Home union stance irritates Ryan

Gloucester head coach Ryan is a former England number eight

Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan says his selection options for Sunday's game at Saracens are being clouded by the home unions.

Squad policies from Scotland, Wales and England mean Gareth Cooper, Alasdair Strokosch and Luke Narraway are not yet cleared to play for Gloucester.

Ryan told BBC Radio Gloucestershire: "I thought you picked your 22 and those were the players that were involved.

"Bodies above me are going to have to decide what happens here."

He added: "Politically it now seems that squad can be enlarged, and that's what our players are getting caught up in."

The disruption is considerable

Dean Ryan

Strokosch has been kept with the Scotland squad as back-up in case of injuries and while Cooper has returned from the Wales squad, he has not yet been cleared to play for Gloucester, who sit seventh in the Premiership table.

"Strokosch has not been picked so we should have him here for the weekend, but the disruption is considerable," said Ryan.

"People see the sides that are picked and see us as not being affected very much, but in the back row we are low on resources and having Alasdair around this week would have been a big boost.

"Cooper is back with us but he is caught in the same situation.

"The players are not sure which team they are going to be involved with. I'd like to think he stays with us but we need to get some clarity, and we're asking Premier Rugby to help us."

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Will Gloucester be affected on Sunday?

The situation looks more straight forward with Narraway, who England said could stay at Gloucester for more treatment as he returns from injury.

Ryan added: "We've got some protocols to go through with England, but all the indications are he has a good chance of being available for Sunday."