Matt Evans will captain Ealing Trailfinders on the visit to his former side Cornish Pirates.
Ealing take on Pirates at Mennaye Field in Penzance in the Greene King IPA Championship on Sunday aiming to avenge a 31-17 loss in September and it is a venue that the back rower knows well having spent six seasons in the Duchy.
“It is a massive honour for me to captain Ealing against a team like Cornish Pirates,” he said. “It will be great to be back at a club where I played for six seasons. I have some great friends down there and it is really exciting to be leading the team out in what is a hugely significant match for the team.
“There has been lots of change since I was there and a lot of new players, but I still have a lot of friends. They are very loyal and very partisan in terms of their support, but I hope to lead us to victory against a team that I know well.”
Evans takes over as captain from Adam Preocanin, who is out with a calf injury and makes up a back-row with Ed Siggery and number 8 Sean O’Connell.
Dan Collier comes in for Preocanin in the second row and will have the chance to impress and secure a place for future matches when he packs down alongside Steve Pape in his first start having come off the bench for the past two matches.
Further forward the on-loan Richard Palframan will make his first start the front row alongside hooker Sam Wilkes and Ryan Storer.
In the back-line there is only one change, where Sam Wardingley takes over on the wing from Owen Bruynseels.
Ealing Trailfinders v Cornish Pirates, Sunday 2 February, KO 14.00
15 Andrew Henderson
14 Sam Wardingley
13 Ronnie McLean
12 Tom Bedford
11 Phil Chesters
10 Ben Ward
9 Morgan Thompson
1 Ryan Storer
2 Sam Wilkes
3 Richard Palframan
4 Steve Pape
5 Dan Collier
6 Matt Evans (captain)
7 Ed Siggery
8 Sean O’Connell
Reserves
16 Richard Townsend
17 Steve Neville
18 Conor Carey
19 Gavin Curry
20 TJ Anderson
21 Stuart Commins
22 Chris Kinloch
