The matchday squad for Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership clash against Sale Sharks at Salford Community Stadium has been named.
Jack van Poortvliet captains the side from scrum-half, with fellow England international George Martin returning to the Leicester Tigers lineup for the first time since Round 3 against Newcastle in early October.
Bruising centre Solomone Kata combines with Izaia Perese in the midfield, with the Tonga international having missed the past five league games through suspension.
Having joined the club on Monday, lock Jed Holloway is set to debut from the bench.
Previewing the game, Leicester Tigers Head Coach Michael Cheika said: “We worked on certain things to get us through the first block (of games) and we’ll need to keep those things and layer more on top which we will in this block."
“The things we think are most important in our game; the contact area, being physical, set-piece, we’ll keep pushing those forward and we know we’re going to need those things against a team like Sale.
“They’re led by a very good coach; they’ve got a strong way of playing the game, and we look forward to that."
STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [93]
14 Anthony Watson [22]
13 Izaia Perese [5]
12 Solomone Kata [23]
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins [29]
10 Handré Pollard [36]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [78]
1 Nicky Smith [6]
2 Charlie Clare [101]
3 Joe Heyes [146]
4 George Martin [68]
5 Tom Manz [9]
6 Hanro Liebenberg [113]
7 Tommy Reffell [120]
8 Olly Cracknell [48]
REPLACEMENTS
16 Archie Vanes [17]
17 James Cronin [39]
18 Dan Cole [328]
19 Jed Holloway *
20 Emeka Ilione [25]
21 Ben Youngs [319]
22 Jamie Shillcock [32]
23 Will Wand [5]
* Denotes Leicester Tigers and Gallagher Premiership Debut
