THE World Cup may have taken some of the gloss off the opening exchanges in the Zurich Premiership, but tomorrow's match at Kingston Park should prove there is still plenty of talent on show.

Among the candidates for the title of unluckiest player not to be in Australia is Teessider James Simpson-Daniel, who will be in a speedy Gloucester back division attempting to dismantle Newcastle Falcons' defence.

A year ago the Sedbergh School product looked set to become established in the England team. But just when Clive Woodward was considering switching him from wing to centre he went down with glandular fever. Mike Tindall has since nailed down the centre spot which was up for grabs, Mike Catt has returned to full fitness and Simpson-Daniel continues to share wing duties at Gloucester with the equally exciting Marcel Garvey.

England have no shortage of top-class wingers and many observers would like to see Simpson-Daniel's handling skills developed at centre or even fly half.

But Gloucester want to give him more time to settle back into the side after his illness, and in any case they have Henry Paul to act as midfield play-maker.

They beat the Falcons home and away last season on the way to finishing well clear at the top of the table, only to lose the title play-off to Wasps.

Even without England men Andy Gomarsall, Phil Vickery and Trevor Woodman, they won 30-7 at home last week to a Saracens side who left Kingston Park with a 25-20 victory three weeks ago.

Falcons boss Rob Andrew has named the same side which surrendered an 18-3 lead at Leicester, with neither Dave Walder nor Epi Taione fit to return.

"With all due respect they weren't missed because Phil Goodman and Jon Dunbar stepped in and did the job at Leicester," said Andrew.

"But we can't afford to make the same mistakes against Gloucester. Twenty minutes of madness cost us the Leicester game and the ill-discipline was inexcusable."

Skipper Mark Andrews was signed to help toughen up the Newcastle pack, but the fact that both he and No 8 Hugh Vyvyan were yellow-carded at Welford Road was a big factor in the defeat.

Newcastle are hoping to at least match the crowd for the Saracens match, which just topped 7,000, whereas it was down to 5,500 for the visit of Sale.

"Gloucester are quite a crowd-puller and if we get over 7,000 that's acceptable in terms of our budget," said chief executive John Parkinson. "The facilities themselves encourage people to arrive early and linger a little longer."

Parkinson played down suggestions that Australia captain George Gregan might join the Falcons after the World Cup. After winning 89 caps at scrum half, Gregan is looking for a new challenge and wants to play in Europe.

"He's a very good friend of our forwards coach, Andrew Blades," said Parkinson. "They talk a lot and that has inevitably led to speculation, but it's no more than that at the moment."

In any case, the situation could still be complicated by the overseas player ruling. Clubs are allowed to field three until the end of the World Cup, but will then be restricted to having one on the field.

Newcastle were hoping their trio, Andrews, Taione and Warren Britz, would have been granted EU qualification by now, but Parkinson said: "We have just had a letter from the RFU saying that nothing has changed. We don't know how long it might drag on."

l Darlington Mowden Park, without a game today, have cancelled their match against Durham University on Wednesday because of injuries to front row players.

Prop Dave Sinclair and hooker Tasi Tuhana are both likely to be out for three weeks, which in Sinclair's case is a relief as it was feared he had broken a leg against Darlington last week.

Tuhana damaged knee ligaments in the same game and Mowden are not keen to risk further injuries ahead of next week's game at Fylde. Player/coach Richard Arnold has declared himself fit and could feature against Fylde, while centres Sandy Mitchell and Martin Shaw returned to light training this week.

Mowden are also confident that Tongan back row man Vaha Faleovalu will soon be on his way backafter sorting out his visa problem.

As it is Powergen Cup day, Darlington and Blaydon are also resting, while Tynedale face a tough tie at Nuneaton.