Gloucester v L Irish: Teams

Only a win will do for both Gloucester and London Irish when the two play-off rivals clash at Kingsholm on Friday night.

The Cherry and Whites currently occupy fourth place in the Aviva Premiership table but are only four points clear of Bath, who sit in eighth.

London Irish are themselves in fifth and know an away victory would see them leapfrog their opponents, although they will have played two games more.

Gloucester's cause was dealt a serious blow last week when winger James Simpson-Daniel picked up an ankle injury.

Morgan back

However Olly Morgan's return is a welcome boost, with the full-back's availability meaning Charlie Sharples switches to the wing.

Rory and Scott Lawson return from international duty with Scotland to replace Dave Lewis and Darren Dawidiuk respectively.

Gloucester hammered London Irish 41-8 in the LV= Cup just two weeks ago, although head coach Bryan Redpath is anything but complacent heading into the clash, especially with the importance of wins at this stage of the season.

"London Irish are a good side. They've just had a lack of confidence and a loss of form. That can happen to anyone," said the Scot.

"They didn't perform well last time and they'll be here to prove a point. They got a win last weekend and they'll have nothing to lose coming to Gloucester. They'll learn from the last two weeks and they'll be fired up.

"We're not getting carried away. Every game is now a cup final and we've got to make sure we win as many as we can if we're going to be in that top four."

Hodgson out

Meanwhile, London Irish have drafted in the fit-again Tom Homer to take the place of the injured Sailosi Tagicakiba on the wing.

Scrum-half Paul Hodgson was another casualty during the Newcastle game, so Darren Allinson is promoted from the bench to the starting XV.

Head coach Toby Booth has made two further changes to his starting XV - Chris Malone replaces Ryan Lamb at fly-half while Faan Rautenbach is preferred to Paulica Ion in the front row.

"Last Saturday's win against Newcastle was a step in the right direction. We will look to build on the momentum we gained last week and take it into tomorrow night's game," said Booth.

"The league is very close this year and a win this weekend keeps us right in the mix for a play-off position come the end of the season."

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson,8 Luke Narraway (capt),7 Andrew Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Will James, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonny May

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua (Captain), 11 Tom Homer, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Kieran Roche, 5 Kieran Low, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring; 17 Alex Corbisiero; 18 Paulica Ion; 19 Gary Johnson; 20 Richard Thorpe; 21 Marcus Watson; 22 Dan Bowden; 23 Ryan Lamb