Preview: Gloucester v Bristol
Bristol have made just two changes to the side that beat Northampton last Sunday as they prepare to travel to Kingsholm for the Friday's Guinness Premiership clash with Gloucester.
Bristol have made just two changes to the side that beat Northampton last Sunday as they prepare to travel to Kingsholm for the Friday's Guinness Premiership clash with Gloucester.
Both changes are tactical as Luke Arscott returns at full-back after successfully coming through his comeback match following a finger injury.
And tighthead prop Darren Crompton, having built up his match fitness over the past few weeks, makes his first Guinness Premiership start of the season replacing Jason Hobson.
Head Coach Richard Hill admitted that last Sunday's victory over the Saints had been a real boost for the squad.
“The players have been superb,” he said.
“They've always kept their faith in themselves and are highly motivated. But there's no doubt that there's been a huge sense of relief after last weekend's victory and has lifted the pressure off a lot of peoples shoulders.
“So, it's been a good week and always much better to talk about winning than losing and gives us a huge boost for a big local derby this Friday.”
Asked whether the match being a local derby makes it any bigger than any other Guinness Premiership match.
“Every game is a big game,” he said.
“It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. If you're not playing well then this league is pretty unforgiving. You can find yourself down the bottom in no time at all.
“Gloucester are one of the best teams in the league and, in the past, when they've played well against us they've put a few points on the board.
“We've had some very close games at Kingsholm and we've been beaten handsomely. Gloucester will probably see this as a 5 pointer and we've got to go there and make sure that doesn't happen.”
Gloucester will make two changes from the side that won at Vicarage Road last Sunday for the game.
Luke Narraway will return at number eight for the first time since he pulled his hamstring on Heineken Cup duty against Cardiff in October, and will replace Alasdair Strokosch, who is on international duty with Scotland.
The other change comes on the wing where Matthew Watkins makes his first start since Gloucester's 39-23 win over Newcastle in September. He comes in for Lesley Vainikolo, who moves to the bench.
“I just needed to calm down a bit and concentrate on what I do. I still need to learn a bit more,” Vainikolo said having been named on the bench.
The 29-year-old scored nine tries for Gloucester and earned England caps last season but this year he has started several times on the bench.
“You only learn from your team mates and your coaching staff,” he said. “You need to play with good players and you learn from them as well.
“You want to build your confidence in winning games and you want to get in a good form, which we are aiming for.”
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mike Tindall (c), 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Matthew Watkins, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Apo Satala, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Will James, 3 Jack Forster, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Dave Young, 18 Adam Eustace, 19 Andy Titterrell, 20 Jordi Pasqualin, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Lesley Vainikolo.
Bristol: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Neil Brew, 12 Ed Barnes, 11 David Lemi, 10 Adrian Jarvis, 9 Graeme Beveridge, 8 Dan Ward-Smith, 7 Joe El Abd (c), 6 Alfie To'oala, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Roy Winters, 3 Darren Crompton, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Alex Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Scott Linklater, 17 Peter Bracken, 18 Mariano Sambucetti, 19 Iain Grieve, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Luke Eves, 22 Lee Robinson.
Date: Friday, November 21
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Andrew Small
Touch judges: Bob Mullis, Alan Biggs
Assessor: Brian Leigh
Television match official: Matt Peters, David Matthews