Richmond are set to play Premiership side London Irish in their toughest pre-season test on Saturday, August 26 at Richmond Athletic Ground. Kick off 3pm.

In their final pre-season fixture the Championship side are at home against a strong London Irish team having beaten National 1 outfit Blackheath 12-41 last week.

When the two sides met last, Richmond managed to surprise everyone by taking a losing bonus point from the table toppers as the match finished 26-20.

Just as at Blackheath, there’s a number of new signings selected this week with Craig Trenier, Alex Humfrey, and Luc Jones once again starting.

Making their first start for Richmond are Jake Parker and Jesse Liston who both crossed the whitewash in last week’s victory at Well Hall.

Ben Rath, who starts on the bench, completes the list of new signings. In the absence of Chris Davies, Harry Edwards starts at number 8 and Max Crawford is bought on to the bench. Jeremy Cunnew also returns to play for the first time this season.

RICHMOND TEAM: 15 Rob Kirby 14 Jordan Simpson-Hefft 13 Cameron Mitchell 12 Ronnie McLean 11 Jono Woodward 10 Freddie Gabbitass 9 Luc Jones 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke 2 Jason Phipps 3 Craig Trenier 4 Will Warden © 5 Alex Humfrey 6 Jake Parker 7 Jesse Liston 8 Harry Edwards 16 Ross Grimstone 17 Jeremy Cunnew 18 Jack Allcock 19 Jamie Gibbs 20 Ben Rath 21 Martin Freeman 22 Joe Tarrant 23 Max Crawford 24 Tom Sargeant 25 Rhys Owen