| Bristol Bears hand first starts to a trio of new arrivals as Pat Lam‘s men head to Kingsholm for round fifteen of the Gallagher Premiership on Friday (7.45pm KO). Saracens loan duo Max Malins and Ben Earl both earn first starts, while Kyle Sinckler is also named in the starting line-up to face Gloucester in the West Country derby. With three games in eight days, director of rugby Pat Lam shuffles his pack, making eight changes from the side that overcame Saracens last weekend in a sixth successive Premiership win. In the backline, Alapati Leiua and Andy Uren earn starts, while Harry Thacker and Joe Joyce are named in the pack. Tiff Eden and Bristolian duo Yann Thomas and Will Capon come onto the bench and could make their first outing since the competition restart. Lam said: “This week has been about ensuring we improve and build on our team performance against Saracens. I believe if we can add a bit more accuracy and detail to the outstanding team work-rate and passion shown last week, it will give us a better chance to get the points on offer. “While we’re excited about going to Kingsholm for our first away game since lockdown, the fact that Bristol have not won there for fourteen years emphasises the tough challenge we face tomorrow.” |
Gloucester v Bristol Bears (Friday, 7:45pm kick-off)
Gloucester: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson; 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Ed Slater, 5 Matt Garvey, 6 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (capt), 8 Jake Polledri
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17. Logovi’I Mulipola, 18 Jack Stanley, 19 Danny Drake, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Charlie Sharples
Bristol Bears: 15 Max Malins; 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Henry Purdy; 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren; 1 Jake Woolmore, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Joe Joyce, 5 Chris Vui, 6 Steven Luatua (capt), 7 Ben Earl, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Luke Morahan
Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs (Friday, 6:00pm kick-off)
Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 3 Will-Griff John, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Jono Ross (capt), 7 Tom Curry, 8 Daniel du Preez
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Phillips, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Will Cliff, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Denny Solomona
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds (capt), 9 Jack Maunder; 1 Ben Moon, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Harry Williams, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Tom Hendrickson
Wasps v Worcester Warriors (Friday, 7:45pm kick-off)
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Michael Le Bourgeois, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Ben Vellacott; 1 Simon McIntyre, 2 Tom Cruse, 3 Biyi Alo, 4 Tim Cardall, 5 James Gaskell (capt), 6 Ben Morris, 7 Gabriel Oghre, 8 Tom Willis
Replacements: 16 Alfie Barbeary, 17 Tom West, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Theo Vukasinovic, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Matteo Minoz
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Will Butler (capt), 11 Nick David, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Gareth Simpson; 1 Callum Black, 2 Beck Cutting, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 James Scott, 5 Andrew Kitchener, 6 GJ van Velze, 7 Tom Dodd, 8 Cornell du Preez,
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Lewis Holsey, 18 Joe Morris, 19 Justin Clegg, 20 Caleb Montgomery, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Oli Morris
Saracens v Harlequins (Saturday, 12:30pm kick-off)
Saracens: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Dom Morris, 12 Brad Barritt (capt), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Aled Davies; 1 Sam Crean, 2 Jamie George, 3 Vincent Koch, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 6 Mike Rhodes, 7 Jackson Wray, 8 Billy Vunipola,
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Josh Ibuanokpe, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Sean Reffell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Juan Pablo Socino, 23 Manu Vunipola
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Aaron Morris, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 James Lang, 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Martin Landajo; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Simon Kerrod, 4 Stephan Lewies, 5 Matt Symons, 6 James Chisholm, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 8 Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Will Collier, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Will Evans, 22 Scott Steele, 23 Paul Lasike
London Irish v Northampton Saints (Saturday, 2:00pm kick-off)
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Matt Williams, 12 Theo Brophy Clews, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben Meehan; 1 Allan Dell, 2 Matt Cornish, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 George Nott, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Jack Cooke, 7 Blair Cowan (capt), 8 Albert Tuisue
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Ben Donnell, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Jacob Atkins, 23 Ross Neal
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Ryan Olowofela, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Collins, 10 James Grayson, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Francois van Wyk, 2 Mike Haywood, 3 Paul Hill, 4 Alex Moon, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 6 Jamie Gibson, 7 Lewis Ludlam (capt), 8 Shaun Adendorff,
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Lewis Bean, 20 Tui Uru, 21 Tom James, 22 Reuben Bird-Tulloch, 23 Ahsee Tuala
Leicester Tigers v Bath (Saturday, 4:30pm kick-off)
Leicester: 15 Zack Henry, 14 Harry Potter, 13 George Worth , 12 Guy Porter, 11 Harry Simmons, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Ben White (capt); 1 Nephi Leatigaga, 2 Jake Kerr, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Tomás Lavanini, 5 Blake Enever, 6 George Martin, 7 Luke Wallace, 8 Thom Smith,
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Cameron Henderson, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Jack Van Poortvliet, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Freddie Steward
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Lewis Boyce, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Josh McNally, 5 Charlie Ewels (capt), 6 Tom Ellis, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Taulupe Faletau
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Tom de Glanville
