Gloucester v London Irish preview: Team news, kick-off time, line-ups and stats for the Aviva Premiership clash - Ruck

Gloucester v London Irish preview: Team news, kick-off time, line-ups and stats for the Aviva Premiership clash

  • Gloucester face London Irish at Kingsholm on Saturday: 15:00 kick-off
  • Jonny May and Henry Trinder both ruled out for the hosts
  • The Exiles head coach Tom Coventry names an unchanged starting XV from their win last weekend
Following last weekends enthralling 39-39 draw against Harlequins, Gloucester makes six changes to their starting line-up for their home clash with London Irish at Kingsholm on Saturday.

Backs Jonny May and Henry Trinder both sustained injuries in the game at Twickenham and are replaced by Henry Purdy and Bill Meakes respectively.

The other change in the backs sees Willi Heinz come in for Greig Laidlaw, who is once again named amongst the replacements.

Meanwhile, London Irish head coach Tom Coventry has named an unchanged starting XV from the side that overcame Northampton on Boxing Day, which lifted the Exiles off the bottom of the Aviva Premiership.

“The squad are buoyed after last Saturday’s first win of the season. They have continued to work hard in training this week and know it will be another tough contest at Gloucester on Saturday. We look forward to the challenge,” said Coventry.

However, they have not won on the road in 10 months, since beating London Welsh 50-12 on 28 February.


KEY STATS
  • Gloucester’s only defeat in their last seven first team fixtures came at Northampton in round 5 of Aviva Premiership Rugby.
  • The Cherry and Whites have won their last four matches at Kingsholm in all tournaments since Saracens won there in Premiership Rugby on 23rd October
  • London Irish won their first Aviva Premiership Rugby match since April in overcoming the Saints at Madejski Stadium on Boxing Day
  • The Exiles have not won on the road in the tournament since they visited London Welsh on 28th February
  • Gloucester have won their last four encounters against London Irish since the Exiles 18-12 triumph at Kingsholm on 5th January 2013

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Gloucester: 
Greig Laidlaw
London Irish: Alex Lewington

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (c), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Nicky Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Paddy McAllister, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Mark Atkinson.

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway, 5 Will Lloyd, 4 Matt Symons (c), 3 Ben Franks, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Topsy Ojo.


Date: Saturday, January 2
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Thomas Foley
Assistant Referees: Kelvin Stewart, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Sainsbury