HOLD tight for the battle of the counter attacks – that's the message from excited Gloucester full-back Martyn Thomas.
Welsh flyer Thomas believes Gloucester's first instinct will be to run back anything London Irish kick away in Reading today.
The Exiles' natural approach is to attack on foot – so 25-year-old Thomas admits it could be a tasty encounter at the Madejski Stadium this afternoon (kick-off 3pm).
Gloucester boss Nigel Davies (above) has told his players to expand their approach, and chase a more attacking gameplan.
Backing the move to pay dividend, Thomas expects fireworks in this Amlin Challenge Cup clash – the first of a double-header against Irish.
The Cherry and Whites host Irish in the return clash at Kingsholm a week today, before taking on the same opposition at home in the league on January 5.
Thomas admits three matches in five weeks against the same opposition will colour the second half of Gloucester's campaign.
The former Newport Dragons full-back explained: "Now Nigel thinks we can play a bit more, within our structure, but still moving the ball around and playing a more exciting brand of rugby.
"That's the style we want to play, that's the Gloucester way, and everyone's excited about that.
"We feel we've gone away from the club's natural style a little bit, but any expansion we make we want to keep it within the structure too.
"We've got to be sensible, but we want that element of excitement as well.
"It's great to have that kind of backing from the coaches, and I think it's going to be an exciting couple of weeks.
"From a back-three point of view our first instinct is going to be to counter-attack this weekend, and hopefully we'll make a good job of it.
"There's rotation again this week that I think Irish will try to test.
"They're unbeaten in the Amlin, the same as us, so going away first will suit us – but only if we can get the result.
"These next two games are very important – not just for the Amlin itself, but for momentum for the league as well.
"We want to succeed in all the competitions, and hopefully we can get a result this weekend and keep pushing ourselves forward."
While Thomas admits Gloucester will be pleased with their season so far, he admitted the Cherry and Whites are still intent on capitalising on their strong start to push for a top-four league finish.
Impressed with new boss Davies' savvy rotation policy, Thomas is keen to seize his opportunity at Irish today, when he starts at full-back.
He continued: "I think Nigel's very pleased with where we're sat in the league, although we felt as though we left four points at Saracens.
"At the start of the season I think we would have taken this position though.
"But now we're here we've got to keep it going, push forward and try to put ourselves in the frame for a place in the top four in the league, and also hopefully progress in the other competitions too.
"Personally I'm happy, getting a bit more game-time now and that's important – because that's how you get your confidence up and hit form.
"I'm comfortable playing either wing or full-back, and it's great to be having chances now and to be over those early injuries."
LONDON IRISH: T Homer, T Ojo, J Joseph, S Tagicakibau, A Watson, I Humphreys, D Allinson, M Lahiff, D Paice, H Aulika, B Evans, M Garvey, D Danaher (capt), J Gibson, O Treviranus. Replacements: S Lawson, J Yanuyanutawa, L Halavatu, K Low, C Hala'ufia, G Armitage, S Geraghty, J Moates.
GLOUCESTER: M Thomas, C Sharples, T Molenaar, F Burns, S Monahan, T Taylor, D Robson, N Wood, H Edmonds, S Knight, T Savage, J Hamilton (capt), S Kalamafoni, M Cox, G Evans. Replacements: D Dawidiuk, D Murphy, R Harden, W James, B Morgan, D Lewis, M Tindall, R Cook.
