Ackermann rings the changes for Montpellier test
SCRUM-HALF Joe Simpson insists Gloucester are faced with no other choice but to rotate their squad to cope with a congested season.
Despite pushing Top 14 champions Toulouse close last weekend, Cherry & Whites boss Johan Ackermann makes 12 changes to his starting XV at Montpellier today – a match Gloucester most likely need to win if they are to make the quarter-finals.
Star men Danny Cipriani, Ben Morgan, Tom Marshall and Ed Slater are out of the matchday 23 altogether, while the only positional survivors are lock Gerbrandt Grobler, full-back Jason Woodward and recently arrived Scotland centre Chris Harris.
Hot-shot Welsh youngster Louis Rees-Zammit is handed a full European debut on the right wing with England prospect Ollie Thorley on the left, while into the backline come Billy Twelvetrees and halfbacks Callum Braley and Lloyd Evans.
Wholesale changes up front see Josh Hohneck, Corne Fourie and Fraser Balmain form a new front row. Alex Craig comes into the second row and Freddie Clarke starts at No.8, with captain Jaco Kriel and Jake Polledri the flankers alongside him.
Simpson, who is relegated to the bench despite a sparkling try-double against Toulouse, said:
“The rugby powers-that-be have put together a season where there’s no real break so all teams are going to be fully stretched. It’s going to be a very attritional year and if you go full steam throughout you’re going to struggle.
“For the Irish teams it’s possibly a bit easier as they’re happy to rest a few key players in the PRO14 and put most of their resources into Europe, but with having Toulouse and Montpellier back-to-back, we can’t keep using the same players week-in, week-out if you’re going to last the season.”
Gloucester come into this match on the back of successive league defeats to Leicester and Saracens and last week’s narrow 25-20 loss to Toulouse, but Simpson says: “The coaches have kept spirits high and Johan manages the emotions well.
“We know the performances we’ve put in over the last three matches have been below par. We’re not firing the shots we’d liked to have done but we’re confident it will come.”
Seven lost lineouts compounded Gloucester’s woes against Toulouse, with Simpson adding: “They put a fair bit of pressure on our lineout and it didn’t fire how we wanted, which was frustrating because it cut off a main source of possession. It caused us a lot of trouble and, hopefully, we’ll be able to rectify that.”
While Gloucester’s season has yet to catch fire, Simpson feels he has gained a new lease of life following his summer move from Wasps. He explained: “I got a bit stale and complacent and it’s been a frustrating last couple of years, knowing what I’ve got but not feeling I was doing myself justice.
“I wasn’t able to put together a string of games and I got a bit disillusioned, just feeling I wasn’t happy with my performances, which then made it more difficult for the coaches to pick me.
“It was a vicious cycle that got to me, but moving clubs has given me a new lease of life. Gloucester’s style of play suits me and I’ve got a few tries, so the fresh start has suited me.”
For Montpellier, Fijian wing Nemani Nadolo will ensure Rees-Zammit is fully tested, while among a galaxy of Test stars are French flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo and South Africans Bismarck Du Plessis and Jan Serfontein.