Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Polledri will not play this season, says Skivington
THERE is no chance that Italy wrecking-ball number eight Jake Polledri will play this season, according to Gloucester head coach George Skivington.
Polledri, 25, has not played for the Cherry & Whites in 2020/21 after injuring the ligaments in his knee against Scotland back in November in the Autumn Nations Cup, his 19th international appearance.
Skivington said: “We won’t see Jake this season. It was a significant injury, he has had various bits and pieces done, a few operations and seen different specialists. He’s working extremely hard. He is very positive, but we won’t see him in the next couple of months.
“I haven’t seen him out running around or anything like that, he is lifting weights and he brings a lot of energy to the training ground just by the nature of his character. He is around joking and laughing.”
England caps Ollie Thorley and Ben Morgan have also picked up injuries in the last week, with the winger suffering a shoulder injury and number eight having a leg issue.
Gloucester’s injury situation means there are three alterations to the starting 15 that played last time out against Sale Sharks, with Lloyd Evans returning at ten, alongside Stephen
Varney, who features at scrum-half against Newcastle Falcons today. Kyle Moyle has been handed the number 15 shirt, swapping over with Santiago Carreras, who is named on the bench.
Louis Rees-Zammit and Jonny May keep their shirts on the wing, with Mark Atkinson and Chris Harris linking up again in the midfield.
Skivington has selected an unchanged pack with Val RapavaRuskin, Jack Singleton and Fraser Balmain all starting in the front row, and Ed Slater and Alex Craig linking up again at lock. Jack Clement, Ruan Ackermann and captain Lewis Ludlow are in the back row.
The Gloucester boss said of today’s opponents: “They’re dogged. A very good tight unit. Early on they got a lot of good results and in that first half against Bristol I thought they were really competitive.
“It was a good game when we went up there. It was feisty and it was two teams who were working really hard against each other. I don’t think it’s necessarily complicated, the way Newcastle do things, but they are very efficient in what they do and I think they maximise their strengths.”
Gloucester Rugby: K Moyle; L Rees-Zammit, C Harris, M Atkinson, J May; L Evans, S Varney; V Rapava-Ruskin, J Singleton, F Balmain, E Slater, A Craig, J Clement, L Ludlow (capt), R Ackermann. Replacements: S Socino, J Ford-Robinson, J Stanley, M Garvey, J Reid, W Heinz, B Twelvetrees, S Carreras.