Rugby Premiership: Leicester seek to continue league recovery at impressive Gloucester

After what seems an absolute eternity, this weekend marks the return of the Gallagher Premiership, and there is plenty to look forward to.

Newcastle Falcons make the long trip to South West London to face Harlequins at the Stoop on Friday, with Leicester Tigers travelling to the West Country to Face Gloucester, also under the lights on Friday evening.

All eyes will be at Kingsholm as Gloucester Rugby will be looking to build on a very impressive opening to their campaign. Just a single point separates these sides, with Gloucester sitting in fourth place with three victories from their opening six matches and Tigers in fifth place with three wins and three defeats so far for the East Midland side.

The hosts will look to pick up from where they left off in the Gallagher Premiership, with a very impressive 35-21 victory against Wasps at the Ricoh Arena. The ever-reliable Danny Cipriani was once again man of the match in the victory against his former club and will more than likely make his return to action on Friday, after completing a three-week ban following his sending off against Munster in the European Champions Cup.

Despite poor results in other competitions, Tigers have won two on the trot in the Premiership with victories over Northampton and Sale to propel them up the table. In the past this is a fixture that has seen Leicester normally have the better record against Gloucester, at one point Tigers had enjoyed a seven-match winning streak over the West Country side.

Expect plenty of points in this encounter, as this is a fixture that normally delivers its fair share of excitement.

The highlight of previous encounters between the sides must be back in 2011 at Welford Road when these two sides shared a 41-41 draw.

Cipriani aside, Gloucester boast the League’s top try scorer in Charlie Sharples, with eight tries already this season. Geordan Murphy’s Tigers will be without England International George Ford, the fly-half shirt could well be worn by either his brother Joe or Tom Hardwick.

The contest certainly has all the ingredients to produce a thrilling encounter, with the prospect of a classic in front of the Kingsholm faithful.

The game will be shown on NBC Sports Digital

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