to the Grand Slam and a five-from-five tour record in Argentina, while South African No.8 Russell Winter captains the side.
The team shows 11 personnel and one positional change from the side which started against Western Force in last Friday's pre-season opener, with Bates stating: “We want to see as many of our squad in action as possible.
“These games form an important part of our pre-season preparation, and we will use Sunday's match to give game time to a number of guys who did not start last weekend.”
On the decision to give Rory Clegg a first team debut aged just 18 years and eight months, Bates said: “He is a very talented player who has shown a lot in training, and this represents a great opportunity for him to make the step up in to senior rugby.
“We expect him to be challenging hard for first team selection during the season, and this match will be an important part of his learning process against a Leeds side which had a good win over at Connacht last weekend.”
Bates will wait until the completion of the Middlesex Sevens and a number of late fitness tests before finalising his bench, although he will definitely be without David Wilson (pectoral), Ross Beattie (ankle), Alex Tait (ankle), Jonny Wilkinson (shoulder), Andy Long (hamstring), Joe Shaw (knee) and Jamie Noon (ten-week rest period).
Newcastle Falcons team to face Leeds Carnegie:
15 Steve Jones
14 Tom May
13 Tom Dillon
12 Spencer Davey
11 Tim Visser
10 Rory Clegg
9 Hall Charlton
1 Jon Golding
2 Matt Thompson
3 Carl Hayman
4 Andy Perry
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tim Swinson
7 Ed Williamson
8 Russell Winter (captain)
Replacements:
Rob Vickers
Micky Ward
Andy Buist
Mark Sorenson
Brent Wilson
James Grindal
(Additional replacements to be confirmed after Middlesex 7s and fitness tests). |
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