Premiership: Tom Curry returns from hamstring injury as Sale Sharks seek to move closer to home semi-final

The Premiership resumes on Friday with two matches as Bristol Bears take on Sale Sharks and Gloucester host Bath in the big West Country derby.

Bristol Bears v Sale Sharks

England international Harry Randall will make his 100th appearance for Bristol Bears in their Premiership clash with Sale Sharks on Friday.

The scrum-half, who co-captains the side alongside Steven Luatua, will become the 51st player to reach the milestone and the ninth youngest.

Randall continues his half-back partnership with AJ MacGinty, while in midfield, Academy centre Joe Jenkins replaces the injured Semi Radradra at outside centre.

There’s also a return to action for Joe Batley in the second-row, with Magnus Bradbury returning to number eight.

Meanwhile, double Curry is on the menu for Sale as Tom returns from a hamstring injury to join brother Ben in the Sharks line-up.

Director of rugby Alex Sanderson has picked an unchanged backline with the only changes coming in the pack, as Tom Curry wears the number six shirt, replacing Jono Ross, who slots in at number eight in place of the injured Dan du Preez.

Simon McIntyre for Bevan Rodd is the only front-row change with the Mancunian prop lining up alongside Akker van der Merwe and Nick Schonert.

Jean-Luc du Preez and Jonny Hill team up once again in the second-row, with Tom Curry, captain Ben Curry and Ross in the back-row.

Scrum-half Gus Warr starts again alongside George Ford at half-back, with Manu Tuilagi and Rob du Preez outside them in the centres.

In an unchanged back three, Tom Roebuck will line up alongside fellow speedsters Tom O’Flaherty and Joe Carpenter.

Ewan Ashman, Bevan Rodd and Coenie Oosthuizen make up the front-row replacements, with Josh Beaumont and Sam Dugdale covering the rest of the forwards.

Homegrown trio Raffi Quirke, Sam James and Arron Reed are the rest of the substitutes.

Form: Bristol Bears’ four game winning run in Premiership Rugby ended with their 24-46 defeat at Leicester in Round 21. Bristol have won their last three Premiership fixtures at Ashton Gate since their 26-all draw there with Leicester on 3 December. The last time the Bears lost at the venue in the competition was when Saracens were the visitors on 5 November. Sale Sharks have won just one of their last four Premiership matches: 35-24 at home to Saracens on 5 March. The Sharks have won only once away from home in Premiership Rugby since early October: 24-18 over Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop on 8 January. Sale’s only defeat in their last six encounters with Bristol in Premiership Rugby was 15-32 on their most recent visit to Ashton Gate in January 2022.

The teams:

Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall (cc), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (cc), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Ioan Lloyd

Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jono Ross 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Sam James, 23 Arron Reed

Date: Friday, April 14
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Dean Richards

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The Cherry & Whites side to face Bath at Kingsholm is in. 🍒

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Gloucester v Bath

Gloucester have made two changes to their starting side that went down to La Rochelle as they prepare to face Bath in the Premiership on Friday.

Argentina international Mayco Vivas starts in the front-row, after making his first Gloucester start in La Rochelle two weeks ago.

He is joined by young hooker Seb Blake and Jamal Ford-Robinson, who replaces the injured Kirill Gotovtsev.

Freddie Clarke, who was awarded try of the round for his acrobatic score in La Rochelle, combines with Matias Alemanno in the second-row once more.

The Premiership’s top ball carrier, Ruan Ackermann, also picked up an injury in La Rochelle, so he’s replaced in the back-row by experienced Ben Morgan.

Morgan packs down at eight, with Jack Clement switching to blindside flanker. Captain Lewis Ludlow starts at openside.

The backline is unchanged from the Cherry and Whites’ narrow Champions Cup exit a fortnight ago.

Stephen Varney and Billy Twelvetrees are the half-backs, with Seb Atkinson and Chris Harris in midfield.

Ollie Thorley, Louis Rees-Zammit and Santi Carreras form a dangerous back three.

On the bench, Ciaran Knight comes in to cover the front-row alongside Henry Walker ad Harry Elrington.

Cam Jordan and Freddie Thomas offer more forward cover.

Charlie Chapman, George Barton and Jonny May are on standby for the backs.

Meanwhile, Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has made two changes to his backline for the trip to their West Country rivals.

Academy graduate Max Ojomoh comes into the centre to partner England international Ollie Lawrence while Tom de Glanville returns at full-back meaning a switch to the wing for Matt Gallagher.

The team is otherwise unchanged from the win over Exeter Chiefs last time out. Captain Ben Spencer and Orlando Bailey make up the half-back positions and wing Joe Cokanasiga completes the back division.

Beno Obano, Tom Dunn and Will Stuart combine in the front row, backed up by the second-row pairing of Josh McNally and GJ van Velze.

Ted Hill, Chris Cloete and Miles Reid make up the back-row.

Form: Gloucester’s only victory in their last six Premiership Rugby matches was 28-26 at home to Harlequins on 17 February. This is also the Cherry and Whites’ only victory at Kingsholm in their last four encounters in all competitions. Bath’s five game losing run in the Premiership ended with their 36-19 eclipsing of Exeter Chiefs at the Recreation Ground in Round 21. Bath’s only away victory in the competition in the past 12 months was 17-10 t Newcastle on 5 November. Gloucester have won their last three fixtures against Bath in Premiership Rugby since Bath’s 16-14 win at the Rec in February 2021. Bath’s most recent victory at Kingsholm in Premiership Rugby was 43-20 in April 2018.

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Freddie Thomas, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 George Barton, 23 Jonny May

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Miles Reid, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Ted Hill, 5 GJ van Velze, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Valeriy Morozov, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Fergus Lee-Warner, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Josh Bayliss

Date: Friday, April 14
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jack Makepeace
TMO: Tom Foley

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