HEAD OF RUGBY PAUL GUSTARD HAS MADE SIX CHANGES AS EUROPEAN RUGBY RETURNS TO THE STOOP.
Renaldo Bothma returns to the back row at Blindside flanker alongside leading joint try-scorer Alex Dombrandt at Number eight and Fiji international Semi Kunatani at Openside while Lewis Boyce and Will Collier are both in the front-row with Joe Marler on rotation and Kyle Sinckler unavailable with injury. The second row remains unchanged with Matt Symons and Ben Glynn.
In the backs there is a new partnership in the Centres as Ben Tapuai lines up alongside Alofa Alofa with Francis Saili and Joe Marchant rested while Cadan Murley is back on the Right wing, following his rest, in place of the rotated Nathan Earle.
Danny Care captains the side, as he did in the victory at Newcastle Falcons last week, with Marcus Smith at Fly-half, Gabriel Ibitoye on the left wing while Mike Brown will make his 309th appearance for the Club at Full-back.
Mat Luamanu and Luke Wallace both take their place in the match 23 which represents reward for their performances in the Premiership Shield over the last two fixtures and their training ground application and attitude.
Quins go into Round 5 of the Challenge Cup at the top of Pool 5, courtesy of two bonus points, with every team having won two and lost two so far in the competition but, following last week’s convincing victory on the road at Newcastle, Gustard says that the Club is in good shape to progress to the quarter-finals over the next couple of matches.
“Our destiny is in our own hands,” he said. “It is a tournament we have done well in historically and it is one we want to win again this season.
“It was great to put in a performance and get a victory that was thoroughly deserved at Newcastle. I have been very happy with the progression our attack has been making in recent weeks having scored 13 tries in the last four fixtures and it is also great to see our special set-piece plays being so effective.
“It’s a new year and tomorrow represents a new chapter in the Club’s rich history to be written.”
Harlequins XV to play Grenoble (kick-off: 15:00)
15. Mike Brown (308)
14. Cadan Murley (10)
13. Alofa Alofa (61)
12. Ben Tapuai (9)
11. Gabriel Ibitoye (12)
10. Marcus Smith (45)
9. Danny Care (Captain, 254)
1. Lewis Boyce (27)
2. Max Crumpton (12)
3. Will Collier (142)
4. Matt Symons (14)
5. Ben Glynn (33)
6. Renaldo Bothma (18)
7. Semi Kunatani (6)
8. Alex Dombrandt (11)
Game Changers
16. Dave Ward (157)
17. Joe Marler (182)
18. Josh Ibuanokpe (3)
19. Mat Luamanu (71)
20. Luke Wallace (166)
21. Charlie Mulchrone (32)
22. James Lang (36)
23. Aaron Morris (28)
Not considered for selection
Rob Buchanan
Henry Cheeseman
James Chisholm
Jack Clifford
Nathan Earle
James Horwill
Mark Lambert
Joe Marchant
Josh McNulty
Chris Robshaw
Niall Saunders
Francis Saili
Kyle Sinckler
Tim Visser
Calum Waters