Quins centre Matt Hopper will make his England Saxons debut against Ireland A on familiar territory in Exeter on Saturday.

Hopper, who switched to the Stoop in the summer from Cornish Pirates, is joined in the starting line-up by clubmates Ugo Monye, Joe Gray and George Robson, while hooker Chris Brooker is on the bench.

Sale Sharks' James Gaskell leads a side with an average age of 24 years and four months and coach Jon Callard is excited about the prospect of seeing his men in action.

"It is a new era for us, there’s a lot of youth and energy in this squad and we’ll go into the game with a ‘no fear’ attitude,” he said.

“We want to see the players express themselves and at the same time develop the streak of pragmatism you need to win big games.

"We’ve seen in Europe the strength of Irish rugby at the moment but the challenge motivates and excites us.”