Newcastle Red Bulls team to play Bath Rugby
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Adam Brocklebank plays his 100th Gallagher PREM game for Newcastle Red Bulls on Sunday when Bath Rugby are the visitors to Kingston Park.
The prop-forward, who recently made his 150th appearance in all competitions for the club, packs down in a side showing eight changes from the one which defeated the Lions 14-10 in last weekend’s EPCR Challenge Cup encounter.
Argentina’s Simón Benítez Cruz comes back at scrum-half, with fit-again centre Sammy Arnold and wing Oli Spencer returning to the line-up.
George McGuigan slots back in to captain the side from hooker, Seb de Chaves replaces the injured Jamie Hodgson in the second row and Amanaki Mafi comes back in it No.8 – the only other change being the inclusion of last week’s match-winner, Murray McCallum.
Former Bath centre Max Clark returns to the Newcastle bench, with homegrown lock Finn Baker poised to make his PREM debut after playing five times in the cups.
Head coach Alan Dickens is keen to build on back-to-back wins in Europe, saying: “We’ve had two wins in the Challenge Cup which has helped us generate some momentum, as well as competition for places among the group.
“The Gallagher PREM is a very different animal and we’re well aware of the task ahead of us on Sunday, but the lads have made some decent progress winning over in Lyon and at home against the Lions.
“Last weekend the opposition had 73 phases in our 22 and we only conceded three points from them, and whilst that is clearly way too many entries into our red zone, what it does show is an improved level of defensive organisation and application once we’re in there.
“With Stephen Jones on board we’re also beginning to show a few more strings to our attacking bow, and that will continue to improve the longer he gets to work with the group. The attention to detail that he’s bringing is really impressive, and we’re getting better week by week.”
Christian Wade misses out on his PREM return having sustained a head knock during last weekend’s debut – Sam Stuart also absent as he works through his return to play protocols.
Their names are added to an already-large injury list, with Dickens saying: “That’s just the nature of professional sport, and nobody here is making any excuses. Every team goes through these periods at some point in the year and you just have to get on with it, but they’re a great group to work with and they’ll give it absolutely everything.
“It’s looking like we’ll continue our run of selling out every single league game so far this season, and huge credit has to go to our supporters and the marketing team who are packing the place out on a regular basis.
“We really want to do it for those guys and give them some results to celebrate, and we’ll continue working positively to make it happen.”
Newcastle Red Bulls v Bath Rugby (Sunday, 3pm, Kingston Park, live on TNT Sports)
15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 George McGuigan (captain), 3 Murray McCallum, 4 Oscar Usher, 5 Seb de Chaves, 6 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 Tom Christie, 8 Amanaki Mafi.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Connor Hancock, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Finn Baker, 20 Tom Gordon, 21 James Elliott, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Max Clark.
Not available for selection: Rhys Beeckmans, Eduardo Bello, Freddie Clarke, Joe Davis, Luan de Bruin, Connor Doherty, Hame Faiva, Joel Grayson, Callum Hancock, John Hawkins, Jamie Hodgson, Cameron Hutchison, Elvis Kitenge-Fuki, Fergus Lee-Warner, Freddie Lockwood, Sam Stuart, Christian Wade, Liam Williams.
