Gloucester have handed a Guinness Premiership debut to 18-year-old Charlie Sharples as they try to stretch their lead to nine points at Sale on Friday night.
Sharples, still 17 when he became one of the youngest players ever to make his senior debut for the club in a pre-season friendly, takes over from centre Jack Adams, who broke his nose in the 34-14 victory over London Irish last weekend.
The England Under-20 squad member came off the bench then, but now will slot in on the wing, with James Simpson-Daniel switching to outside centre.
That is the one change for Gloucester, Luke Narraway being given only a place on the bench after returning from England duty and fit-again pair Ryan Lamb and Leon Lloyd also named amongst the replacements.
Young lock Dan Tuohy keeps his place a week after having his first start and earning the man-of-the-match award.
Head coach Dean Ryan said: "It's not possible for 18, 19 or 20-year-olds to come in and get everything right all the time, but I do expect them to relish the opportunity and be energised by the experience.
"The key is whether they can reproduce it over a series of games. We always knew these guys can play, but it is about opportunities and they are now coming.
"It will obviously be a big test for us against a team of Sale's all-round abilities and qualities."
Sale's hopes of making the play-offs have suffered two big blows with back-to-back defeats against Worcester and Saracens, but they are still fourth and, of course, Charlie Hodgson is available again after being called up by England last week when Danny Cipriani was axed.
Ben Foden has been named at full-back for the first time since November - and for the first time since he announced he was joining Northampton next season because they can use him in his preferred position of scrum-half.
Sale Director of Rugby Philippe Saint Andre has spoken about the need to get things back on track.
"Friday is the start of a critical 21 days, with three home games in succession," he said.
"This type of run-in will test everyone at the club and in that I include the supporters. At Saracens we started poorly and were 21-0 down before we started to play our normal game.
"We showed character in the second half (they lost 24-20) which has been lacking in the past few weeks. We picked up a losing bonus point, which was better than nothing, but it has put even more pressure on us to deliver now.
"We want to finish the season in style, achieve our target of a top four finish, win the European Challenge Cup and qualify for next season's Heineken Cup.
"They don't come any bigger than Gloucester, though. My players need to perform from start to finish with passion and pride."
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