Ex-England prospect set for Leicester Tigers debut as Freddie Steward hits milestone

England full-back Freddie Steward is set to make his 100th PREM start as Leicester Tigers travel to Ashton Gate to face Bristol Bears in the Gallagher PREM on Friday night.

Stewart will continue his record of starting every Gallagher PREM and Investec Champions Cup match this season and will come into the match on a high, after scoring the bonus-point-securing try against local rivals Northampton Saints last weekend.

Tigers boss Geoff Parling has rung the changes among his backs, however, with Tom Whiteley, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Orlando Bailey returning to the side, while Jack van Poortvliet, Gabriel Hamer-Webb and Will Wand drop down the bench.

Sol Kata will make the short trip to outside centre to make room for Bailey to start at 12, while the forwards remain unchanged from the derby against Saints, with Ollie Chessum captaining the side from the second row.

Lock Elliott Stooke, who joined the Tigers from the Japanese outfit Red Hurricanes in the summer, has recovered from injury and will take his place on the bench for the first time.

Second-placed Tigers will leapfrog Gloucester and go top of the table for at least 18 hours with a victory, and boss Geoff Parling will make the point to his players about finishing this block of fixtures on a high.

“It’s important we finish this block of PREM games well before we break as a group over the November period. We know that we will need to be right at the top of our game and be both accurate and decisive in order to beat a quality Bristol outfit,” he said.

Leicester Tigers: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Adam Radwan, 13. Solomone Kata, 12. Orlando Bailey, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Billy Searle, 9. Tom Whiteley, 1. Archie Van der Flier, 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Cameron Henderson, 5. Ollie Chessum (c), 6. Aaron Wainwright, 7. Finn Carnduff, 8. Olly Cracknell

Replacements: 16. Samiuela Moli, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Will Hurd, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Joaquin Moro, 21. Jack Van Poortvliet, 22. Will Wand, 23. Gabriel Hamer-Webb