Kerr handed first Bristol start as the fans return to Ashton Gate
FANS will return to Ashton Gate for the first time since March 2020 when Bristol Bears host Gloucester tonight.
Pat Lam’s men secured a semifinal berth with the bonus-point victory over Bath in round 18 and 3,138 supporters are expected in BS3.
The director of rugby makes just one change ahead of the West Country derby, as Jake Kerr is set for his first competitive start for the club in the front row. Kerr was recently signed as emergency cover at hooker and made his Bears debut as a replacement in the win against Bath.
Will Capon comes back into the 23-man squad with the Bristolian hooker listed among the replacements.
George Skivington has made one change to the Gloucester starting 15 which beat Northampton Saints last time out with Willi Heinz taking the nine shirt to start at scrum-half.
The pack is unchanged with Val Rapava-Ruskin, Jack Singleton and Fraser Balmain starting in the front row and Ed Slater and Matias Alemanno at lock. Jordy Reid, Ruan Ackermann and captain Lewis Ludlow make up the back row.
Heinz partners with Billy Twelvetrees at half-back with Mark Atkinson
linking up with Giorgi Kveseladze, who impressed on debut last time out, in the midfield.
Out wide, Santiago Carreras, Louis Rees-Zammit and Kyle Moyle make up the back three.
Skivington said: “Bristol are top of the league and they’re playing some fantastic rugby. Pat Lam has built a brilliant squad who put brilliant systems in place that make them extremely hard to analyse and play against.
“They’ve obviously got some high-profile players, but Bristol is a lot more than that. Their set-piece is extremely strong and what’s impressive is that with the systems that Pat has put in place, it doesn’t matter who comes in. They can just fill the spot, they know what they’re doing and they’re accurate.”
Bristol Bears: Charles Piutau; Luke Morahan, Semi Radradra, Siale Piutau, Max Malins; Callum Sheedy, Andy Uren; Yann Thomas, Jake Kerr, Kyle Sinckler, Dave Attwood, Chris Vui, Steven Luatua, Ben Earl, Nathan Hughes.
Reps: Will Capon, Jake Woolmore, John Afoa, Ed Holmes, Jake Heenan, Tom Kessell, Ioan Lloyd, Alapati Leiua.
Gloucester: Kyle Moyle; Louis Rees-Zammit, Giorgi Kveseladze, Mark Atkinson, Santiago Carreras; Billy Twelvetrees, Willi Heinz; Val Rapava-Ruskin, Jack Singleton, Fraser Balmain, Ed Slater, Matias Alemanno, Jordy Reid, Lewis Ludlow, Ruan Ackermann. Reps: Henry Walker, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Jack Stanley, Ben Morgan, Jack Clement, Stephen Varney, Lloyd Evans, Ollie Thorley.