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Buxton to captain Gloucester in LV= Cup Final

19 March 2010

James Simpson-Daniel of Gloucester gets past Andy Powell of Cardiff Blues

Photo: Getty Images

Gloucester Rugby stalwart Peter Buxton will skipper the side as Gloucester take on Northampton Saints in the final of the LV=Cup at Sixways on Sunday.

Buxton, who joined Gloucester from Newport in 2002, has gone on to pass the 200 appearances mark for the club and recently signed a new two year contract with the club.

He captains the side with this season's joint club captains, Gareth Delve and Mike Tindall, away with Wales and England respectively on RBS Six Nations duty.

He leads a side which shows four changes to the starting line up from the Cardiff semi final last weekend.

Tim Molenaar, who has enjoyed such an impressive first season with Gloucester, resumes his partnership in the centre in Tindall's absence with Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu.

Meanwhile, on a weekend where so many Gloucester players are on international duty, Rory Lawson is a welcome returnee from the Scotland camp.

In the pack, Pierre Capdevielle comes in for Paul Doran-Jones who picked up a knee injury in Cardiff and Adam Eustace replaces Jake Boer who also left the Welsh capital with an injury.

Talking to the local media this week, Head Coach Bryan Redpath acknowledged that Northampton are a very good side and that Gloucester will be missing several players but that he's content with the resources at his disposal.

"It's massive for the club. We set ourselves some targets to achieve and the first of those comes up with this final on Sunday."

"Your next game is your biggest challenge and last week is gone and we've learned from that. You move on and this is a big game for us."

"Northampton are a quality side. They've been very consistent throughout the season. We've looked at some of the stuff they've achieved this season and admired it. It's been outstanding."

"It's going to be a tough challenge, we have a fairly hefty injury and absentee list. But that's life. The boys that are here are still good enough to go out and compete at this level. I'm happy with the boys that are around."

"I'm looking forward to it massively."

A limited number of tickets for the final will be on general sale from noon on Friday, 19 March:

Friday: Tickets available online via the Worcester Warriors website and from the Sixways box office
Saturday: Tickets available online via the Worcester Warriors website and from the Sixways club store. The store will be open from 10am to 2pm
Sunday: Tickets available from the Sixways box office only

All tickets purchased will be collection only.

Kick off is at 3.00pm on Sunday, 21 March.

Gloucester side to play Northampton

Freddie Burns
James Simpson-Daniel
Tim Molenaar
Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
Lesley Vainikolo
Nicky Robinson
Rory Lawson
Nick Wood
Olivier Azam
Pierre Capdevielle
Will James
Alex Brown
Peter Buxton (capt)
Akapusi Qera
Adam Eustace

Replacements
Darren Dawidiuk
Yann Thomas
Rupert Harden
Apo Satala
Andy Hazell
Dave Lewis
Tom Voyce
Charlie Sharples