Piutau and Morahan back for Newcastle's visit to Ashton Gate

The only Premiership match on the first day of 2021 sees Bristol Bears host the high flying Newcastle Falcons at Ashton Gate.

Pat Lam's Bears have won a hattrick of Premiership matches since their defeat at Wasps while Newcastle have not been defeated away from home in any competition since a trip to Gloucester in May 2019.

The Bears welcome the return of Charles Piutau and Luke Morahan with the former finding a place in the starting XV while the latter starts via the bench. However, it's not all good news for Pat Lam's charges as earlier this week, The Bears received their first positive result for a player since testing began in July. Despite all other players in the squad receiving negative results, the club followed Covid-19 competition protocols to isolate all front row players who featured in the Matchday squad versus Harlequins.

As a result, Peter McCabe, George Kloska and Jake Armstrong form a new look front row, with all three set for first Premiership starts with Aaron Thompson and Andrew Turner earning debuts off the bench.

Piutau is one of seven changes to Pat Lam’s men ahead of the Gallagher Premiership encounter with Ed Holmes, Ben Earl, Dan Thomas, Siale Piutau and Max Malins are all provided rest weeks. Andy Uren is recalled to the backline, while Joe Joyce and Jake Heenan are also named in the starting line-up.

For Newcastle, Los Pumas centre Matias Orlando lines up for his Newcastle Falcons debut. The 47-times-capped Pumas star has been named at inside centre for the Ashton Gate clash, No 8 Philip van der Walt also making his Gallagher Premiership debut.

Mark Wilson captains the side having made a successful return from injury in Newcastle’s 26-17 away victory over Castres - Tom Arscott starting at full-back after scoring in the European Challenge Cup triumph. Sam Stuart, who scored in both of the Falcons’ recent European encounters, starts at scrum-half, with Toby Flood moving to fly-half.

George Wacokecoke comes in to start at outside centre for The Falcons with Jamie Blamire starting at hooker having earned man-of-the-match honours against Cardiff Blues during the recent European window, while Newcastle’s bench could see a Premiership debut for hooker Charlie Maddison.

Going into the New Year’s Day encounter placed second in the table against a Bristol side just one spot below them, head coach Dave Walder said: “We’re very happy with how we’ve started.

Line Ups

Bristol Bears: 15. Charles Piutau; 14. Siva Naulago, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Piers O’Conor, 11. Ioan Lloyd; 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Andy Uren; 1. Peter McCabe, 2. George Kloska, 3. Jake Armstrong, 4. Dave Attwood, 5. Joe Joyce, 6. Steven Luatua (c), 7. Jake Heenan, 8. Nathan Hughes.

Replacements: 16. Aaron Thompson, 17. Andrew Turner, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. John Hawkins, 20. Fitz Harding, 21. Harry Randall, 22. Alapati Leiua, 23. Luke Morahan.

Newcastle Falcons: 15. Tom Arscott, 14. Adam Radwan, 13. George Wacokecoke, 12. Matias Orlando, 11. Ben Stevenson, 10. Toby Flood, 9. Sam Stuart; 1. Trevor Davison, 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Logovi'i Mulipola, 4. Greg Peterson, 5. Marco Fuser, 6. Sean Robinson, 7. Mark Wilson (captain), 8. Philip van der Walt

Replacements: 16. Charlie Maddison, 17. Kyle Cooper, 18. Mark Tampin, 19. Connor Collett, 20. Josh Basham, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Brett Connon, 23. Gareth Owen

Referee: Christopher Ridley (31stPremiership game). Assistant Referees: Paul Dix & Jamie Leahy. TMO: Graham Hughes. Citing Officer: Paul Hull.