Dave Attwood set for Bears season bow against Saints

Adam Kyriacou

Second-row Dave Attwood is set for his first outing of the Premiership campaign when Bristol Bears host Northampton Saints at Ashton Gate on Friday.

The England international recovers from a leg injury to start at lock, as director of rugby Pat Lam makes five changes from the side that secured a bonus-point win over Worcester Warriors.

Andy Uren comes into the backline for his first start of the season, while Alapati Leiua is also named. Henry Purdy switches to full-back, with Ioan Lloyd away on international duty.

In the pack, Jake Woolmore and Max Lahiff earn starts in the front-row.

Meanwhile, Northampton Saints wing Tom Collins will make his 100th club appearance for the men in Black, Green and Gold this Friday.

The Northampton-born 26-year-old made his debut back in 2013, but after notching almost 50 caps in the last two years alone, he will bring up his ton in the West Country.

Saints arrive in Bristol with a point to prove after two reverses in their opening Premiership clashes of the new season, but also welcome Rory Hutchinson to the starting XV and Taqele Naiyaravoro to the matchday 23 for the first time this campaign.

Scotland international Hutchinson comes into the side at inside centre with England representative Piers Francis shifting to the 13 jersey and Matt Proctor moving outside to the other wing.

Collins and full-back Ahsee Tuala then complete the back three for the visitors, with James Grayson continuing at 10 and Henry Taylor preferred at scrum-half this weekend.

Club co-captain Alex Waller starts his third straight match at loosehead prop, with hooker Reece Marshall continuing in the front-row and tighthead Owen Franks selected to start for the first time this campaign.

Director of rugby Chris Boyd sticks with Api Ratuniyarawa and David Ribbans in the engine room, while the back-row is also unchanged as Nick Isiekwe, co-captain Lewis Ludlam and Tom Wood are named for the second week running – with the latter wearing number eight.

Amongst the replacements, props Francois Van Wyk and Ehren Painter are included for the first time this term, as is wing Naiyaravoro – who will hope to make an impactful return to action for Saints off the bench.

Form: Ignoring the semi-finals Bristol Bears have won three of their last four Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches. The Bears have won their last five encounters in all competitions at Ashton Gate with their only defeat at the venue in 2020 being to Exeter in Round 16 of Premiership Rugby. Northampton Saints have lost their last nine matches in all competitions, excluding their declared defeat against Gloucester in Round 22 last season. The Saints’ most recent victory was 27-3 against London Irish at the Twickenham Stoop on 22 August. Bristol have won their last three matches against Northampton in Gallagher Premiership Rugby since the Saints 45-40 victory at Ashton Gate in September 2018. The East Midlanders have won on two of their previous three visits to Ashton Gate.

The teams:

Bristol Bears: 15 Henry Purdy, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Siale Piutau (c), 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Sam Bedlow, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Jake Heenan, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 John Afoa, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Toby Fricker

Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Matt Proctor, 13 Piers Francis, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Collins, 10 James Grayson, 9 Henry Taylor, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Lewis Ludlam (cc), 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Reece Marshall, 1 Alex Waller (cc)
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Francois Van Wyk, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Shaun Adendorff, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro

Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Roy Maybank
TMO: David Rose