Bristol v Gloucester teams: England hopeful in timely Bears return as Cherry and Whites make changes amid coach axe threat
Joe Batley (left) will make his return for Bristol Bears this weekend, while George Skivington (right) swings the axe
Bristol Bears and Gloucester have both made several changes to their starting XV ahead of their West Country derby on Friday night, as the sides meet at Ashton Gate.
Both teams will be hoping to take maximum points out of the contest, with Bristol able to close the gap on fourth-place Exeter to just two points while Gloucester could also put some breathing room between themselves and Harlequins in the race for the final Investec Champions Cup place.
Joe Batley returns as Bristol make three changes
The Bears have made three changes to their starting XV from the heavy 59-26 defeat to Toulouse in their Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 tie, with Rich Lane, Kieran Marmion and Joe Batley coming into the run-on group.
Lane takes the place of the unavailable Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back, with Kalaveti Ravouvou and Gabriel Ibitoye named on the wings. Benhard Janse van Rensburg and James Williams get the nod at centre, while Tom Jordan partners the aforementioned Marmion in the halves.
Benjamin Grondona continues at number eight with Viliame Mata ruled out for the rest of the season, with skipper Fitz Harding joining him on the flanks. Joe Owen shifts over to blindside flanker with Steven Luatua injured, while England hopeful Batley takes the vacant spot at lock alongside James Dun.
George Kloska, Gabriel Oghre and Ellis Genge round off the starting group in the front-row.
Pat Lam has also opted for a 5:3 split on the bench, with Harry Thacker, Jake Woolmore, Max Lahiff, Steele Barker, Luka Ivanishvili, Harry Randall, Matias Moroni and Noah Heward selected among the replacements list.
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Gloucester changes amid George Skivington axe threat
Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington threatened to make changes in the wake of his side’s defeat to Leicester Tigers last time out, and he has done exactly that with five fresh faces in the run-on group.
George Barton replaces Ben Redshaw at full-back, while Josiah Edwards-Giraud comes onto the wing in place of Will Joseph. Ollie Thorley retains his place in the starting side on the left wing.
Max Llewellyn and skipper Seb Atkinson continue in the centres, while Charlie Atkinson and Caolan Englefield both retain their spots in the halves with Tomos Williams still out of action.
Jack Clement, Lewis Ludlow and Deian Gwynne also keep their places in the back-row, but Danny Eite comes into the locks alongside Arthur Clark. Afo Fasogbon is the sole survivor from the front-row that started at Villa Park, with Seb Blake and Dian Bleuler coming in at hooker and loosehead respectively.
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Jack Innard, Val Rapava-Ruskin, Ciaran Knight, Matias Alemano, Will Trenholm, Mikey Austin, the aforementioned Joseph and Ben Loader make up the Gloucester bench.
Bristol Bears v Gloucester teams in full
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Benjamin Grondona, 7 Fitz Harding (c), 6 Joe Owen, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Steele Barker, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Noah Heward
Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Josiah Edwards-Giraud, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (c), 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Jack Clement, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Danny Eite, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Dian Bleuler
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Matias Alemano, 20 Will Trenholm, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Will Joseph, 23 Ben Loader
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce & Veryan Boscawen
TMO: Dan Jones
Live on: TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, TNT Sports Ultimate