Prop Nick Wood makes his first start of the campaign for Gloucester after recovering from back spasms that troubled him during pre-season, packing down alongside Richard Hibbard and John Afoa.

Elsewhere, lock Tom Savage returns to action and scrum-half Greig Laidlaw is back in the number nine shirt.

World Cup-winning New Zealand lock Brad Thorn and Italy Test prop Michele Rizzo both make their Leicester debuts, while Owen Williams moves from centre to fly-half instead of former Gloucester number 10 Freddie Burns, who is on the bench. There are also starts for centre Seremaia Bai and number eight Robert Barbieri.

Director of Rugby David Humphreys said: "Leicester have a few injury problems but I wouldn't say they were depleted. When you look at their squad, and the number of internationals that they are still able to put out, it shows the depth they have.

"In some ways, it shows us the work we have to do in terms of bringing our players through to create a squad with the depth that they have.

"Leicester have been one of the most successful teams not just in England but also in Europe over the course of the last decade. We're all looking forward to it, it's going to be a huge challenge and will allow us to see how far we've progressed since the first game of the season.

"We know we have quality in the squad, and we know that they'll get better as they get game time and partnerships develop. Leicester coming to Kingsholm has focused the mind. There's been an edge in training all week, I think we've trained very well and prepared as you'd hope and expect.”

Gloucester: Rob Cook; Charlie Sharples, Henry Purdy, Billy Twelvetrees (capt), Jonny May; James Hook, Greig Laidlaw; Nick Wood, Richard Hibbard, John Afoa; Tom Savage, Tom Palmer; Sione Kalamafoni, Matt Kvesic, Ben Morgan
Replacements: Aleki Lutui, Yann Thomas, Sila Puafisi, Elliott Stooke, Ross Moriarty, Dan Robson, Mark Atkinson, Tom Isaacs

STAT ATTACK

Last season: Leicester 11 Gloucester 8, Gloucester 17 Leicester 22 This season: Last Six League Matches: Gloucester W L L W L W Leicester W W W W L L Top

Try Scorers (This Season): Jonny May (Gloucester) 3; Vereniki Goneva (Leicester) 4

Top Point Scorers (This Season): Greig Laidlaw (Gloucester) 35; Freddie Burns (Leicester) 38