Gloucester welcome Scotland star’s return for Newcastle Falcons visit

Adam Kyriacou
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Newcastle Falcons inside centre Rory Jennings and Gloucester outside centre Chris Harris.

Newcastle Falcons inside centre Rory Jennings and Gloucester outside centre Chris Harris.

Rory Jennings will make his first start for Newcastle Falcons on Friday when they host Gloucester in their Premiership clash at Kingston Park.

The former London Irish man starts at inside centre after making his debut from the bench in last weekend’s league opener at Bath, coming in as the only change to the side.

He will link up with Tom Penny in the midfield, with Hugh O’Sullivan and Brett Connon the half-back pairing for the visit of Gloucester.

For the second week running, the Falcons field a starting XV containing 10 current or former academy players, with head coach Alex Codling’s men looking to repeat last season’s home-and-away double over the Cherry and Whites.

A huge day for the sport on Friday sees the Falcons’ early kick-off followed by New Zealand taking on an Argentina squad with a distinct Newcastle flavour – the Pumas’ party for the tournament, including Mateo Carreras, Matias Moroni, Eduardo Bello and Pedro Rubiolo.

Meanwhile, Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington has made three changes to the side that defeated Harlequins in the last play of the game at Kingsholm last weekend, with most notably a return for Chris Harris in midfield.

Harris is available for selection again after his Scotland side were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup in France.

Elsewhere, Stephen Varney, who came off the bench against Quins and Jamal Ford-Robinson, who scored the winning try, also move into the starting XV.

Joining Ford-Robinson in the front-row are former Newcastle man, George McGuigan and Geordie prop, Fraser Balmain.

Arthur Clark scored a try on his Premiership debut last week; he partners Freddie Clarke in the second-row.

Gloucester captain Lewis Ludlow makes his 201st appearance for the club, after celebrating his 200th against Harlequins at Kingsholm. Ben Donnell and Zach Mercer complete the starting pack.

Varney is partnered with fellow Gloucester Academy graduate George Barton in the half-backs, with Seb Atkinson joining Harris in the midfield.

In an unchanged back three, Ollie Thorley and Jake Morris start on the wings, with Lloyd Evans lining up at full-back.

On the bench, Seb Blake, Val Rapava-Ruskin and Ciaran Knight are waiting in the wings to cover the front-row. Freddie Thomas, Jack Clement, Charlie Chapman, Max Llewellyn and Alex Hearle complete the replacements.

The teams

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Hugh O’Sullivan, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Philip van der Walt, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Matias Orlando, 23 Elliott Obatoyinbo.

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Jake Morris, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 George Barton, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ben Donnell, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Alex Hearle

Date: Friday, October 20
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 18:00 BST (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant Referees: Alex Thomas, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Dean Richards

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