Premiership: Play-off chasing Gloucester boosted by returning internationals as Louis Rees-Zammit among those to start
Newcastle Falcons and Gloucester have named their 23-man squads for Friday’s Premiership clash at Kingston Park.
While the Falcons are effectively out of play-off contention, the Cherry and Whites are still in the fight, but they desperately need to improve their recent form.
Following just one victory in five Premiership games, which leaves them down in ninth place in the table, they have plenty of work to do if they are to get into the mix.
Stronger Gloucester 23
However, head coach George Skivington has been boosted by the return of his international contingent, as Gloucester look to bounce back from defeat to Leicester Tigers last time out.
Wales’ Louis Rees-Zammit returns to the side after featuring for Wales in the last three rounds of the Six Nations.
Rees-Zammit joins Ollie Thorley, who penned a fresh deal at Kingsholm last week, and Lloyd Evans in the back three.
Former Falcon, Chris Harris, partners Seb Atkinson in midfield.
Stephen Varney has also been on international duty – he played all-bar-one of Italy’s Six Nations fixtures. He starts inside Santi Carreras in the half-backs.
There is just one singular change in the pack from the fixture against Leicester two weeks ago.
Harry Elrington replaces Val Rapava-Ruskin at loosehead, joining Seb Blake and Kirill Gotovtsev in the front-row, with Freddie Clarke and Matias Alemanno slotting in behind them in the second-row.
Jordy Reid, Ruan Ackermann and captain Lewis Ludlow form the back-row once more.
Argentinian international, Mayco Vivas, is set for his Cherry and Whites debut from the bench.
Vivas joins Henry Walker, Jamal Ford-Robsinon, Cam Jordan and Jack Clement as cover for the forward positions, with Charlie Chapman, Billy Twelvetrees and Tom Seabrook in reserve for the backs.
USA international back for Newcastle
Meanwhile, lock forward Greg Peterson returns for Newcastle Falcons on Friday night as they host Gloucester.
The USA international is back in the starting line-up after serving a two-game ban for the red card he received against Saracens last month – a match in which the Falcons picked up a losing bonus-point despite playing a man down for more than hour away against the league leaders.
Peterson’s return sees Argentina international Pedro Rubiolo switch to the back-row, with scrum-half Michael Young captaining the side on his 199th appearance for the Falcons.
On the bench there could be a Premiership debut for fly-half Josh Thomas, with the Welshman making seven appearances in cup action for the club after arriving from Ospreys last summer.
Newcastle are out to complete a home-and-away double over Gloucester after winning 27-21 at Kingsholm in November, and will be led for the game by interim head coach Mark Laycock.
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Form: Newcastle Falcons have lost their last four Premiership Rugby fixtures since beating Leicester Tigers 45-26 at Kingston Park on 7 January. The Falcons slipped to a 19-34 defeat to London Irish last time out at Kingston Park to end a three-game winning run at the venue in all competitions. Gloucester have won just once in their last five Premiership matches: 28-26 over Harlequins at Kingsholm in Round 17. Gloucester have not won away from home in the league since their narrow 22-21 win at London Irish on 21 October. The Falcons beat Gloucester 27-21 in Round 10 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the West Countrymen since 2016/17. Gloucester have won on three of their last four visits to Kingston Park in the Premiership.
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 Ben Stevenson.
Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Tom Seabrook
Date: Friday, March 24
Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: George Selwood, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson