Joe Carpenter, Gus Warr, Tom O’Flaherty and Dan du Preez all return to the Sharks side as Alex Sanderson’s men look to round off the Prem Rugby Cup pool stage with a win at Bristol Bears on Saturday (3pm KO).
Full-back Carpenter returns to join Tom O’Flaherty and Arron Reed in the back line to go up against an in-form Bears’ side at Ashton Gate.
The Sharks DoR has gone for an unchanged front row for the Ashton Gate clash, with hooker Nathan Jibulu between loosehead Si McIntyre and tighthead James Harper.
Skipper Ernst van Rhyn returns to the second row to team up with Ben Bamber and that means changes in the back-row, where Jacques Vermeulen switches to blindside, Sam Dugdale remains at openside and Dan du Preez comes in at number 8.
Warr and Rob du Preez form the half-back combination and they’ll have Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and Joe Bedlow outside them in the centres.
O’Flaherty, Arron Reed and Carpenter make up an exciting back three.
Ethan Caine is the replacement hooker and he’s joined on the bench by academy props Ralph McEachran and Tye Raymont. Hyron Andrews and Reuben Logan are the rest of the forwards on the bench.
Dom Hanson, Tom Curtis and Alex Wills make up the rest of the replacements.
Starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom O’Flaherty, 13. Joe Bedlow, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Arron Reed, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Nathan Jibulu, 3. James Harper, 4. Ernst van Rhyn ©, 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Jacques Verrmeulen, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Dan du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Ralph McEachran, 18. Tye Raymont, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20. Reuben Logan, 21. Dom Hanson, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Alex Wills.
BRISTOL BEARS:
15. Rich Lane, 14. Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13. Jack Bates, 12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. James Williams, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Max Lahiff, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. George Kloska, 4. George Taylor, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Santiago Grondona, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Viliame Mata.
Replacements: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Sam Grahamslaw, 18. Jimmy Halliwell, 19. James Dun, 20. Joe Owen, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Sam Worsley, 23. Benjamin Elizalde.
