L Irish v Gloucester: Teams
Jim Hamilton will make his debut for Gloucester in Sunday's clash with London Irish at Madejski Stadium.
Last Updated: 19/09/10 11:21am
Scottish international second row Jim Hamilton will make his debut for Gloucester when they take on London Irish on Sunday.
Hamilton has been sidelined with a virus leaving him a frustrated spectator for Gloucester's opening two fixtures but now packs down alongside Alex Brown in the second row.
Also returning to the starting line-up is fellow Scotland international Alasdair Strokosch who starts at blindside with Brett Deacon moving across to number eight.
Able to call upon Hamilton's services for the first time, head coach Bryan Redpath explained what he (Hamilton) will bring to the side.
Physical
"Jim's another lineout option. He's obviously a big man, he's called lineouts for Scotland and Edinburgh and he takes a little bit of heat of Browny and puts a bit of heat on them as well," said Redpath.
"He's a big, angry man. He's 130kgs which hopefully he's going to throw around. He's here to be physical and that's what we want."
Speaking ahead of the game, Redpath was quick to pinpoint the key area of improvement from the first two games.
"Too many individual errors. I think 25 against Exeter and 17 last Saturday. We're creating a huge amount of scoring opportunities but not finishing them off," he said.
"We've been far better than we have been previously defensively and in terms of discipline but need to show a little more patience and composure."
"Irish are a good side. We're playing away from home, four yellow cards last year down there. They have a dangerous back three. You kick poorly, you kick loosely and you're going to get punished."
"We have to have a very strong disciplined game to play against them. It's a big challenge for us this weekend. But we need to be up for it. It's about us and not all about the opposition."
Meanwhile, London Irish chief Toby Booth has recalled the international duo of Nick Kennedy and Seilala Mapusua to the starting line-up.
Excellent
Kennedy returns to the second row where he will team up with Bob Casey while the in form Kieran Roche moves to the back row in place of Steffon Armitage.
In the backs, 2009 PRA Players' Player of the Year Mapusua will form a centre partnership with Daniel Bowden and academy star Jonathon Joseph retains his place on the wing after scoring his first Premiership try for the Exiles last weekend.
"We have had a good start to the season and belief in the squad is very high at the moment," said Booth.
"Defensively we were excellent last week and after the bonus point win against Saracens at the London Double Header we are in a strong position for our first match in front of our home fans.
"We are all looking forward to be back playing at Madejski Stadium for what I am expecting to be an entertaining afternoon of rugby."
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Seilala Mapusua , 12 Daniel Bowden, 11 Jonathon Joseph, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 George Stowers 7 Declan Danaher , 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody (c).
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Jonathon Fisher, 21 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 22 Chris Malone, 23 Darren Allinson.
Gloucester:15 Charlie Sharples, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall (c), 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Brett Deacon 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Pierre Capdevielle, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Luke Narraway, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Tim Taylor, 23 Tim Molenaar.