Four new starts for Bristol in Championship opener
Four players will make their competitive debuts for Bristol Rugby in the RFU Championship opener against Doncaster Knights at Castle Park on Saturday (2.30pm KO).
Former Doncaster players Tristan Roberts and Matt Wiliams will line up against their former club while Bath duo Josh Ovens (pictured) and Matt Keyte also start.
Liam Middleton makes two changes from the side that suffered a narrow 20-16 defeat to Bath last Friday. Scrum-half Keyte is preferred to Louis Silver and captain Iain Grieve returns to the side in place of Marco Mama, who is named among the replacements.
The bench sees a five forwards and two backs split, with scrum-half Tom Slater recalled to the 22-man squad.
Bristol Rugby team to face Doncaster Knights at Castle Park on Saturday 3rd September (2.30pm KO):
Sean Marsden; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Junior Fatialofa, Matt Williams; Tristan Roberts, Matt Keyte; Mark Irish, Ross Johnston, Jason Hobson, Mariano Sambucetti, Roy Winters, Josh Ovens, James Merriman, Iain Grieve (c).
Replacements: Rhys Lawrence, Wayne Thompson, Darren Crompton, Darren Barry, Marco Mama, Tom Slater, Mark Davies.
Not available: Jon Goodridge, Jack Gadd, Dan Montagu, Ben Glynn.
