Argentine international second-rower Mariano Galarza will make his first appearance of the Aviva Premiership season against the Northampton Saints at Franklins’ Gardens on Friday. The 28 year old has been named on the bench for the away fixture.
Galarza’s last appearance on a rugby field was on September 20 for Argentina against New Zealand at London’s Wembley Stadium. Coming off the bench in the 20th minute to replace the try-scoring Guido Petti Galarza played the duration of the pool match only to subsequently be cited for foul play. He received a nine-week ban following the match for making contact with the eyes of Brodie Retallick.
After four rounds Gloucester sit in 9th position, one place above the slow-starters Northampton. With 9 and 8 competition points respectively both clubs are well off the pace as Saracens currently lead with 17 points.
Gloucester
15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 James Hook, 11 Jonny May, 10 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister
16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Sione Kalamafoni, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Henry Purdy, 23 Jacob Rowan