George Skivington has named his squad for Round 17 of the Gallagher Premiership which sees Gloucester Rugby host Newcastle Falcons.
There are three changes to the starting 15 that played last time out against Sale Sharks with Lloyd Evans returning at fly-half alongside Stephen Varney who makes his first appearance at scrum-half since the Bath fixture at The Rec. Kyle Moyle has been given the 15 shirt, swapping roles with Santiago Carreras who is named on the bench.
Louis Rees-Zammit and Jonny May keep their shirts on the wings with Mark Atkinson and Chris Harris linking up again in the midfield.
In the forwards, it’s an unchanged pack with Val Rapava-Ruskin, Jack Singleton and Fraser Balmain all starting in the front row with Ed Slater and Alex Craig linking up again at lock.
After impressing last weekend, Jack Clement starts once more at blindside flanker and will join Ruan Ackermann and captain Lewis Ludlow in the backrow.
There is vast experience on the replacements bench with Willi Heinz, Billy Twelvetrees and Santiago Carreras covering the backs with Santiago Socino, Jamal Ford-Robinson, who shows his versatility covering both sides of the scrum, Jack Stanley, Matt Garvey and Jordy Reid named as forward replacements.
George Skivington is expecting a tough test against Newcastle.
“They’re dogged. A very good tight unit. Early on they got a lot of good results and in that first half against Bristol I thought they were really competitive. It was a good game when we went up there. It was feisty and it was two teams who were working really hard against each other. I don’t think it’s necessarily complicated, the way Newcastle do things, but they are very efficient in what they do and I think they maximise their strengths. You see in their group that have been together for a while how tight they are.
“They’ve got a good understanding of themselves as a team. They’ve been together a good while and they know their systems. I think that’s why they got off to such a good start because they are a well-oiled machine.”
Gloucester Rugby
15. Kyle Moyle
14. Louis Rees-Zammit *
13. Chris Harris
12. Mark Atkinson
11. Jonny May *
10. Lloyd Evans *
9. Stephen Varney *
1. Val Rapava-Ruskin
2. Jack Singleton
3. Fraser Balmain
4. Ed Slater
5. Alex Craig *
6. Jack Clement *
7. Lewis Ludlow (c) *
8. Ruan Ackermann
16. Santiago Socino
17. Jamal Ford-Robinson
18. Jack Stanley
19. Matt Garvey
20. Jordy Reid
21. Willi Heinz
22. Billy Twelvetrees
23. Santiago Carreras
*Denotes Academy player or graduate from the Gloucester Rugby Academy
Click here to see the players who are unavailable for this fixture.
