Premiership Preview: Friday
Two games take place in the Premiership on Friday as Gloucester host Leicester while Harlequins welcome Newcastle to Twickenham Stoop.
Gloucester v Leicester Tigers
Gloucester keep faith with the majority of the side that faced Northampton Saints last weekend with Leicester Tigers the visitors to Kingsholm.
Fly-half Danny Cipriani returns after suspension. Cipriani is back in the number 10 shirt with Mark Atkinson moving back into midfield in the only change to the starting line-up. In the replacements, Ben Morgan returns to the matchday 23.
Meanwhile, Sione Kalamafoni returns to the Leicester Tigers line-up to face his former side.
The Tonga international returns for the resumption of the Premiership programme, joining Mike Williams and Guy Thompson in the Tigers back-row for the Round Seven fixture.
Dan Cole is back in the front-row alongside Greg Bateman and club captain Tom Youngs, while Ben White and Joe Ford team up at half-back in the only changes to the backline from the Premiership Rugby Cup tie with Sale Sharks last weekend.
The replacements include Argentina international duo Facundo Gigena and Gaston Cortes, plus Will Spencer and Mike Fitzgerald, while Matt Smith has recovered from a foot injury and takes his place in the squad.
Form: Gloucester won their most recent Premiership Rugby encounter 35-21 at Wasps but have not won successive matches in the tournament since last December. Gloucester’s only defeat at Kingsholm in any competition this season was 25-27 to Harlequins in Round 5 of Premiership Rugby. Leicester Tigers have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches, at home to Sale Sharks and over Northampton at Twickenham. The Tigers most recent away win at a regular club ground was in Round 22 last season at Sale. Gloucester’s 24-17 victory over Leicester in Round 14 last season ended a run of seven straight defeats to the Tigers in all competitions. Leicester have won on two of their last three visits to Kingsholm.
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Freddie Clarke, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Gareth Evans, 5 Ed Slater (c), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Tom Hudson
Leicester: 15 George Worth, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jordan Olowofela, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Ben White, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Mike Fitzgerald, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Matt Smith
Date: Friday, November 16
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Wayne Falla
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons
Mike Brown, Nathan Earle and Joe Marchant have all been all named in Harlequins’ starting line-up to play Newcastle Falcons at the Stoop.
The three return from England to make up the back-line alongside Charlie Mulchrone, Marcus Smith, Ben Tapuai and Aaron Morris.
In the forwards the front-row is unchanged from the trip to Exeter last week while Joe Marler returns to the squad as a replacement.
Alex Dombrandt retains his place in the back-row after three excellent performances in the Premiership Rugby Cup. Dombrandt moves back to flanker as James Chisholm comes in as captain at number eight, with Jack Clifford starting at openside.
Meanwhile, Newcastle Falcons will hand Premiership debuts to Pedro Bettencourt, Andrew Davidson and John Hardie in this encounter.
The Falcons are hunting their second victory at the venue in less than two weeks, having won 23-21 in the Premiership Rugby Cup meeting between the two clubs on November 4.
Lock forward Davidson started in that game and followed it up with a man-of-the-match performance in Newcastle’s 22-7 home win over Bath last weekend, Newcastle out to repeat last season’s triumph at the Twickenham Stoop which ended an 18-year win-less run there in the league.
Back-row Hardie makes his first start after coming on from the bench in Newcastle’s last two cup outings while Portugese centre Bettencourt also makes his Premiership debut having been among the Falcons’ try-scorers during their cup win over Harlequins.
Gary Graham packs down in the back-row in the week that he trained with the Scotland squad, Scottish prop Jon Welsh making his first Premiership appearance of the season while replacement Ben Stevenson could make his Premiership debut at the ground on which he scored a try less than a fortnight ago.
Form: Harlequins have won just once in the last five rounds of Premiership Rugby – 27-25 at Gloucester in Round 5, whilst their only home win in the tournament since March was against Sale on 1 September. Newcastle Falcons are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions but in Premiership Rugby their only win in their last eight encounters was at Worcester on 15 September. The Falcons have won their last three fixtures with Harlequins including a double in Premiership Rugby last season and a 23-21 win at The Stoop in Round 2 of this year’s Premiership Rugby Cup.
The teams:
Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Charlie Mulchrone, 8 James Chisholm (c), 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Alex Dombrandt, 5 George Merrick, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Elia Elia, 1 Lewis Boyce
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Ben Glynn, 20 Dave Ward, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 James Lang, 23 Francis Saili
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Pedro Bettencourt, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Callum Chick, 7 John Hardie, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Sam Lockwood
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Trevor Davison, 18 David Wilson, 19 Glen Young, 20 Ryan Burrows, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Ben Stevenson
Date: Friday, November 16
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Michael Hudson, Peter Allan
TMO: Sean Davey