Preview: LV= Cup final
Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:09
The LV= Cup final takes place this weekend as Northampton Saints clash with Gloucester at Sixways Stadium.
Gloucester were last season's losing finalists and won't want to settle for second for the second year running on Sunday.
Northampton are also still alive in the Heineken Cup and the Guinness Premiership and will be hoping to capture a first piece of silverware on Sunday.
Sunday, March 21
Northampton Saints v Gloucester
(Sixways - 17:30 GMT)
Gloucester come into the match on the back of a 29-18 win against the Cardiff Blues who won the competition last year.
James Simpson-Daniel was the hero for Gloucester in the semifinal with a hat-trick of tries that sealed the win for the Cherry and Whites.
Gloucester do lose a trio of stars in Gareth Delve, Mike Tindall and Alasdair Dickenson who will all be in action for their countries in the Six Nations.
Saints also lose a few players to national call-up as their captain Dylan Hartley, Ben Foden and Chris Ashton are all in the England starting XV and Euan Murray is away on duty with Scotland.
However Saints have showed that they have the depth to produce a strong side and they are coming off a 31-20 win against Saracens.
Rugby365 prediction: Saints are the form team and have healthy number of wins under their belt in recent times, but by still fighting on so many fronts they might not be as focused on this final as the Gloucester lads are, and the Cherry and Whites may sneak a tight victory - Gloucester by less than 5.
Teams:
Saints: 15 Shane Geraghty, 14 Bruce Reihana, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Phil Dowson (captain), 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Soane
Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Regardt Dreyer, 18 Jon Vickers, 19 Mark Hopley, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Barry Everitt, 23 Joe Ansbro.
Gloucester: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Adam Eustace, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Peter Buxton (captain), 5 Alex Brown, 4 Will James, 3 Pierre Capdevielle, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Apo Satala, 20 Andy Hazell, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Tom Voyce, 23 Charlie Sharples.
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle (England), Roger Baileff (England)
TMO: Ed Morrison (England)
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