Star forwards return to bolster Gloucester’s pack for Challenge Cup clash with Castres
The Challenge Cup knockout stages start with an Anglo-French contest as Gloucester take on Castres at Kingsholm for a spot in the last eight of the competition.
Gloucester were ranked second at the end of an impressive pool stage whilst Castres snuck into the round of 16 after finishing in 15th place with two wins from four.
The winner of Friday’s clash will take on either Ospreys (7) or Sale Sharks (10), with the highest ranked victorious team from this weekend gaining home advantage.
Team news
Argentina hooker Santi Socino returns to the starting XV alongside Kirill Gotovtsev and Val Rapava-Ruskin in a robust front-row. Just behind them two Freddies, Thomas and Clarke, start in the second-row.
Ruan Ackermann starts at flank with the talented duo of Lewis Ludlow and Zach Mercer completing the forward pack.
Scrum-half Caolan Englefield starts with Charlie Atkinson in the half-back pairing with Max Llewellyn and Seb Atkinson named in the midfield.
Argentine star Santiago Carreras starts as full-back with Jonny May and Olli Thorley on the wings.
Gloucester have gone with a 6-2 split on the bench as Italian Stephen Varney and Chris Harris make up the backline options. Hooker Adam McBurney, Mayco Vivas and Jamal Ford-Robinson are front-row replacements with Cam Jordan, Albert Tuisue and Jack Clement rounding out the matchday 23.
Castres will be led by Mathieu Babillot from the side of the scrum with Nick Champion de Crespigny and Abraham Papali’i making up the back-row. Tom Staniforth and Gauthier Maravat are the locks as Aurelien Azar, Gaetan Barlot and Wayan de Benedittis start in the front-row.
Uruguayan livewire Santiago Arata starts at scrum-half with Pierre Popelin at 10. Andrea Cocagi and Adren Seguret start in the midfield with Geoffrey Palis, Martin Laveau and Nathaneal Hulleu in the back-three.
The visitors have opted for a standard bench with three backs in the form of Jeremy Fernandez, Vilimoni Botitu and Josaia Raisuqe.
Meanwhile, hooker Pierre Colonna and props Antoine Tichit and Esteban Talalua are front-row replacements with Florent Vanverberghe and Yan Peysson as the other forward substitutions.
The teams
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Jonny May, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Ruan Ackermann (c), 5 Freddie Thomas, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Santi Socino, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Jack Clement, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Chris Harris
Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Adrien Seguret, 12 Andrea Cocagi, 11 Nathanael Hulleu, 10 Pierre Popelin, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 6 Mathieu Babillot (c), 5 Tom Staniforth, 4 Gauthier Maravat, 3 Aurelien Azar, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Wayan de Benedittis
Replacements: 16 Pierre Colonna, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Esteban Talalua, 19 Florent Vanverberghe, 20 Yann Peysson, 21 Jeremy Fernandez, 22 Vilimoni Botitu, 23 Josaia Raisuqe
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRE)
Assistant Referees: Keane Davison (IRE), Robbie Jenkinson (IRE)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRE)
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