Piutau’s back for tough test against in-form Falcons
CHARLES Piutau is set for his return to first-team action when Bristol Bears kick off 2021 against high-flying Newcastle Falcons at Ashton Gate today (3pm).
The All Black, who will be making his first appearance this season following an Achilles injury, is one of seven changes to Pat Lam’s side for the Gallagher Premiership encounter.
Earlier this week, Bears received their first positive result for a player since testing began in July. Despite all other players in the squad receiving negative results, the club followed Covid-19 competition protocols to isolate all front-row players who featured in the matchday squad versus Harlequins.
As a result, Peter McCabe, George Kloska and Jake Armstrong form a new-look front row, with all three set for first Premiership starts.
Ed Holmes, Ben Earl, Dan Thomas, Siale Piutau and Max Malins are all provided rest weeks.
Andy Uren is recalled to the backline, while Joe Joyce and Jake Heenan are also named in the starting line-up.
Bears are boosted by the return of Australian wing Luke Morahan to the replacements, while academy scholar hooker Aaron Thompson and integrated academy prop Andrew Turner are also named in the 23-man squad and could make competitive debuts.
Kyle Sinckler returned to camp early from mandated leave for a Covid test and then took part in yesterday’s captain’s run to be listed among the replacements.
Argentina centre Matias Orlando lines up for his Newcastle Falcons debut tomorrow.
The 47-times-capped Pumas star has been named at inside centre for the Ashton Gate clash, with No 8 Philip van der Walt also making his Premiership debut.
Mark Wilson captains the side having made a successful return from injury in Newcastle’s 26-17 away victory over Castres. Tom Arscott starts at full-back after scoring in the European Challenge Cup triumph.
Sam Stuart, who scored in both of the Falcons’ recent European encounters, starts at scrum-half, with Toby Flood moving to fly-half.
George Wacokecoke comes in to start at outside centre for a Falcons side who have won all three of their Gallagher Premiership games this season, the Kingston Park outfit having also been awarded a further four points from their cancelled Boxing Day match against Leicester Tigers.
Jamie Blamire starts at hooker having earned man-of-the-match honours against Cardiff Blues during the recent European window.
Going into the New Year’s Day encounter placed second in the table against a Bristol side just one spot below them, head coach Dave Walder said: “We’re very happy with how we’ve started. There was a lot of uncertainty with stepping up a division after such a long break without a game, but we’ve got a lot of momentum. We probably caught Bath on the hop a little bit in our first game, Sale at home wasn’t a great watch but we just about got there, and then we won at Wasps the week after.
“It was disappointing to have the Boxing Day home game against Leicester cancelled because everyone was looking forward to it, but that’s just the world we’re living in at the moment. We were confident going into Boxing Day but it wasn’t to be, and you just hope everyone’s OK down at Leicester.”
Well aware of the challenge awaiting his side at Ashton Gate as the Falcons prepare to face Bristol Bears, the head coach added: “Bristol are a great team to watch, I enjoy what they do and when you look at the spine of their team I think any coach would love having the luxury of so many stars at their disposal.
“The way they play in terms of attacking from deep reminds me a bit of an NFL philosophy, by which I mean the further back you are the more space there is in front of you.
“It’s very entertaining as a spectator and it’s very tough to shut down, but we’ve got a few ideas about that which we hope to be able to show on Friday.”
Bristol: Charles Piutau; Siva Naulago, Semi Radradra, Piers O’Conor, Ioan Lloyd; Callum Sheedy, Andy Uren; Peter McCabe, George Kloska, Jake Armstrong, Dave Attwood, Joe Joyce, Steven Luatua (capt), Jake Heenan, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Aaron Thompson, Andrew Turner, Kyle Sinckler, John Hawkins, Fitz Harding, Harry Randall, Alapati Leiua, Luke Morahan.
Newcastle Falcons: Tom Arscott; Adam Radwan, George Wacokecoke, Matias Orlando, Ben Stevenson; Toby Flood, Sam Stuart; Trevor Davison, Jamie Blamire, Logovi’i Mulipola, Greg Peterson, Marco Fuser, Sean Robinson, Mark Wilson (capt), Philip van der Walt.
Replacements: Charlie Maddison, Kyle Cooper, Mark Tampin, Connor Collett, Josh Basham, Louis Schreuder, Brett Connon, Gareth Owen.