Team news and stats for Gloucester match

Back as skipper
By Duncan Wood
September 20 2002

Here is the Bristol lineup and Gloucester squad ahead of the league clash on Saturday. Also included here are the stats from previous league meetings between the West Country rivals.

Here is the Bristol side and the Gloucester squad for the clash at Kingsholm. Gloucester have named their 22 but not their starting XV so pay no attention to their numbers at the moment..

Straight into the Bristol side goes Daryl Gibson for his first team debut at the expense of Martin Shaw who drops to the bench. Shaw will consider himself very unfortunate and I actually thought he'd be partnering Gibson in the centre - but what do I know!

Ross Beattie has also recovered from his 'clash' with Trevor Leota and returns at number eight and reclaims the captaincy from Garath Archer. Matt Salter drops to the bench at the expense of Craig Short.

The official Bristol press release reads as follows:

"Bristol Shoguns welcome new All Blacks signing Daryl Gibson to the starting line-up to face West Country rivals Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday.

The 19-capped international replaces summer signing Martin Shaw at inside centre for the derby game that also sees the Shoguns come face to face with former head coach Dean Ryan.

Commenting on the official Bristol Shoguns website 27 year-old Gibson said:

"It's exciting. Bristol Shoguns has a good lineout and we're getting good ball. We've got an exciting number nine and outstanding number 10s, so it's all there."

The New Zealand centre played his last game for Canterbury two weeks ago and is raring to go.

"I've had a fortnight away from the game and I'm looking forward to playing. I'm just going to go out there and give it my best."

Club captain Ross Beattie is also selected after missing last weekend's clash with Northampton with a knock picked up the previous weekend.

Commenting on Gibson's selection, head coach Peter Thorburn said: "It's tough on Martin Shaw as he's been playing well. But it would be irresponsible to make too many positional changes for this weekend."

Commenting on Beattie's return, Thorburn added: "Ross Beattie is a strong player and Saturday will be a physical game."

In Beattie's absence last Sunday, Garath Archer took the captain's armband. His superb performance also earned the England international lock forward the City Inn Man of the Match award.

Commenting on Saturday's clash with his former head coach, the 27 year-old said: "We need to make a few less mistakes. We know we're not a bad team. We know the reality of our situation and we know that we're going to have to work very, very hard if we're going to be successful this year."

Thorburn concluded: "Last weekend Garath Archer stood up and took responsibility as did a number of others."

Here are the facts and figures courtesy of those nice people at Zurich:

Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns
Sat 21 Sep at Kingsholm - KO 14:00 (Sky)

Summary of meetings between the teams in the Premiership
Played 23
Gloucester Won 14 - 60.9%
Bristol Shoguns Won 8 - 34.8%
Drawn 1 - 4.3%
Biggest Win for Gloucester, 51 - 17, 10 Nov 2001
Biggest Win for Bristol Shoguns, 24 - 6, 26 Mar 1994

Gloucester top try scorer vs Bristol Shoguns, Junior Paramore, 3 tries
Gloucester top points scorer vs Bristol Shoguns, Simon Mannix, 64 points
Bristol Shoguns top try scorer vs Gloucester Barry Williams, 2 tries
Bristol Shoguns top points scorer vs Gloucester Mark Tainton, 63 points

Previous Meetings

Date		Venue	Score
08 Jun 2002	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Twickenham	28 - 23
21 Apr 2002	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	41 - 40
10 Nov 2001	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Kingsholm	51 - 17
06 Jan 2001	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	9 - 18
30 Sep 2000	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Kingsholm	38 - 16
22 Jan 2000	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Kingsholm	29 - 23
04 Dec 1999	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	38 - 25
18 Jan 1998	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Memorial Stadium	14 - 13
23 Aug 1997	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Kingsholm	35 - 13
26 Apr 1997	Gloucester vs Bristol Shoguns	Kingsholm	20 - 20

Gloucester v Bristol
· On only two previous occasions before this year have Gloucester started a season with three straight league wins - in 1987/88, and 1998/99. They have never begun a league season with four wins in a row.

· The only team to have beaten Gloucester at Kingsholm in the Premiership since March 2001 have been Leicester in September 2001. Since then
Gloucester have won eleven in a row at the ground - their best ever league sequence.

· This is Bristol's worst start since season 1997/98 when they also lost their opening three games. They were relegated that season!

· Gloucester's last loss was at Northampton on 13 April, eight Premiership and Championship matches ago.