London Irish v Bristol: Teams

London Irish have moved veteran former England star Mike Catt from centre to fly-half as they bid to bounce back from three straight defeats against Bristol on Sunday.

The Exiles make four personnel and two positional changes. Gonzalo Tiesi starts at outside centre, while Topsy Ojo returns to his customary right wing role as Peter Hewat comes in at full-back.

In the front row Tonga Lea'aetoa starts at loose head prop with Stuart Mackie coming in at hooker.

"Bristol are a tough outfit, they love an arm wrestle and if the conditions are wet, that will help them," said Exiles Director of Rugby Brian Smith.

"We're not at full strength - Clarke Dermody, Shane Geraghty, David Paice, Peter Richards and Kieran Roche are missing, but we are quietly confident that the team will perform well.

"The contests with Bristol are always very tight as both sets of coaches know each other very well and there's great mutual respect between the teams."

Experiments

Bristol boss Richard Hill experiments by handing a full debut to academy flanker Iain Grieve.

In the pack, hooker Mark Regan, lock Sean Hohneck and flanker Joe El Abd return, while centre Rob Higgitt has recovered from a knock and replaces Sam Cox in midfield.

Hill said: "I'm going to take the opportunity to rest a few players throughout the next few games as it's really about looking at next season now, keeping players fresh and taking a look at one or two of the youngsters."

"I can now experiment a little. There's no point putting a load of youngsters in but I can try one or two at a time which is good for them and we can see what they're like. The more experience they get between now and the end of the season, the more confidence they'll have going into next year."

London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat; 14 Topsy Ojo; 13 Gonzalo Tiesi; 12 Seilala Mapusua; 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau; 10 Mike Catt; 9 Paul Hodgson; 1 Tonga Lea'aetoa; 2 Stuart Mackie, 3 Faan Rautenbach; 4 Nick Kennedy; 5 Bob Casey (captain); 6 Declan Danaher; 7 Steffon Armitage; 8 Richard Thorpe.
Replacements: TBA

Bristol Rugby: 15 Luke Arscott; 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Rob Higgitt, 12 Neil Brew, 11 David Lemi; 10 Ed Barnes, 9 Shaun Perry; 1 Darren Crompton, 2 Mark Regan, 3 Jason Hobson; 4 Nathan Budgett, 5 Sean Hohneck; 6 Iain Grieve, 7 Joe El Abd (capt), 8 Dan Ward-Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Linklater, 17 Peter Bracken, 18 Mariano Sambucetti, 19 Redford Pennycook, 20 Haydn Thomas, 21 Jason Strange, 22 Luke Eves.