Tigers shake it up for visit to Saints

FORWARDS Hanro Liebenberg, Harry Wells, Tommy Reffell and centre Will Wand are named in the Leicester Tigers' starting lineup for their Gallagher PREM clash at bitter rivals Northampton Saints this afternoon (3.05pm).

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Other changes to the Tigers side see Emeka Ilione move from openside to No.8 and Solomone Kata from 13 to 12 alongside Wand, who scored two of Tigers' four tries in their 29-19 comeback win against Harlequins last weekend.

New Australian fly-half James O'Connor appears for the first time in the Tigers' matchday squad alongside Tarek Haffar, who joined from Saints this summer.

The derby clash at the cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens is the 258th meeting between the two East Midlands rivals.

Tigers head coach Geoff Parling said: “The whole squad has trained well to put the team in the best position for derby day.

“It's great to welcome some familiar faces back into the starting lineup such as Hanro, but as we saw last week the bench know that they'll make a huge impact on this game.”

Winger Tommy Freeman, 24, will bring up a century of appearances for Saints against Tigers.