Gloucester Rugby travel to Ashton Gate to take on Bristol Bears for the final pool game of the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Ahead of the fixture, George Barton expressed how much he was looking forward to the opportunity.

On travelling to Ashton Gate

“I’m extremely looking forward to it. We went well at the start of the season and it’s just a great opportunity for the boys to get out there and play.

“We’ve got a young team and it’s looking really exciting. A lot of us want to play with the ball in hand and against Bristol, it’s a really good chance for that to happen.”

On captaining the side

“It’s quite surreal really, being a Gloucester kid, coming up all the way through the academy. The last couple of Prem Cup games, they’ve given me the chance to captain the side and it’s just quite surreal really and is something that I never expected.

“It’s really special for me and for my family as well. I’ll embrace it, hopefully go into the game with as much composure as I can, take my leadership skills that I’ve learnt as a 10 and hopefully get a good result from it.”

On Bristol Bears

“We know Bristol like to play with the ball in hand. They like to keep going forward when they’ve got front foot ball and they are really dangerous. They’ve got a strong pack as well.

“For us, it’s just about trying to implement our game really, because I think that our game is perfect in neutralising their threats.

“They’ve got a young team out, but me and Stephen Varney, I think we can control it and take leadership and control the game and the areas in which we play.

“For us, we want to play the game that we want to. We don’t want to focus too much on them. We’ve got a great lineout and a great maul and when we get the ball to our backs, we know we can sting them from anywhere.”

On getting a run out

“It’s a great opportunity for the lads. Especially for myself, I’m excited to put the jersey on again. A few of the guys have been away from the club on loan so for a lot of us it’s about getting the jersey on and enjoying the moment. It’s a great chance for us to get our names out there and show everyone what we can do.

“What a perfect way to do it down at Bristol.”

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