Bristol Vs Gloucester is the urgent focus at Ashton Gate on Friday night, with Joe Batley back in the Bristol Bears side after a thumb injury and Pat Lam saying the home team must win. The round 13 Gallagher PREM meeting kicks off at 7. 45pm ET, with Bristol trying to halt a slide that has left them five points from the top four and seven points behind Exeter in fourth. Lam said Bristol Vs Gloucester is now a game his side cannot afford to waste if they want to keep their place in the race for the playoffs.
Batley returns in a reshuffled Bears pack
Batley starts in the second row alongside James Dun, while Joe Owen moves to the back row in the absence of Steven Luatua. Benjamin Grondona continues at number eight after Viliame Mata’s season-ending knee injury, and Fitz Harding captains the side from the flank.
The front row stays unchanged, with Ellis Genge and George Kloska either side of Gabriel Oghre. Kieran Marmion comes in at scrum half to partner Tom Jordan, while Rich Lane returns from injury at full back in place of Louis Rees-Zammit, who is unavailable through injury. Kalaveti Ravouvou and Gabriel Ibitoye complete the wings.
Pressure is building on Bristol
Pat Lam has made the stakes plain. “We have to win if we have any hope of getting to that top four, ” he said, pointing to the seven-point gap and the six games left in the league season. He added that Bristol Vs Gloucester is “a very important game” and stressed that the pressure is on his side more than most.
Lam also said Bristol only have themselves to blame for recent setbacks, after losses to Leicester and Harlequins that he felt they “could have” and “should have” won. Bristol had gone into the break in strong form, but have since lost their last three games across the Prem and Champions Cup.
Gloucester also make changes
Gloucester have altered their starting XV too, making five changes after their defeat to Leicester Tigers. George Barton starts at full back, Josiah Edwards-Giraud comes in on the wing, and Danny Eite is added in the second row alongside Arthur Clark.
The visitors also keep Charlie Atkinson and Caolan Englefield in the halves, with Tomos Williams still unavailable. Bristol Vs Gloucester therefore brings two changing lineups into a derby that both teams need for different reasons, but the immediate pressure sits most heavily on the hosts.
What happens next
The bench may still matter, with Bristol naming Harry Thacker, Jake Woolmore, Max Lahiff, Steele Barker, Luka Ivanishvili, Harry Randall, Matias Moroni and Noah Heward among the replacements. Lam has said the table will take care of itself if Bristol take care of their own business, and that makes Bristol Vs Gloucester the kind of night that can shape the rest of their season. Bristol Vs Gloucester now stands as a direct test of whether the Bears can respond when the margin for error has almost disappeared.
