Preview: Gloucester v Saracens

Gloucester are boosted by the return from England duty of both Dave Attwood and Paul Doran-Jones for their clash with Saracens.

Gloucester have had their stocks improved ahead of facing Saracens as Dave Attwood and Paul Doran-Jones return from duty with England.

Also in the line up for the LV=Cup tie on Saturday are Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu and Brett Deacon, who are both back from respective injuries.

Attwood made his international debut as a replacement against New Zealand last Saturday. However, neither him or Doran-Jones have been selected for the England 22 to face Australia this weekend and slot straight back into the side.

Fuimaono-Sapolu is named for the first time since the win over Bath at the Rec on October 1 whilst Deacon has recovered from the leg injury that forced him to leave the field during the win over former side Leicester a fortnight ago.

And, after a couple of A League run outs following his comeback from a knee injury, Tim Taylor starts at fly-half.

“They made a lot of changes last weekend and they have rotated their squad a lot. Saracens are a dangerous side who play a fairly expansive game,” said Head Coach Bryan Redpath.

“They have some very talented players. You just have to look at Joubert and Britz and Goode and players like that. They're a very good side and we have to respect them.

“It won't be easy, there's no given. This tournament does have value and every club will see that.”

Meanwhile, Saracens are boosted by the return of Steve Borthwick, Neil de Kock, Schalk Brits and Ernst Joubert to their starting line-up.

Following on from his man-of-the-match performance against Northampton last week, 18-year-old Ben Ransom continues at full-back while Owen Farrell, who has impressed so far this season on-loan at Bedford and in the victory over USA earlier this week, is named.

With Brits starting alongside Deon Carstens and former Gloucester prop Carlos Nieto in the front-row, it means hooker Jamie George is on the bench. Also among the replacements are Kevin Barrett and the fit-again Petrus du Plessis, while Sam Stanley is in line to make his competitive debut for the club just a few days after celebrating his 19th birthday.

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Tim Taylor, 9 Jordi Pasqualin, 8 Luke Narraway (capt), 7 Andrew Hazell, 6 Brett Deacon, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Dan Williams, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Lesley Vainikolo.

Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 David Strettle, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Nils Mordt, 11 Noah Cato, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Don Barrell, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Steve Borthwick (capt), 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Jared Saunders, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Hugh Vyvyan, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Sam Stanley, 23 James Short.

Date: Saturday, November 13
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Venue: Kingsholm
Referee: tba (Wales)
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Peter Huckle