Gloucester v Saracens: Teams
Gloucester have made five changes to their side as they welcome Saracens to Kingsholm on Saturday.
Last Updated: 27/11/10 7:03pm
Gloucester have made five changes to their side as they welcome Saracens to Kingsholm for the second time a fortnight on Saturday.
The Cherry-and-Whites will be looking to get back to winning ways after last Sunday's disappointing reverse at Newcastle and will be under no illusions about the size of the task in hand despite the 36-10 victory over Saracens in the LV= Cup two weeks ago.
Returning to the back line after injuries are full-back Olly Morgan and fly-half Nicky Robinson. Tim Molenaar makes just his second start of the season in the centre and Dave Lewis replaces Jordi Pasqualin at scrum-half.
There is just the one change in the pack with Dave Attwood, back from England duty, replacing Jim Hamilton who is away with Scotland.
Head coach Bryan Redpath admits that he is expecting a backlash this weekend.
"We'll see a totally different Saracens side," he said.
"They totally underperformed in the LV game, dropped more balls than they did at Bath last week when they played in a very similar way but their execution and their detail was far better.
"Brendan Venter is a very proud man and he was disappointed after the game here two weeks ago and I'm sure he'll have them fired up."
Duo return
Meanwhile, Richard Wigglesworth and Brad Barritt return to the Saracens starting line-up.
The return of the duo are the only two changes to the team that won 17-13 at Bath last weekend. Barritt has recovered from a fractured finger while Wigglesworth starts ahead of Neil de Kock on rotation.
But the club has been dealt a blow with the news that centre Adam Powell, who left the field midway through the first half at The Rec, will have surgery on Friday on a shoulder injury that will rule him out for three months.
On the bench, Jacques Burger returns from international duty with De Kock also among the replacements.
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Luke Narraway (capt) 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Brett Deacon, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Will James, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Jordi Pasqualin, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Lesley Vainikolo
Saracens: 15 Nils Mordt, 14 David Strettle, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 James Short, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Justin Melck, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Steve Borthwick (ccapt), 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Deon Carstens
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Sam Stanley, 23 Noah Cato