London Irish name squad for Gloucester trip

Declan Kidney has confirmed the squad that will travel to Kingsholm Stadium on New Year’s Eve to take on Gloucester Rugby in Round 14 of the Gallagher Premiership (3pm kick-off).

Will Goodrick-Clarke, Mike Willemse and Oliver Hoskins are in the front row, with Api Ratuniyarawa and Chunya Munga in the second row.

Juan Martin Gonzalez and Tom Pearson are the flankers, as Matt Rogerson captains the side from the number 8 jersey.

Ben White and Paddy Jackson continue their half-back partnership, and Rory Jennings links up with Benhard van Rensburg in the centres.

Ollie Hassell-Collins, Lucio Cinti and Ben Loader continue as the unchanged back three from last week’s clash against Saracens.

“Tomorrow is our last outing of 2022, and we want to put in a performance that makes our supporters proud,” said Declan Kidney, Director of Rugby.

“Gloucester are a good team that are well-drilled, so we know the challenge that we will face.

“Kingsholm is a great rugby stadium with a lot of history. I’m sure they are expecting a good crowd on New Year’s Eve, so we will have to concentrate fully on trying to implement our own game plan.”

London Irish:

15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 2 Mike Willemse, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 5 Chunya Munga, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Matt Rogerson (c).

Replacements:

16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Josh Basham, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Luca Morisi.