Hull without captain Grieve as Bristol usher in new campaign

IAIN Grieve will be directing wedding guests to their seats, rather than directing on-field operations for Bristol this weekend.

But the skipper has warned his sister – who ties the knot at 3pm on Sunday – that his mobile telephone will remain on, albeit set to silent mode, throughout the service.

The 23-year-old flanker would have led Bristol in their opening Championship match of the season against Rotherham, but was given dispensation by the club to perform the role of usher at sister Seonade’s wedding.

The clash has thrown up an obvious dilemma for Grieve, who took over the Bristol captaincy in the summer after opting to commit to another year with the club.

“I’m gutted that I’m not going to be playing, but on the plus side I get to see my sister get married – and, hopefully, she’s only going to get married once!” joked Grieve.

“It’s something I decided and I had the backing of the club. It’s obviously not an ideal situation – and I know I have added responsibility now that I’m captain.

“There was a dilemma about this, but the guys have been all right with it and the coaches have as well. I’m going to keep my phone next to me and I’ll have my spies giving me the scores.”

Even though the wedding is taking place near Weston-super-Mare, the 3pm start gave Grieve no chance of being involved in Bristol’s opener.

“The ceremony, like the match, kicks off at 3pm so my phone will be on silent – but also on vibrate,” said Grieve. “When they get to the ‘I dos’ I will definitely be on my phone, completely ignoring the ceremony!

“When the fixtures came out, it said the game was on the Saturday – so I had the worry of being in all the pictures with cuts or a black eye. But then I looked at the Rovers fixtures and knew we’d be playing on the Sunday.

“When I saw that, I got straight on the phone to (head coach) Paul Hull – and we have spoken about it quite a bit. I’m just hoping the guys will do the job.”

Grieve, who had been linked with a move away from Bristol following their failure to win the Championship play-offs last season, is backing his team-mates to deliver the goods.

“It’s the first league game, so the guys are going to want to start with a good performance,” he said. “I’m backing them and I hope they do well.”

In Grieve’s absence, Hull has something of a back-row dilemma, but could turn to Roy Winters or Darren Barry to provide cover.

Elsewhere, he must decide between Nicky Little and Adrian Jarvis at fly-half, with Ed Barnes likely to start at inside centre.

Bristol (from): Backs – J Tovey, S Marsden, D Norton, G Watkins, J Adams, J Gadd, E Barnes, A Jarvis, N Little, S Alford, R Bolt. Forwards – M Irish, M Vunipola, W Thompson, O Hayes, D Blaney, M Sambucetti, B Glynn, D Barry, R Winters, J Miller, J Merriman, D Montagu.