Preview: Gloucester v Leicester
September 05 2008
There are internationals aplenty on show at Kingsholm for what is without doubt the Guinness Premiership's tie of the round between rivals Gloucester and Leicester.
Centre Mike Tindall will lead the Cherry and Whites on Sunday against last season's beaten play-off finalists, who triumphed 26-25 against Gloucester on their way to Twickenham.
Head coach Dean Ryan has made four changes to the line-up that started Gloucester's final pre-season warm-up game last Saturday - a 30-8 victory over Glasgow.
There are two alterations to the backline and two in the forward pack. James Simpson-Daniel, the Guinness Premiership player of the season last year, comes in on the wing for Iain Balshaw and Rory Lawson starts at scrum-half for Gareth Cooper.
Up front, Marco Bortolami gets the nod over Alex Brown at lock and will partner Will James, while Alasdair Strokosch comes in on the openside flank for Andy Hazell.
"We have done all can to prepare for this game under the new regulations, have picked a side accordingly and we are ready," said Gloucester's Head Coach Dean Ryan.
"We have made conscious moves about the way we are trying to operate and that will be fundamental to this block of first games.
"The next five or six could be surprising and my prediction is that we could see some strange things if we don't get consistency in some key areas.
"But any Gloucester-Leicester fixture is massive, no matter what stage of the season it comes in. It's a great opportunity for both sides, particularly after what happened last season, and it will be a great way to start the season."
Meanwhile, former All Black Aaron Mauger will captain the Tigers after being named in an unchanged backline from the final pre-season fixture against Western Force.
He is joined by full-back Geordan Murphy, wings Tom Varndell and Alesana Tuilagi, centre Dan Hipkiss and half-backs Toby Flood and Harry Ellis in an all-international back division.
England internationals George Chuter and Julian White are joined by Marcos Ayerza in the front row, with Richard Blaze and Ben Kay at lock. Tom Croft, Ben Herring and Jordan Crane form the back-row combination.
Summer arrival Flood makes his first Guinness Premiership appearance for Tigers, while fellow close-season signings Ben Woods and Julien Dupuy are named among the replacements at Kingsholm.
"The work ethic has been great here and the players have worked very hard in the off-season," said Head Coach Meyer.
"We made improvements in each of the pre-season games and now we will be looking to improve again. Gloucester are a very good side and this will be a good contest.
"We have got a good squad here and I am looking forward to the first game and looking forward to trying to get the best out of the players."
Prop Martin Castrogiovanni and fellow forwards Lewis Moody and Louis Deacon are sidelined for the opening weeks of the campaign, while Martin Corry, Ayoola Erinle and summer signing Derick Hougaard were also not considered for selection due to injury.
Form: Gloucester have not lost their opening game of a new Premiership season since 2000 and suffered just two defeats at Kingsholm throughout last season - both being against Sunday's visitors Leicester. The Tigers have won their opening Premiership encounter for the past three seasons with Gloucester's only win in their last four meetings with the Tigers was 30-17 at Welford Road last October.
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall (capt), 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Alasdair Strokosch, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Will James, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Andy Titterrell, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Dave Young, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Andy Hazell, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Willie Walker, 22 Matthew Watkins.
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Aaron Mauger (c), 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Ben Herring, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Richard Blaze, 3 Julian White, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Marco Wentzel, 19 Ben Woods, 20 Julien Dupuy. 21 Sam Vesty, 22 Matt Smith.
Date: Sunday, September 7
Kick-off: 16:00 (17:00 GMT)
Venue: Kingsholm
Referee: Dave Pearson
Touch judges: Robin Goodliffe, Bruce Robertson
Assessor: Ed Morrison
Television match official: Matt Peters, Geoff Warren