Worcester's director of rugby Dean Ryan shows his Warrior spirit as Freddie Burns is confined to the bench

 

Wyn Griffiths
Sunday 22 December 2013 01:00 GMT
Comments
Gloucester’s England fly-half Freddie Burns will start on the bench
Gloucester’s England fly-half Freddie Burns will start on the bench

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Worcester's director of rugby, Dean Ryan, makes his first return as a coach to Kingsholm today saying Gloucester are in their worst run of form for 15 years.

Ryan was a coach at Gloucester from 2002-09 but although it was a successful period, the club lost Premiership finals in 2003, 2007 and 2008.

Gloucester now languish in 10th place, and even though the Warriors are bottom having lost every game, Ryan did not spare his old club. "I've never known Gloucester to be in this kind of position for 15 years," he said. "I don't understand why they are towards the bottom as they have a gifted backline."

Gloucester's England fly-half Freddie Burns will start on the bench today. He has been heavily linked with a move to Leicester Tigers and would be an ideal replacement for Toby Flood, who seems certain to leave Welford Road for Toulouse next season.

Centre Billy Twelvetrees takes Burns' place at No 10, with Mike Tindall at 12 alongside Henry Trinder at outside centre. New prop Sila Puafisi makes his full debut.

Flanker Akapusi Qera is expected to join Toulouse in January, and Ryan could not resist a further dig at the derby rivals: "There are a lot of rumours linking a number of people with other places and I don't know whether that is unsettling them."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in