Gloucester name team for Saints despite rumours match about to be cancelled

Lewis Ludlow continues to skipper Gloucester as George Skivington makes five changes to the Cherry and Whites side that took on Bath at the Recreation Ground. There are however unconfirmed reports that the match could be set to be called off by Premiership Rugby.

The GloucesterLive website say that they are "getting reports from well-placed sources that tomorrow’s game between Gloucester Rugby and Northampton Saints is set to be called off."

Ed Slater, Freddie Clarke and Louis Rees-Zammit come into the starting line-up in the place of Matt Garvey, Ruan Ackermann and Ollie Thorley respectively, who drop to the bench. Jake Polledri returns to the number 8 shirt, with Clarke occupying the blind-side flanker spot.

Willi Heinz and Lloyd Evans will partner in the half-backs once more, as well as Matt Banahan retaining the full-back shirt.

On the bench, Australian hooker James Hanson returns for Gloucester Rugby after a lengthy lay-off through injury. Mark Atkinson comes in amongst the replacements in place of Tom Seabrook having missed out at Bath.

George Skivington knows there is still plenty riding on the game, with a place in the European Champions Cup still up for grabs.

"Europe is obviously on the radar, and we know how important the game is from that perspective. We will have to fight hard to get there, and the results in the background will take care of themselves" said Skivington.

"From a coaching perspective, our emphasis is making sure we’ve got everything out of learning this squad, because that is the window of opportunity we’ve had during this period and I want to make sure we maximise that with this last opportunity."

Gloucester Rugby

15. Matt Banahan

14. Louis Rees-Zammit

13. Chris Harris

12. Billy Twelvetrees

11. Jonny May

10. Lloyd Evans

9. Willi Heinz

1. Val Rapava-Ruskin

2. Jack Singleton

3. Fraser Balmain

4. Ed Slater

5. Matias Alemanno

6. Freddie Clarke

7. Lewis Ludlow ©

8. Jake Polledri

Replacements

16. James Hanson

17. Corne Fourie

18. Jack Stanley

19. Matt Garvey

20. Ruan Ackermann

21. Joe Simpson

22. Mark Atkinson

23. Ollie Thorley