Preview: Gloucester v Northampton

There is no time to rest for Gloucester and Northampton and both have rung the changes for Tuesday's rescheduled clash at Kingsholm.

There is no time to rest for Gloucester and Northampton and both coaches have rung the changes for Tuesday's rescheduled clash at Kingsholm.

Northampton have made 14 changes for the match that was originally due to take place on Boxing Day, only to be called off thanks to a frozen Kingsholm pitch.

Loose forward Calum Clark is the only survivor from the Saints' starting XV that beat Newcastle 22-15.

Conditions will be somewhat different, but the game now falls in an extremely busy period for the Saints, and Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder said that it provided a good opportunity for players to stake their claim for the Aviva Premiership Rugby and Heineken Cup run-in.

“We are in the middle of three tough away games but we're heading to Gloucester determined to work hard for a positive result,” said Mallinder.

“We want a place in the Premiership play-offs, and we also know that the only way to make sure that we're in the top four is to keep on winning.

“We've made a few changes to the team that played at Kingston Park, but we're able to bring in players who have a lot of Premiership experience and who have all been working hard in training to get a place in the first team.

“We will need to perform well if we want to bring anything home. Gloucester showed plenty of character and quality in coming back to draw at Welford Road on Saturday, and Kingsholm is always a difficult place to play.”

Meanwhile, Gloucester Head Coach Bryan Redpath also makes full use of his squad, making multiple changes from the side that drew at Leicester Tigers on Saturday.

The prospect of three games in eight days was always going to mean the utilisation of the whole squad and only a handful of players retain their places in the starting line up.

Only Freddie Burns, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu and Jonny May continue in the back line with Burns switched to full-back and May wearing the 11 shirt instead of 14. Charlie Sharples, Tim Molenaar, Nicky Robinson and Rory Lawson all come in.

And, in the pack, only Dave Attwood is set to start a second game in four days. New look front and back rows are employed and Alex Brown moves up from the bench to partner Attwood. Luke Narraway resumes the captaincy.

“Anyone that comes here has a great incentive to beat us,” Redpath said on the official Gloucester website.

“We have to make sure that our focus and passion are massively driven in the right way.”

“They've got a good squad which has played a lot together over the Six Nations. Maybe on some occasions they didn't perform as well as they would have liked but, on some occasions, they were definitely unlucky.

“They'll be desperate to do well and they've got a very strong bench which will be a challenge when they do come on.”

“But we've just got to get on with it and understand what this game is.”

With Gloucester currently occupying third place in the Aviva Premiership table on 58 points and Saints in fourth on 57 points, there is obviously a lot more than just pride at stake.

And with London Irish and Bath Rugby still jostling for a possible play off berth, both teams will be going all out for the win.

Form: Northampton won on their most recent visit to Kingsholm: 27-14 on 19 September 2009. Gloucester's 18-16 victory at Franklin's Gardens in round 16 ended a four game losing streak against Saints in all competitions.

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Jonny May, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Luke Narraway (capt), 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Will James, 20 Brett Deacon, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Tom Voyce.

Northampton: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Paul Diggin, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Greig Tonks, 11 Scott Armstrong, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Stuart Commins, 8 Mark Easter, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark (capt), 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Adam Eustace, 3 Tom Mercey, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ben Foden.

Date: Tuesday, April 19
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes