Sale at home on a Saturday with a 3.00 kick off gives us the perfect chance to get the season off to the best possible start with a realistic hope of a top two finish come next April ..
And here's one for the wendyball boys. We will be fielding an all English qualified back division at Kingsholm.
They'll be joined by another England international in Matt Kvesic making his league debut in the back row along with Ben Morgan and Sione Kalamafoni. The other new signings, Dan George and Tavis Knoyle , are on the bench.
The Sharks look like they will be stronger than the last time around.They have five new faces to parade from the start and two on the bench.Tom Arscott [full-back] and Jon Mills [lock] step up a division after joining from London Welsh. Andy Forsyth from Tigers will be in the centre with Michael Paterson in the second row.
Former NZ flanker Daniel Braid skippers the side in a back-row alongside James Gaskell.
All set for a great opener but we should have too much power and experience and I expect at least a three try winning margin.
Glaws:Rob Cook; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees, James Simpson-Daniel; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Darren Dawidiuk, Rupert Harden; Tom Savage (capt), Lua Lokotui; Sione Kalamafoni, Matt Kvesic, Ben Morgan Reps: Dan George, Dan Murphy, Yann Thomas, Elliott Stooke, Akapusi Qera, Tavis Knoyle, Mike Tindall, Martyn Thomas
Sharks: Tom Arscott, Phil McKenzie, Andy Forsyth, Jonny Leota, Mark Cueto, Nick Macleod, Dwayne Peel, Eifion Lewis Roberts, Marc Jones, Henry Thomas, Johnathan Mills, Michael Paterson, Dan Braid Captain, David Seymour, James Gaskell Reps: Tommy Taylor, Ross Harrison, Vadim Cobilas, Kirill Kulemin, Josh Beaumont, Will Cliff, Joe Ford, Rob Miller
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