Scrum-half Charlie Chapman will make his first Gallagher Premiership start for Gloucester on Saturday as the Cherry and Whites travel to take on London Irish at the Madejski Stadium (kick off 3pm).

Second row Franco Mostert will continue as skipper in a team that features seven changes from the side that started against Exeter Chiefs last weekend. International call-ups play a part with the likes of Callum Braley, Chris Harris, Willi Heinz and Jake Polledri away on Six Nations duty.

The changes in the pack see Josh Hohneck and Todd Gleave come into the front row, Ed Slater make his first start since recovering from injury and Freddie Clarke starting on the blindside flank.

In the backs, Charlie Chapman and Ollie Thorley replace Joe Simpson and Tom Marshall who both picked up injuries against the Chiefs last week, and Mark Atkinson resumes his midfield partnership with Billy Twelvetrees.

Among the replacements, flanker Aaron Hinkley and Stephen Varney could make their first Premiership appearances of the season, the latter made available by Italy U20s for this fixture.

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann said that Irish are going well at the moment but that his squad have prepared well.

“They (Irish) are in good form, on paper they have a quality side and they’ve backed that with their performances,” he said. “There are no easy games and they will be confident.

“We haven’t fired on all cylinders recently, so it’s going to be a big challenge, but we can hopefully kickstart our game if we start playing to our full potential. It’s important that we stay composed as we’re not even halfway through the season and there are a lot of points still to play for.

“Credit to the players, they’ve trained with a lot of energy this week and they’re in good spirits. We must keep believing that we control our own destiny and not put undue pressure on ourselves.”

Gloucester:
15. Matt Banahan
14. Louis Rees-Zammit
13. Billy Twelvetrees
12. Mark Atkinson
11. Ollie Thorley
10. Danny Cipriani
9. Charlie Chapman
1. Josh Hohneck
2. Todd Gleave,
3. Fraser Balmain
4. Ed Slater
5. Franco Mostert (capt)
6. Freddie Clarke
7. Lewis Ludlow
8. Ruan Ackermann.

Replacements: 16. Henry Walker, 17. Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18. Ciaran Knight, 19. Ben Morgan, 20. Aaron Hinkley, 21. Stephen Varney, 22. Lloyd Evans, 23. Tom Seabrook. Unavailable for selection: Callum Braley, Ruan Dreyer, Jamal Ford-Robinson, James Hanson, Chris Harris, Willi Heinz, Franco Marais, Tom Marshall, Jake Polledri, Charlie Sharples, Joe Simpson, Owen Williams, Jason Woodward