Gloucester fly-half Barkley to battle it out with Wilkinson
GLOUCESTER will field their third different fly-half in as many matches when they face Newcastle at Kingsholm tonight (7.45pm).
Summer signing Olly Barkley will wear the No 10 shirt – and be up against Jonny Wilkinson – after Ryan Lamb was dropped following Friday night's 23-9 defeat at unbeaten Sale Sharks.
-
Third time's the charm: Olly Barkley will be Gloucester's third no.10 this season
Willie Walker, who started at fly-half in the victories over Bath and Harlequins, remains on the bench.
"With a turn-around like the one we face, we have to explore other options for this contest and that is what we have done," said head coach Dean Ryan.
"We have to try and get ourselves in the right areas of the field more consistently and reduce our error count to be as effective as we know we can be.
"We did some good things on Friday against Sale but probably in areas of the field that diluted their effectiveness.
"Any game at Kingsholm under lights is a fantastic occasion because it intensifies the atmosphere and makes it even more special.
"Although we are turning around quickly this is obviously a very significant game for us."
Hooker Scott Lawson, who was signed from Sale this month, will make his Guinness Premiership debut for Gloucester.
The Scotland international comes into the starting line-up in place of Olivier Azam, who moves to the bench. Andy Titterrell was not considered for selection after taking a bang to the head during Gloucester's defeat at Edgeley Park.
Lawson is one of three changes to the Gloucester pack from the one that faced Sale last week. Nick Wood returns at loose-head prop in place of David Young, while Alasdair Strokosch comes in at openside flanker in place of Andy Hazell.
In the backs, scrum-half Gareth Cooper, centre and skipper Mike Tindall and full-back Olly Morgan return.
Tindall took a heavy knock to his upper body and lasted only 26 minutes after coming on as a replacement at Sale.
To accommodate Morgan, Iain Balshaw moves to wing in place of Lesley Vainikolo.
Newcastle have made three changes with wing Ollie Phillips coming in for John Rudd, who picked up a knock when scoring a try during the Falcons' 17-3 victory over Bristol on Friday.
Scrum half Hall Charlton replaces James Grindal, while Micky Ward will pack down at loose head with Joe McDonnell on the bench.
Gloucester: O Morgan; J Simpson-Daniel, M Watkins, M Tindall (capt), I Balshaw; O Barkley, G Cooper; N Wood, S Lawson, A Dickinson, M Bortolami, A Brown, P Buxton, A Strokosch, L Narraway. Reps: O Azam, D Young, A Satala, A Hazell, R Lawson, W Walker, M Foster.
Newcastle: S Jones; T Visser, J Noon, T May, O Phillips; J Wilkinson, H Charlton; M Ward, M Thompson, C Hayman, A Perry, M Sorenson, A Balding, E Williamson, P Dowson (capt). Reps: A Long, J McDonnell, T Swinson, R Winter, M Young, S Davey, R Clegg.
Comments