Harlequins v Gloucester: Teams

Monye: Back for Quins

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Harlequins welcome back Danny Care and Ugo Monye from the England camp for Saturday's Guinness Premiership clash against Gloucester at Twickenham Stoop.

They will be joined in the starting line-up by England team-mate Nick Easter, who returns from a calf injury sustained against Worcester.

With the return of Nick Evans last week for the away trip to Franklins' Gardens, the 23-man Quins team is almost back to full strength and, with just the awaited return of team captain Will Skinner and Argentine International Gonzalo Tiesi, it will be a strong team that will run out at the Stoop.

Unbeaten at the Stoop in the Guinness Premiership since September's loss against Saracens, Quins know that Saturday's opponents will be a tough side to beat.

There are no changes to the front five from last Saturday's game against Northampton, but the return of Easter to the number eight shirt sees a re-shuffle in the back row, with Tom Guest and Chris Robshaw joining forces on the flank. Neil McMillan starts on the bench, replacing Chris York.

Withdrawal

In the backs, the return of Care and Monye sees Karl Dickson and Tom Williams take their places on the bench.

Meanwhile, Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath keeps faith with the majority of the side that tamed the Tigers last weekend but is able to include returning England internationals Olly Morgan and James Simpson-Daniel.

Both were originally selected to start last Friday but were late withdrawals before the game and Morgan takes up his usual full-back spot.

However, Simpson-Daniel has to come into the centre with Henry Trinder suffering a dead leg, Mike Tindall still sidelined and Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu away with Samoa.

In a further backline change, Tom Voyce moves from full-back to the wing with Lesley Vainikolo dropping to the bench.

The pack that started against Leicester remains unchanged although Scott Lawson and Akapusi Qera have returned from international duty and are named amongst the replacements, as is Welsh international fly-half Nicky Robinson who also missed out last Friday.

Desperate

Harlequins currently sit in tenth place in the Guinness Premiership, just a point behind Gloucester, and Redpath knows it'll be a tough encounter at the Stoop.

"Everybody has an opportunity to beat anyone in this league. There's no easy game and no fixtures which you can say are a dead cert," he said.

"We have to be massively focussed on the next two games. We need victories, however we achieve them."

"The pressure was relieved last week but it hasn't gone away and we'll go down to Harlequins having worked hard Monday to Friday and will do everything we can to win the game."

"Quins are fighting hard. They're in the same position as us. They've been unlucky with injuries and international call ups and they'll be desperate to get back to winning ways."

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13 George Lowe, 12 Nils Mordt, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter (c), 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Tom Guest, 5 George Robson, 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Tani Fuga, 1 Ceri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Aston Croall, 18 Mark Lambert, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Neil Mcmillan, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Tom Williams.

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 James Simpson-Daniel, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Nick Wood, 7 Darren Dawidiuk, 6 Greg Somerville, 5 Will James, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Peter Buxton, 2 Jake Boer, 1 Gareth Delve (c)
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Adam Eustace, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Jordi Pasqualin, 22 Nicky Robinson, 23 Lesley Vainikolo.