Gloucester v Exiles: Teams
Gloucester captain Luke Narraway is set to make his first appearance of the season against London Irish on Saturday.
Last Updated: 30/09/11 2:08pm
Gloucester welcome back captain Luke Narraway for his first appearance of the season against London Irish on Saturday.
Narraway, so often employed as a number eight, will make a rare appearance on the openside flank as he joins Peter Buxton and Brett Deacon in the back row.
Also returning to the matchday squad following absences for various injuries are Dave Lewis and James Simpson-Daniel who are named amongst the replacements.
There's a reshuffle in the midfield where Jonny May partners Henry Trinder but, those changes aside, it remains very much the side that defeated Bath last weekend.
London Irish arrive in good form having notched back-to-back Aviva Premiership victories against Northampton and Newcastle and are going for consecutive away wins in the Premiership for the first time in twelve months.
Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath is well aware of the challenge that the visitors will pose on Saturday.
"It'll be tough," the Scot said. "London Irish are similar to us. They've had some good games and some where they probably feel they didn't perform so well.
"They'll be pretty fired up coming to Gloucester as there's nothing to lose. I've a lot of time for Toby (Booth) and Mike Catt and I think it'll be a good contest and not one we should take lightly."
Two changes for the Exiles
London Irish have made two changes to the starting line-up from the side that beat Newcastle Falcons last weekend.
Max Lahiff and James Sandford come in for Leo Halavatau and Matt Garvey respectively.
Meanwhile, Faan Rautenbach and Jamie Gibson have returned from injury to be named as replacements.
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Jonny May, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Tim Taylor, 9 Nick Runciman, 8 Brett Deacon 7 Luke Narraway, 6 Peter Buxton (c), 5 Will James, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 David Lyons, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 James Simpson-Daniel
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Steve Shingler, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Chris Hala'ufia 7 Alex Gray, 6 Bryn Evans, 5 James Sandford , 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody (c)
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Mark George, 18Faan Rautenbach, 19Declan Danaher, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Guy Armitage, 22 Adrian Jarvis, 23 Paul Hodgson