Preview: Gloucester vs London Irish

With the season nearing the business end, Gloucester and London Irish face off knowing only a win will suffice.

With the season nearing the business end, Gloucester and London Irish face off knowing that nothing less than a win will suffice.
With just four points separating fourth placed Gloucester and eight placed Bath, there is no room for error as the teams clamour to fill the play-off places, and a win against Gloucester will see London Irish move into the top four, although the Cherry and Whites have two games in hand over their visitors.
Brian Redpath's men were dealt a blow last weekend when star winger James Simpson-Daniel picked up an ankle injury, although the loss has been slightly offset by Olly Morgan's return to action, with Morgan immediately returning to the side at full-back. Charlie Sharples switches to the wing to accommodate Morgan.
Rory and Scott Lawson return from international duty with Scotland to replace Dave Lewis and Darren Dawidiuk respectively.
Gloucester hammered London Irish 41-8 in the LV= Cup just two weeks ago, but Redpath is anything but complacent heading into the clash, especially with the importance of wins at this stage of the season.
“London Irish are a good side. They've just had a lack of confidence and a loss of form. That can happen to anyone,” said the Scot.
“They didn't perform well last time and they'll be here to prove a point. They got a win last weekend and they'll have nothing to lose coming to Gloucester. They'll learn from the last two weeks and they'll be fired up.”
“We're not getting carried away. Every game is now a cup final and we've got to make sure we win as many as we can if we're going to be in that top four.”
Exiles boss Toby Booth echoed Redpath's sentiments regarding the need to stay in the mix for play-off spots.
“Last Saturday's win against Newcastle was a step in the right direction. We will look to build on the momentum we gained last week and take it into tomorrow night's game,” said Booth.
“The league is very close this year and a win this weekend keeps us right in the mix for a play-off position come the end of the season.”
The Exiles have been boosted by the return of Tom Homer for the clash, with Homer replacing the injured Sailosi Tagicakiba on the wing. Paul Hodgson was another casualty from the Newcastle game, with Darren Allinson promoted from the bench.
Booth has made two further changes to his starting XV, with Chris Malone replacing Ryan Lamb at fly-half and Faan Rautenbach coming in for Paulica Ion at prop.

The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson,8 Luke Narraway (capt),7 Andrew Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Will James, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonny May

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua (Captain), 11 Tom Homer, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Kieran Low, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring; 17 Alex Corbisiero; 18 Paulica Ion; 19 Gary Johnson; 20 Richard Thorpe; 21 Marcus Watson; 22 Dan Bowden; 23 Ryan Lamb

Date: Friday, February 18
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT