A West Country derby between Gloucester and Bath kicks off this weekend’s return of the PREM as the two bitter rivals name their teams for Friday’s game at Kingsholm.
On loan hooker, Will Crane, continues in the Gloucester front row, before returning to Hartpury next week. He is flanked by Val Rapava Ruskin and Afo Fasogbon, who are the starting props.
Deian Gwynne comes into the second-row to partner Matias Alemanno, with the loose trio consisting of James Venter, Lewis Ludlow and Will Trenholm. Jack Clement misses out after suffering a blow to the head in last week’s clash against Toulon.
Tomos Williams leads Cherry and Whites
Tomos Williams skippers the Gloucester team from scrum-half, with Charlie Atkinson at fly-half once more.
The electric Josiah Edwards Giraud returns from injury, hoping to rediscover his early-season form alongside Seb Atkinson in midfield.
In the outside backs, Ollie Thorley has completed his suspension and is available again, joining Josh Hathaway and George Barton.
Kirill Gotovtsev, Cam Jordan and Jack Mann are all drafted into the matchday 23 on the bench, joining George Knowles, Ciaran Knight, Mike Austin, Ross Byrne and Jack Cotgreave.
Meanwhile, Bath boss Johann van Graan has moved Francois van Wyk, Dan Frost and Archie Griffin from last week’s bench into the starting XV for this PREM derby.
The tight five is completed by Ted Hill in the second-row alongside Quinn Roux.
Josh Bayliss, Ethan Staddon and Arthur Green form the back-row for the West Country clash.
Ben Spencer captains the side from scrum-half and is once again partnered by Finn Russell in the half-backs.
In the centre, Max Ojomoh is joined by Chris Harris.
Will Muir starts on the left wing, with Louie Hennessey named on the right.
Santi Carreras completes the starting XV at full-back.
Among the replacements, Beno Obano, Kepu Tuipulotu and Thomas du Toit provide front-row power.
They are joined by Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill and Charlie Ewels, who returns to the matchday 23.
Bernard van der Linde is in line to make his debut from the bench, pulling on the Blue, Black and White for the first time after injury ruled him out earlier in the season.
Henry Arundell completes the matchday 23.
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The teams
Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Josiah Edwards Giraud, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Tomos Williams (c), 8 Will Trenholm, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 James Venter, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Deian Gwynne, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Will Crane, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 George Knowles, 17 Ciaran Knight, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Mann, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Jack Cotgreave
Bath: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louie Hennessey, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Arthur Green, 7 Ethan Staddon, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ted Hill, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Henry Arundell, 23 Sam Underhill
Date: Friday, January 23
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley, Jamie Leahy
TMO: David Rose