Dermody: Set for 100th appearance

Hooker David Paice joins the Kiwi in the front row with Matt Garvey starting at lock and Alex Gray getting the nod at number eight. Behind the scrum Jonathan Spratt comes into midfield while Adrian Jarvis starts ahead of Steven Shingler, currently engulfed in a row over his international eligibility, at fly-half.

Sale boss Steve Diamond has tweaked his pack as prop Tony Buckley and flanker Onosa'i Auva'a replace Henry Thomas and David Seymour respectively. James Gaskell moves into the second row as Scotland international Richie Vernon starts in the back row.

Diamond said: "We're going down to one of the most difficult away venues. London Irish are a side whose results can be hard to predict, but they'll be fired up after their reverse at Bath last Sunday," he said.

"We'll be travelling with a largely similar team to that which played at Leicester, and with the same mindset."

Exiles counterpart Toby Booth said: "Consistency comes from continuity in selection. It would be nice to be able to select the same team two weeks in a row. Having said that the boys coming in have done well in the earlier part of the season and get the chance to put on the shirt in a very important time of the season for us."