Heineken Cup Pool 6: Perpignan v Gloucester preview
Perpignan have named Sofiane Guitoune at fly-half for Saturday's Heineken Cup clash against Gloucester.
Last Updated: 19/01/14 12:10pm
With a number of injury absentees to deal with the Catalans have been forced to experiment. The hosts have nothing to play for but have named a strong team although is shows 13 changes to the side that lost to Edinburgh last week.
Meanwhile, Gloucester director of rugby Nigel Davies has made only two changes to his starting line up.
The 20-7 defeat at the hands of Munster last weekend, means that Gloucester are now playing for second place in the pool and a possible Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final spot.
Intensity
Despite the loss at Kingsholm against the Irish province, Gloucester put in a spirited performance and, as a result, Davies keeps faith with the majority of the side.
The only changes see Rob Cook come in for Martyn Thomas at full-back, and Huia Edmonds replace the injured Darren Dawidiuk.
Speaking to the media ahead of the game, Davies confirmed that he's looking for his side to match the effort and commitment of last week.
"That set the bar in terms of intensity and commitment, and we have to look to repeat that," he said.
"I also think that in an attacking sense, we created a lot of chances. We played some good structure in attack, but weren't accurate enough in finishing them.
"We're focusing on many things in this second half of the season. We're going to play rugby, we'll play with intent but look to improve our accuracy. If we match that intensity and work rate, and be a bit more clinical, we'll win more games than we lose."
Perpignan: 15 Michel, 14Benvenuti, 13 Marty (capt), 12 Piukala, 11 Votu, 10 Guitoune, 9 Ecochard; 1 Taofifenua, 2 Terrain, 3 Ion, 4 Leo, 5 Taofifenua, 6 Purll, 7 Narraway, 8 Chateau
Replacements: 16 Delonca, 17 Jgenti, 18 Taumalolo, 19 Perez, 20 Durand, 21 Mafi, 22 Torfs, 23 Strokosch
Gloucester: 15 Cook, 14 Sharples, 13 May, 12 Twelvetrees (capt), 11 Monahan, 10 Burns, 9 Robson, 1 Yann Thomas, 2 Edmonds, 3 Puafisi, 4 Stooke, 5 Hudson, 6 Cox, 7 Kvesic, 8 Evans
Replacements: 16 George, 17 Murphy, 18 Knight, 19 James, 20 Kalafamoni, 21 Cowan, 22 Martyn Thomas, 23 Reynolds
Perpignan v Gloucester is live on Sky Sports 2 via the red button from 12.45pm on Sunday