Preview: Premiership, Round Six
The Cherry and Whites have lost their last two fixtures in the English Premiership and are currently sitting in tenth place on the standings.
The one change in their personnel sees Sione Kalamafoni replace Ben Morgan at No.8 with the rest of the pack unchanged.
The backs are also largely unchanged although James Hook and Billy Twelvetrees swap positions, with Hook now lining up at flyhalf and Twelvetrees at inside centre.
"Last week was frustrating but we're staying really positive, working really hard and are sure that we'll come good, said Gloucester backline coach Nick Walshe.
"A couple of wins on the bounce and you move up five or six places.
"We're doing some good stuff, we're doing some not so good stuff at the minute. So, we're looking to put in a good performance against Sale on Friday, getting the crowd behind us and cheering and getting some buzz and confidence into the team."
Walshe is conscious that Gloucester are up against a tough Sale side on Friday.
"Sale are a very good side. They're competitive, they're very tough and they never give in. If they lose, they're never heavily beaten.
"And, when you have someone like Cipriani pulling the strings, you just never know. Some of his individual brilliance last year created three tries against us.
"So, we're conscious of how good they can be, but we're a good side as well. We know that and we're working hard to show that."
There are five other games this weekend. Saturday sees Harlequins take on London Irish, while the Worcester Warriors welcome Leicester Tigers. Bath and Northampton Saints face off in a mouth-watering encounter before Wasps take the Exeter Chiefs.
There is just one game on Sunday with Saracens travelling to Newcastle to take on the Falcons.
We look at this weekend's action!
Friday, December 4
Gloucester v Sale Sharks
Kingsholm – Kick-off: 7.45GMT)
Sale Sharks have also won just two Premiership games this season, both at home to Worcester and Northampton Saints in rounds two and three.
The Sharks have lost their last seven away games in all tournaments since beating London Welsh at Oxford in February.
Referee JP Doyle becomes just the 10th referee to take charge of 100 Premiership matches.
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Henry Purdy.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Nev Edwards, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Will Addison, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Jonathan Mills, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Eifion Lewis Roberts, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 David Seymour, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Paul Dix
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Saturday, December 5
Harlequins v London Irish
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 15.00GMT)
London Irish have lost all five Premiership games so far this season. The Exiles most recent victory in the tournament came when Sale Sharks visited the Madejski Stadium on April 12.
Harlequins have lost only one of their last eight Premiership fixtures against London Irish: 13-18 in Reading in October 2013 whilst the Exiles most recent victory at Twickenham Stoop came in the Premiership Rugby semifinal in 2009.
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 James Horwill, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews. 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ross Chisholm.
London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Ashli Tikoirotuma, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Darren Allison, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 David Sisi, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 Matt Symons (captain), 3 Ben Franks, 2 Gerard Ellis, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Eoin Sheriff, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Trophy Clews, 23 Sean Maitland.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, Simon McConnell
TMO: David Sainsbury
Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers
(Sixways – Kick-off: 15.00GMT)
Leicester Tigers only defeat in any major competition since last season's Premiership semifinal came on a trip to Exeter in Round Four.
The Tigers have achieved only one try bonus point in the Premiership in 2015 – at home to London Welsh in April.
Leicester have won their last 11 contests with Worcester in all tournaments, whilst the Warriors only two victories over the Tigers were both at Sixways in the Premiership with a winning margin of four points in 2005 and 2008.
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Phil Dowson (captain), 7 Sam Betty, 6 Matt Cox, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Joe Rees, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Marco Mama, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone , 13 Peter Betham , 12 Seremaia Bai , 11 Vereniki Goneva , 10 Owen Williams, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Tom Croft, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Dan Cole, 2 Greg Bateman, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Matt Smith.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Andrew Pearce
TMO: Sean Davey
Bath v Northampton Saints
(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 15.15GMT)
Northampton Saints have won their last three matches in all competitions since going down 6-12 at home to Saracens in the Premiership on November 7.
The Saints have not won away from home in the competition since they visited Bath on February 21. Northampton are unbeaten in their last eight Premiership encounters with Bath since Bath won 38-8 at the Rec in February 2011.
Teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Tom Ellis, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Dave Wilson, 19 David Denton, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden (captain), 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Ethan Waller.
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 James Craig, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ken Pisi.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: Graham Hughes
Wasps v Exeter Chiefs
(Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 17.30GMT)
Exeter Chiefs solitary defeat in the Premiership this season came on a visit to Bath on the opening weekend. The Chiefs beat Newcastle 41-3 on their most recent away trip in the competition but have not won two in a row on the road in the Premiership since September 2014.
The last four encounters between the two clubs have all gone the way of home field advantage whilst Exeter's most recent victory on Wasps soil came at Adams Park in April 2013.
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Guy Thompson, 7 George Smith, 6 Sam Jones, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).
Replacements: 16 Edd Sherrington, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Alapati Leiua.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Moray Low, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Ben White, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Olly Woodburn.
Referee: Gregory Garner
Assistant referees: Kelvin Stewart, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Keith Lewis
Sunday, December 6
Newcastle Falcons v Saracens
(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 15.00GMT)
Saracens continue to set the pace at the top of the Premiership table with a perfect played five, won five record. The defending champions have won their last ten matches in all competitions since Exeter Chiefs beat them at Allianz Park in the Premiership in May.
Saracens have won the last dozen encounters between the two clubs in all tournaments since Newcastle were victorious in the Premiership at Kingston Park in February 2009. Saracens have won on their last five visits to Kingston Park with the Falcons recording a losing bonus point in each instance.
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Michael Young, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Calum Green, 4 Sean Robinson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Sonatane Takulua 22 Craig Willis, 23 Chris Harris.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Mike Ellery, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Tim Streather, 23 Ben Ransom.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Andy Watson
TMO: David Grashoff
