Chris Bell partners Will Greenwood in the centre, with new recruit Viliame Satala starting on the bench. With Williams at full back, Ben Gollings starts on the left wing.

In the pack, Gomez is joined in the front row by captain Jason Leonard and Keith Wood. Alex Codling has recovered from a hamstring strain that forced him to miss both the pre-season friendlies and partners Bill Davison in the second row. Ace Tiatia starts on the blind side flank, alongside Pat Sanderson and Tony Diprose.

Short-term signing Marco Caputo starts on the bench.

Dan Luger, Roy Winters, Nick Duncombe and Tani Fuga are unavailable due to injury.

"We know that we will face a tough challenge on Saturday afternoon," said Mark Evans, NEC Harlequins Chief Executive. "Gloucester are a very good side, who with the addition of a number of players to last seasons squad will be looking to challenge Leicester for the Premiership title."

"The support we received at the Stoop at the end of last season from our fans was tremendous. Hopefully this season we can build on this and start to give our loyal supporters something to shout for."

The full team is as follows:

15. Nathan Williams
14. Matt Moore
13. Will Greenwood
12. Chris Bell
11. Ben Gollings
10. Paul Burke
9. Matthew Powell
1. Jason Leonard (Capt.)
2. Keith Wood
3. Laurent Gomez
4. Bill Davison
5. Alex Codling
6. Ace Tiatia
7. Pat Sanderson
8. Tony Diprose

Replacements:
16. Marco Caputo
17. Bruce Starr
18. Jim Evans
19. Luke Sherriff
20. Scott Bemand
21. Rob Jewell
22. Viliame Satala