Lemi starts for Wasps at Kingsholm
Gloucester Rugby Head Coach Bryan Redpath makes just three changes to his starting line up to take on Wasps on Saturday evening while Tony Hanks has recalled Samoan star David Lemi.
Scottish international flank Alasdair Strokosch returns on the blind side, and Rory Lawson and former All Black Carlos Spencer are back at halfback.
These three changes notwithstanding, the starting line up is the one that took the field at Biarritz last weekend.
Strokosch is back after a slight hamstring strain which caused him to miss out last weekend. Also back to ease the back row injury situation is Apo Satala who takes his place on the bench.
Spencer returns at flyhalf for his first start of the Guinness Premiership campaign, having recovered from a broken toe suffered in preseason, in place of Welsh international Nicky Robinson who has started every game to date.
Despite the Heineken Cup defeat in Biarritz last weekend, Redpath is still able to draw positives from that game although he admitted that the errors are still haunting Gloucester.
“I thought that’s the best we’ve been defensively this season. We knocked them around and created turnovers.”
“We were naive on a couple of occasions which cost us and made a couple of key errors and we were punished.”
Still ruled out through injury are the likes of Marco Bortolami, Alex Brown, Peter Buxton, Olly Morgan, Luke Narraway, Mike Tindall and Nick Wood. Wasps have an injury list just as long as Gloucester’s but Redpath refused to use that as an excuse.
“Wasps have also got injuries to key players in key positions but they’re always capable of scoring tries. They’re always a tough challenge because of their physical nature but that’s how they’ve been successful and you can’t knock that.”
Returning to black and gold, following recovery from a fractured trapezium, Lemi will make his third appearance for the club since joining this summer. With Lemi back in the mix, Director of Rugby Tony Hanks rests fellow wing Tom Varndell, who has played every competitive minute of the 2009/10 season to date.
As well as Lemi, Wasps supporters will see Dominic Waldouck, Joe Simpson, Tim Payne, George Skivington, Richard Birkett, John Hart and captain Serge Betsen back in the starting line up following rest or bench duty last weekend in Rome.
Looking ahead to the game Director of Rugby, Tony Hanks said: “After two strong performances in Europe we are looking forward to making a return to the Premiership. Facing Gloucester on their home turf we expect a highly competitive game and the players are looking forward to the challenge. I think the pleasing aspect for us at the moment is the performance of all the squad which is making team selection more difficult each week.”
On Lemi he added: “We are delighted to welcome David Lemi back into the side after an impressive recovery from injury – that is a credit to not only to the hard work and dedication of David but our great medical team.”
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Tom Voyce, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 James Simpson-Daniel, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Carlos Spencer, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Gareth Delve (capt), 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Will James, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawiduik, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Apo Satala, 20 Andrew Hazell, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Nicky Robinson, 23 Tim Molenaar.
Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Dominic Waldouck, 11 David Lemi, 10 Dave Walder, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 John Hart, 7 Serge Betsen (capt), 6 Dan Ward-Smith, 5 Richard Birkett, 4 George Skivington, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Joe Ward, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Bocca, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Bob Baker, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Will Matthews, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Eoghan Hickey, 23 Steve Kefu.
Date: Saturday, October 24
Time: 17:35 (16.35 GMT)
Venue: Kingsholm
Referee: Dave Pearson
