The seven-times capped Wales hooker is the only change to Toby Booth’s starting XV from the side that beat Sale Sharks at the Brewery Field, Bridgend, in the Round of 16. The prize for the winners is a semi-final against the winners of Sunday’s clash between Benetton Rugby and Connacht.
If Booth’s men can reach their region’s first European semi-final they will have to travel to Italy if Benetton win but will be at home if they have to face Connacht.
Parry missed the 23-15 triumph over Sale due to a hamstring problem. He returns to the front row having recovered and his replacement, last year’s Wales U20 cap Lewis Lloyd, drops to the bench.
It will be the first time the two teams have met since 2018, when Gloucester won 43-20 at Kingsholm, and it will be the 12th clash between the west country side and Welsh opposition in the Challenge Cup.
Gloucester 59 – 7 Ebbw Vale
Swansea 62 – 12 Gloucester
Bridgend 29 – 29 Gloucester
Gloucester 23 – 6 Bridgend
Gloucester 98 – 14 Caerphilly
Caerphilly 16 – 47 Gloucester
Gloucester 46 – 11 Ebbw Vale (qf)
Gloucester 21 – 23 Dragons (qf)
Gloucester 46 – 26 Cardiff Blues (qf)
Cardiff Blues 31 – 30 Gloucester (Final)
Dragons 21 – 26 Gloucester
Gloucester have won seven and drawn one of those 11 games and have only been beaten once at Kingsholm by a Welsh side in the competition – the Dragons in the 2016 quarter-final.
Having warmed-up with their first knock-out triumph in their European history last weekend, Booth’s men will now be hoping to go even further in the competition and attempt to match Cardiff, who were beaten finalists in the inaugural Heineken Cup final in 1996 and then won the Challenge Cup in 2010 and 2018.
“I know George Skivington [Gloucester head coach] well. I coached him when he was playing for England Saxons,” said Booth.
“He’s got a good team and when they get their tails up at home, the place starts rocking and it becomes more intimidating. We have to embrace that challenge and try to shut out the noise and carry on what we have been doing.”
“There will be some people who talk about the difference between the URC and Premiership, but once you get to this stage in Europe there are no mugs in either competition.
“The feedback I have had from international coaches is European competition is the closest to Test rugby because you get less preparation time against opponents you don’t know. It provides a shop window for players and the realism about what the next level looks like.
“Gloucester have high-profile players like Zach Mercer and we need to be better than we were against Sale.”
Wales centre Max Llewellyn starts for Gloucester, who have Scottish international outside half Adam Hastings back in action. That allows Santi Carreras to switch to full back.
Gloucester: Santi Carreras; Jonny May, Max Llewellyn, Seb Atkinson, Jake Morris; Adam Hastings, Stephen Varney; Jamal Ford-Robinson, Seb Blake, Kirill Gotovtsev, Freddie Clarke, Freddie Thomas, Ruan Ackermann (capt), Lewis Ludlow, Zach Mercer
Reps: Santi Socino, Mayco Vivas, Fraser Balmain, Albert Tuisue, Jack Clement, Caolan Engelfield, Charlie Atkinson, Chris HarrisOspreys: Jack Walsh; Luke Morgan, Keiran Williams, Owen Watkin, Keelan Giles; Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, James Ratti, Adam Beard, Harri Deaves, Justin Tipuric (capt), Morgan Morris
Reps: Lewis Lloyd, Nicky Smith, Rhys Henry, Huw Sutton, Morgan Morse, Luke Davies, Dan Edwards, Max Nagy
