Gloucester v Saints: Teams
Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath has made a raft of changes for Northampton's visit to Kingsholm on Saturday.
Last Updated: 18/09/09 1:08pm
Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath has made a raft of changes for Northampton's visit to Kingsholm on Saturday.
The Cherry and Whites slumped to a crushing 40-10 defeat at London Irish last weekend and Redpath has reacted by shuffling his pack.
For the first time this season, winger Lesley Vainikolo and flanker Peter Buxton are available to Redpath and both men have been handed starting berths.
Vainikolo has not played since sustaining a groin injury in pre-season, but resumed full training this week with his off-field problems seemingly resolved for the time being.
There are three further changes to the backline with captain Mike Tindall returning at centre, James Simpson-Daniel being named on the wing and Dave Lewis getting his first start of the season at scrum-half.
Meanwhile, Buxton has overcome the foot injury that brought a premature end to his 2008-09 campaign to claim his place on the blindside flank.
Redpath has opted for a couple more changes to his pack, the first by choice with Marco Bortolami replacing Alex Brown at lock and the second enforced with Akapusi Qera coming in for the suspended Andrew Hazell in the back row.
Elsewhere, Olivier Azam is back on the replacements bench, whilst Paul Doran-Jones makes a first appearance of the season in the match day 23.
Two changes for Northampton
For his part, Northampton chief Jim Mallinder makes only two changes for the trip to the West Country.
Winger Chris Ashton comes in for Paul Diggin and will wear the number 14 shirt, while Irish international Neil Best returns to the back row.
Best slots in at blindside flanker with Phil Dowson switching to number eight and Roger Wilson dropping to the bench.
Mallinder is expecting a tough encounter but is hopeful his side can build on their encouraging display in the narrow loss to Saracens at Wembley last weekend.
"Kingsholm is a very hard place to play and Gloucester don't lose very often at home," Malliner stated. "They have recruited well over the summer and put in a good performance at Kingsholm in round one.
"But we took plenty of positives from our last game against Saracens and are looking to build on them tomorrow (Saturday)."
Gloucester team: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall (capt), 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Dave Lewis; 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 Marco Bortolami, 6 Peter Buxton, 7 Akapusi Qera, 8 Gareth Delve
Replacements: Olivier Azam, Paul Doran-Jones, Pierre Capdevielle, Alex Brown, Alasdair Strokosch, Rory Lawson, Freddie Burns, Tom Voyce
Northampton team: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson; 1 Soane Tonga'uiha, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 3 Santiago Bonorino, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Juandre Kruger, 6 Neil Best, 7 Scott Gray, 8 Phil Dowson
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Regardt Dreyer, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Barry Everitt, 23 Chris Mayor