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Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the Gallagher Premiership match between Bristol and London Irish at Ashton Gate.
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Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).
Toby Fricker makes his first Gallagher Premiership start for top-of-the-table Bristol. The winger is rewarded for tries in successive European Challenge Cup fixtures with selection against the Exiles, while Andy Uren returns from a head injury to start.
Charles Piutau (ankle), John Afoa (calf) and Nathan Hughes (finger) return to the starting line-up for the Ashton Gate clash.
Director of rugby Pat Lam said: “We have built some positive momentum in the Premiership and Challenge Cup, but we are ultimately judged on our performance, so Sunday is a massive game for us to continue the good work so far.
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“We know what a well-coached and good side London Irish are. They are a different beast this year because of the quality of Declan Kidney and Les Kiss. They will be a big threat and we have to be ready and prepared for a physical battle at Ashton Gate in front of another big crowd.”
Bristol are boosted by the return of Alapati Leiua to the 23-man squad following a knee injury, while Luke Hamilton could make his Premiership debut for the Bears from the replacements bench.
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For London Irish, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, Saia Fainga’a and Ollie Hoskins combine in the front row with Ruan Botha and Franco van der Merwe in the second. Van der Merwe captains the side from the five jersey.
The best @BristolBears team of the last decade?
– @alexshawsport picks his 15 for 10 👨💼https://t.co/xOeYbadt2P
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 30, 2019
Matt Rogerson and Blair Cowan start from either flanker position, as Albert Tuisue wears the No8. Ben Meehan and Stephen Myler start from scrum-half and fly-half respectively, with Terrence Hepetema and Tom Stephenson partnering in the centres.
Curtis Rona and Waisake Naholo start on the wings, as Paddy Jackson completes the line-up from full-back. Adam Coleman is named in the replacements and is set to make his first appearance for the club.
“Bristol are in good form and that shows from their position in the Gallagher Premiership,” said Declan Kidney, director of rugby. “Ashton Gate is a tricky place to go and play rugby, but we are excited to challenge ourselves and keep building on our performances.”
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BRISTOL: 15. Charles Piutau; 14. Luke Morahan, 13. Piers O’Conor, 12. Siale Piutau, 11. Toby Fricker; 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Andy Uren; 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. John Afoa, 4. Joe Joyce, 5. Chris Vui, 6. Steven Luatua (capt), 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Nathan Hughes. Reps: 16. Will Capon, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Ed Holmes, 20. Luke Hamilton, 21. Harry Randall, 22. Ioan Lloyd, 23. Alapati Leiua.
LONDON IRISH: 15 Paddy Jackson, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Ben Meehan, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 Ruan Botha, 5 Franco van der Merwe (capt), 6 Matt Rogerson, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Albert Tuisue. Reps: 16 Motu Matu’u, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Steve Mafi, 21 TJ Ioane, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Tom Parton.
WATCH: Declan Kidney was among the coaches to sit down with RugbyPass at the start of the Gallagher Premiership season
Comments on RugbyPass
More useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
22 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
1 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
22 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to comments