Tindall leads Gloucester into battle
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:53
Mike Tindall will lead Gloucester into their final pre-season game, against a very powerful Glasgow Warriors, at Kingsholm on Saturday.
The England centre will skipper a powerful side and will welcome back flyhalf Ryan Lamb, wing Iain Balshaw and fullback Olly Morgan to the three-quarter line and No.8 Luke Narraway and openside flank Andy Hazell 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 tighthead 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 flank Alasdair Strokosch.
Behind the scrum, Gloucester have plenty of cutting edge. Scrumhalf Gareth Cooper gets the nod in a halfback 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 [Saturday] 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 scrumhalf Rory Lawson, utility back Willie Walker, centre Matthew Watkins and wing James Simpson-Daniel.
The Glasgow Warriors are also fielding a strong team for Saturday's pre-season clash with Gloucester, as they anticipate a hardy encounter at Kingsholm.
It will be the Warriors' final pre-season test before facing Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade next Friday, October 5, and the Ospreys at Firhill on Friday September 12.
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mike Tindall (captain), 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8
Luke Narraway, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Will James, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Andy Titterrell, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements - from: Olivier Azam, Dave Young, Marco Bortolami, Alasdair Strokosch, Rory Lawson, Willie Walker, Matthew Watkins, James Simpson-Daniel.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mark McMillan, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Dan Turner, 4 Alastair Kellock (captain), 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements - from: Eric Milligan, Justin Va'a, Ed Kalman, Tim Barker, Andrew Henderson, Ruaridh Jackson, Stevie Swindall, Calum Forrester, Colin Gregor, Hefin O'Hare.
Date: Saturday, August 30
Venue: Kingsholm, Gloucester
Kick-off: 14.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Touch judges: Luke Pearce, Rhys Davies
