England centre Mike Tindall will lead Gloucester into their final pre-season game against Glasgow Warriors at Kingsholm on Saturday.
Tindall captains a powerful side with stand-off Ryan Lamb, winger Iain Balshaw and full-back Olly Morgan all set to return to the three-quarter line and number eight Luke Narraway and openside flanker Andy Hazell coming in to the forward pack.
It will be Gloucester’s third pre-season game and following a victory over Canada A and a defeat against Bayonne last Tuesday, head coach Dean Ryan is looking for an improved performance ahead of their opening Guinness Premiership match against Leicester next Sunday.
“There is a great atmosphere and unity amongst the squad,” Ryan said.
“We have made it very clear that pre-season is based on performance and maximising what we can achieve from new combinations and relationships.
“But we have the opportunity to re-introduce some senior players tomorrow and that is pretty key moving forward. We have worked very hard in pre-season but we obviously want to see an improvement from the Bayonne game and we have the personnel in place to do that.”
Up front, Nick Wood will be partnered by hooker Andy Titterrell and tight-head prop Carlos Nieto. Will James gets an opportunity to partner Alex Brown at lock, while Hazell, Peter Buxton and Narraway form the back row.
For Hazell and Narraway it will be their first appearances of the season. On the bench, Ryan will include hooker Olivier Azam, prop Dave Young, lock Marco Bortolami and flanker Alasdair Strokosch.
Behind the scrum, Gloucester have plenty of cutting edge. Scrum-half Gareth Cooper gets the nod in a half-back partnership with Lamb – who missed the Bayonne game with illness.
Tindall will lead the side from outside centre in a partnership with Anthony Allen, while Iain Balshaw, Lesley Vainikolo and Olly Morgan are the back three.
“Pre-season is about getting your best players available and at a level available for Leicester in the Guinness Premiership,” Ryan added. “Tomorrow is a continuation of that process and I think we are in pretty good shape.
“It is important we keep moving forward so we are ready for the start of the Guinness Premiership.”
Ryan’s three-quarter replacements are scrum-half Rory Lawson, utility back Willie Walker, centre Matthew Watkins and winger James Simpson-Daniel.