International quartet back from injury for Bath at Bedford

Internationals Will Stuart, Tom Dunn and Louie Hennessey are all back from injury to feature on the bench for a strong Bath Rugby side in a friendly against Bedford Blues tonight (7.30pm).

Bath Rugby will face Bedford Blues in a friendly at Goldington Road tonight, Friday 11th September, six months after trouncing them 94-14 in a friendly under the floodlights here at The Rec | Photo © Richard Briggs

And Wales forward Archie Griffin will be in the visitors’ starting XV after recovering from a toe procedure at the end of last season.

The Blue, Black & White will be captained by Miles Reid for the match against the CHAMP Rugby outfit at Goldington Road.

The Somerset team’s front row will comprise Claudius Wheeler at loosehead, Dan Frost at hooker and Griffin at tighthead.

Quinn Roux and Ross Molony are named in the second row.

The starting flankers will be Reid and Arthur Green, with Dan du Preez completing the pack at number 8.

Scrum-half Tom Carr-Smith and fly-half Ciaran Donoghue will form the half-back partnership.

Cameron Redpath and Ollie Lawrence will pair up as Bath’s starting centre duo.

And the starting backline is completed by Henry Arundell and Joe Cokanasiga on the wings and Tom de Glanville at full-back.

Bath starting XV: 1 Claudius Wheeler, 2 Dan Frost, 3 Archie Griffin, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Arthur Green, 7 Miles Reid, 8 Dan du Preez, 9 Tom Carr-Smith, 10 Ciaran Donoghue, 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Cameron Redpath, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Tom de Glanville.

Bath replacements (in alphabetical order): Jack Bennett, Ieuan Davies, Tom Dunn, Ioan Emanuel, Austin Emens, Jack Harrison, Louie Hennessey, Will Jeanes, Scott Kirk, James Linegar, Max Pearce, Ewan Richards, Will Roue, Jasper Spandler, Will Stuart, George Timmins, Kepueli Tuipulotu, Bernard van der Linde, Kieran Verden, Jack Woods.

The Blues – who lost 94-14 to Bath in a friendly at The Rec on Friday 13th March – have named a 25-man squad for the game.

The Midlanders’ line-up shows five changes from the squad selected for the Baker Brothers Cup fixture against Cambridge on Friday 21st August. Bedford won that game 76-5.

Club captain Alex Day, Michael le Bourgeois and Fred Tuilagi are among those picked to start.

Northampton Saints pair Charlie Ulcoq and Archie Benson are in the matchday squad, the former to start in the back row.

Returning from injury, Dean Adamson with join Benson among the replacements.

Bedford starting XV: 1 Joey Conway, 2 Tommy Herman, 3 Oisin Heffernan, 4 Ilan Evans, 5 Rory Ward, 6 Kayde Sylvester, 7 Charlie Ulcoq, 8 Fred Tuilagi, 9 Alex Day, 10 Will Maisey, 11 George Worth, 12 Michael le Bourgeois, 13 Lucas Titherington, 14 Ryan Hutler, 15 Louis James.

Bedford replacements: James Fish, Monty Royston, Will Davies-King, James Bennett, Alex Woolford, Archie Benson, Tui Uru, James Lennon, Ben Dufficy, Dean Adamson.

The game will be streamed live by ClubberTV. There is a £4.99 fee to watch.

Meanwhile, three Bath players are in the England U20 elite player squad for 2026-27.

Forward Rory McKnight and backs Isaac Mears and Declan Treacey have been picked for the squad by England U20 head coach Andy Titterell.

England U20 elite player squad:

Forwards: Kwame Bekoe (Leicester Tigers), Sam Bland (Harlequins), Charlie Bray (Sale Sharks), Fin Charles (Leicester Tigers), Morgan Crew (Exeter Chiefs), Leo Dickinson (Harlequins), Tiane Elone (Saracens), Kealan Freeman-Price (Gloucester Rugby), Jerold Gorleku (Harlequins), Ashton Graham (Harlequins), Jordan Ikeh (Sale Sharks), Henry Johnson (Leicester Tigers), Freddie Jones (Saracens), Ediz Karsak (Saracens), Henry Laidlow (Harlequins), Jack Lewis (Northampton Saints), George Marsh (Leicester Tigers), Rory McKnight (Bath), Lawrence Ogbonnaya (Sale Sharks), Freddie Ogden-Metherell (Gloucester Rugby), Alan Poku (Saracens), Aiden Reid (Northampton Saints), Ben Smith (Exeter Chiefs), Oliver Spencer (Sale Sharks), Kaiden Watson (Harlequins), Elliot Williams (Harlequins), Tate Williams (Harlequins), Harry Wright (Gloucester Rugby).

Backs: Ollie Batson (Exeter Chiefs), Will Bayston (Sale Sharks), Finlay Cunnison (Harlequins), Junior Denny (Gloucester Rugby), Zac Finch (Saracens), Sonny Goode (Northampton Saints), Kesena Izu (Leicester Tigers), Zac Jones (Gloucester Rugby), Will Knight (Gloucester Rugby), Henry Lumley (Northampton Saints), Isaac Mears (Bath), Will Moore (Bristol Bears), James Pater (Northampton Saints), Fraser Rawlins (Saracens), Caspar Reeves (Bristol Bears), Hugh Shields (Northampton Saints), Oscar Talbot (Leicester Tigers), Charlie Tamani (Northampton Saints), James Townsend (Leicester Tigers), Declan Treacey (Bath), Krystof Wood (Gloucester Rugby), Victor Worsnip (Bristol Bears).