Premiership Preview: Sunday
There’s two games scheduled to round off the Premiership weekend on Sunday as Newcastle Falcons host Gloucester while Wasps take on Bath.
Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester
Newcastle Falcons inside centre Josh Matavesi returns from a three-and-a-half-month injury lay-off as they host Gloucester at Kingston Park.
The Fijian international was a mainstay of the side which reached three semi-finals last season but suffered an ankle injury in the second game of the current campaign. Matavesi replaces the injured Johnny Williams in a team showing five changes from the one which hosted Edinburgh in the Champions Cup last weekend.
Alex Tait replaces the injured Sinoti Sinoti on the left wing, Samoan international Logovi’i Mulipola returning to fitness to start at tighthead prop.
Calum Green is back having been a late withdrawal last weekend, Gary Graham coming into a rejigged back-row with the injured Nemani Nagusa missing out.
On the bench there is a return for fit-again prop David Wilson and scrum-half Michael Young as Falcons look to register a third successive Premiership victory after beating Bath and Northampton in their last two league outings.
Meanwhile, it’s a milestone for Charlie Sharples who will make his 250th competitive appearance for Gloucester in Sunday’s Premiership fixture at the Falcons. Lewis Ludlow also returns after injury.
It’s a significant achievement for Sharples, a one club man since his debut back in the 2007/2008 season, and comes at the end of a week when it was confirmed that he’d signed a new contract to remain at Kingsholm.
Ludlow last featured in the Premiership fixture away at Wasps in the first week of October, and he comes in at openside flanker.
Other changes from the team that started last week against Exeter Chiefs see a new half back pairing in Callum Braley and Owen Williams while Tom Hudson starts at inside centre.
In the pack, Ciaran Knight comes in at tighthead in place of Fraser Balmain and Ludlow replaces Gareth Evans in the back row.
Paddy McAllister and Jaco Kriel both return to the matchday squad amongst the replacements and Ed Slater will skipper the side.
Form: Newcastle Falcons may have been defeated home and away by Edinburgh in the European Champions Cup but in Premiership Rugby they have won their last two matches, at home to Bath and away to Northampton. The Tynesiders’ record at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby this season is won one, lost three. Gloucester’s only defeat in the last four rounds of Premiership Rugby was 6-23 at Exeter on 24 November. Gloucester have won just once away from home in Premiership Rugby since March – 35-21 at Wasps in Round 6. The Falcons have lost only one of their last four encounters with Gloucester in Premiership Rugby – 7-29 at Kingston Park in November 2017. Gloucester have won on three of their last five visits to Newcastle in Premiership Rugby.
The teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Alex Tait, 10 Toby Flood (c), 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Sam Lockwood
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Trevor Davison, 18 David Wilson, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Ryan Burrows, 21 Michael Young, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Tom Arscott
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Tom Hudson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Ed Slater (c), 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Jaco Kriel
Date: Sunday, December 23
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Philip Watters
TMO: Sean Davey
Brad Shields and Jake Cooper-Woolley are restored to the Wasps starting line-up for Bath’s visit to the Ricoh Arena.
England international Shields recovers from an ankle knock while Cooper-Woolley overcomes a rib problem to feature in front of what’s set to be a packed crowd with over 30,000 tickets sold.
Meanwhile, Dan Robson is back in the squad among the replacements for the first time since picking up an ankle injury against Gloucester at the start of October.
Shields is part of a back-row with Springbok Nizaam Carr and Thomas Young while Cooper-Woolley joins Ashley Johnson and Ben Harris in the front-row. Will Rowlands is restored to the starting line-up in the second-row alongside Kearnan Myall.
An unchanged backline sees Willie le Roux, Ross Neal and Josh Bassett form the back three with Elliot Daly and Michael Le Bourgeois in the centres, while Billy Searle keeps his place in the half-back combination alongside Craig Hampson.
In the replacements, Tom Cruse returns from a knee injury and Nathan Hughes is passed fit after a hip knock.
Meanwhile, Will Chudley will captain the Bath in this fixture.
Chudley leads the side out at scrum-half, with Freddie Burns returning to form the half-back pairing. Jamie Roberts and Max Wright link-up in the the centre combination, whilst Ruaridh McConnochie switches from full-back to the left wing.
Semesa Rokoduguni continues on the other flank, with James Wilson completing the backline at full-back.
Nathan Catt and Henry Thomas line up either side of Tom Dunn, with Dave Attwood and Elliott Stooke behind them in the second-row pairing.
The back-row is unchanged with Tom Ellis, Sam Underhill and Francois Louw completing the pack for the trip to Coventry.
Form: Wasps’ only victory in their last eleven first team fixtures was 32-28 at home to Bristol Bears in Round 8 of Premiership Rugby. Wasps have won only twice at Ricoh Arena this season, both in Premiership Rugby, against Leicester and Bristol. Bath’s only win in their last twelve matches was at home to Worcester in Round 7 of Premiership Rugby. Bath’s most recent away win was 37-32 at Harlequins in Round 3 of Premiership Rugby this season. The two clubs have already met at the Ricoh Arena in the European Champions Cup this season, playing out a 35-all draw. In Premiership Rugby, Wasps’ only loss in their last six encounters with Bath was at Coventry in October 2017.
The teams:
Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Ross Neal, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Craig Hampson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson (c), 1 Ben Harris
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Michele Campagnaro
Bath: 15 James Wilson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Wright, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Will Chudley (c), 8 Francois Louw, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Max Green, 22 Max Clark, 23 Cooper Vuna
Date: Sunday, December 23
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Jonathan Healy, Roy Maybank
TMO: Keith Lewis