Gloucester Rugby Head Coach, George Skivington, has named his side for tomorrow’s crucial European encounter against Bordeaux in France.
There are six changes to the starting XV that were beaten by former Heineken Cup champions Leinster at Kingsholm last weekend, as the Cherry & Whites chase a last 16 place.
Val Rapava-Ruskin, George McGuigan and Kirill Gotovtsev, who put Leinster’s all-international front-row to the test last weekend, start in an unchanged front-row.
Cam Jordan replaces Freddie Clarke in the second-row, with Clarke dropping to the bench. Jordan packs down alongside Argentine Matias Alemanno.
Albert Tuisue, who was Heineken Star of the Match when the two sides met before Christmas, comes back into the back-row. He starts at number 8, with Jack Clement and captain Lewis Ludlow on the flanks. Tuisue & Clement come in for Ben Morgan and Ruan Ackermann who both picked up knocks in the Leinster game.
Stephen Varney who scored the Cherry & Whites opening try against Bordeaux last month starts at scrum-half, and club stalwart Billy Twelvetrees comes in at fly-half replacing Santi Carreras who misses out through injury.
As the final change, Georgian international Giorgi Kveseladze comes in at outside centre to partner Seb Atkinson who wears the 12 shirt once more. Ollie Thorley, Jonny May and George Barton start in an unchanged back-three to last weekend.
On the bench, there is a welcome return for prop Jamal Ford Robinson after injury. He joins Seb Blake, Harry Elrington, Freddie Clarke, Freddie Thomas, Charlie Chapman, Jack Reeves and Lloyd Evans.
Starting XV
15. George Barton*
14. Jonny May*
13. Giorgi Kveseladze
12. Seb Atkinson*
11. Ollie Thorley*
10. Billy Twelvetrees
9. Stephen Varney*
1. Val Rapava-Ruskin
2. George McGuigan
3. Kirill Gotovtsev
4. Cam Jordan*
5. Matias Alemanno
6. Jack Clement*
7. Lewis Ludlow* (c)
8. Albert Tuisue
Replacements
16. Seb Blake*
17. Harry Elrington
18. Jamal Ford-Robinson
19. Freddie Clarke*
20. Freddie Thomas*
21. Charlie Chapman*
22. Jack Reeves*
23. Lloyd Evans*
*Denotes academy player or graduate.
Injury update
Following Gloucester Rugby’s injury update earlier this month, Gloucester Rugby can confirm that Ben Morgan, Ruan Ackermann, and Santi Carreras all miss out through injury this weekend resulting in the following unavailable list:
Mark Atkinson, Santi Socino, Alex Craig, Louis Rees-Zammit, Adam Hastings, Jordy Reid, Fraser Balmain, Jack Singleton, Mayco Vivas, Ruan Ackermann, Ben Morgan, Santi Carreras.
