Leeds v Gloucester: Teams
Leeds Carnegie entertain Gloucester at Headingley on Saturday in their first Aviva Premiership game since the end of October.
Last Updated: 01/01/11 9:51am
Leeds Carnegie entertain Gloucester at Headingley on Saturday in their first Aviva Premiership game since the end of October.
Leeds' team remains unchanged from the one that was due to play against Newcastle in the postponed fixture earlier this week.
England Internationals Steve Thompson and Hendre Fourie return to make their first league appearances for Leeds since October 22.
Gareth Hardy and Phil Swainston are included in the front row alongside Thompson while scrum-half Warren Fury will start for the first time since joining the club in the summer.
Lachlan MacKay starts at fly-half and Ceiron Thomas reverts to full-back in a backline that is unchanged from Leeds' last fixture away against Crociati Rugby.
Monster
England U20 fly-half Freddie Burns starts for Gloucester - and will be partnered in the half-backs by scrum-half Rory Lawson.
Olly Morgan and James Simpson-Daniel also return for the West Country outfit after sitting out their last match at home to La Rochelle.
Pierre Capdevielle replaces the absent Paul Doran-Jones in the pack, while Peter Buxton starts on the blindside as Brett Deacon is sidelined with an ankle injury.
Alasdair Strokosch also returns from a lay-off of over two months. He is amongst the list of replacements.
Second row Dave Attwood misses out due to a two-week suspension following an internal club disciplinary meeting after the La Rochelle game.
Although Leeds are without a win in the Aviva Premiership so far this season, Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath is not underestimating the struggling Yorkshire club.
"This is an absolute monster of a game for us. Leeds are fighting for their livelihoods, for jobs and for contracts. They'll be well up for it at the weekend.
"We know what's at stake and we must do the fundamental parts of the game better than the last time we played.
"It's going to be a tight game, it's a small pitch and they'll be looking to start their New Year with a win.
"You can never underestimate them there. We just beat them at Kingsholm and it'll be tough again."
Leeds: 15 Ceiron Thomas, 14 Lee Blackett, 13 Henry Fa'afili, 12 Scott Barrow, 11 Mike Stephenson, 10 Lachlan MacKay, 9 Warren Fury; 1 Gareth Hardy, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Swainston, 4 Tom Denton, 5 Marco Wentzel (capt), 6 Rhys Oakley, 7 Hendre Fourie, 8 Daniel Browne
Replacements: Phil Nilsen, Mike MacDonald, Gareth Denman, Kearnan Myall, Danny Paul, Scott Mathie, Luther Burrell, Leigh Hinton
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan; 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall (capt), 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Lesley Vainikolo; 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Rory Lawson; 1 Nick Wood, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Pierre Capdevielle; 4 Will James, 5 Alex Brown; 6 Peter Buxton, 7 Andrew Hazell, 8 Luke Narraway
Replacements: Olivier Azam, Yann Thomas, Rupert Harden, Alasdair Strokosch, Akapusi Qera, Dave Lewis, Nicky Robinson, Charlie Sharples