Gloucester v London Irish: Aviva Premiership preview
Last Updated: 09/05/15 2:14pm
Gloucester flanker Dan Thomas will make his first Aviva Premiership start in Saturday’s visit of London Irish to Kingsholm.
Having impressed for National League One side Hartpury and during the Cherry and Whites’ LV= Cup campaign, Thomas has been handed the No 7 shirt in place of the suspended Ross Moriarty.
Thomas’ inclusion is one of six changes to the side that defeated Edinburgh in last weekend’s European Challenge Cup final.
Brendan Macken comes in at centre for Bill Meakes, who is also suspended, while Yann Thomas and Sila Puafisi pack down alongside Richard Hibbard in the front row.
Mariano Galarza, who replaced Tom Palmer at half-time at the Stoop, is given a starting berth, with Billy Burns getting the nod at fly-half ahead of James Hook.
London Irish trail ninth-placed Gloucester by six points and they make three changes for the trip to the West Country.
All three switches come in the backline, with Tomás O’Leary named at scrum-half, Shane Geraghty at inside centre and James Short on the left wing.
“There have been a couple of players who have picked up knocks and the guys who have come in have earned their place,” said Exiles head coach Glenn Delaney.
“Gloucester will be buoyed coming off the back of their Challenge Cup win so it will be a big challenge for us in one of the great traditional grounds of English rugby.”
Gloucester: 15 Charlie Sharples, 14 Jonny May, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (c), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Greig Laidlaw; 1 Yann Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 Sila Puafisi; 4 Tom Savage, 5 Mariano Galarza; 6 Dan Thomas, 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Gareth Evans.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 James Hudson, 21 Callum Braley, 22 James Hook, 23 Steve McColl.
London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 James Short, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Tomás O’Leary, 1 Tom Court, 2 David Paice, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 George Skivington (c), 5 Jebb Sinclair, 6 Luke Narraway, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Tom Guest.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Kieran Low, 21 Callum Watson, 22 Eamonn Sheridan, 23 Andy Short.
