Scrum-half Tom Carr-Smith with make his 50th appearance for Bath Rugby when they take on Exeter Chiefs tomorrow, Saturday 21st February.
Tom Carr-Smith will make his 50th appearance for Bath Rugby when he turns out in the PREM Rugby Cup here at Sandy Park tomorrow against an Exeter Chiefs side boosted by the presence of Henry Slade and Greg Fisilau | Photo © Richard Briggs
The sides will lock horns at Sandy Park in a crucial PREM Rugby Cup Round 9 tie (4.30pm).
And the Blue, Black & White will face a very tough test.
Maintaining their policy of giving lots of youngsters a chance in this competition, Bath will come up against a Chiefs side packed with experience – including versatile back Henry Slade and back row Greg Fisilau, who have returned from involvement with England and will feature on the bench.
This is the penultimate round of the group stage – and Bath and the Devonians are chasing a top-two finish in Pool A to secure a place in next month’s semi-finals.
Exeter lead the table with 23 points from seven games, with the Blue, Black & White lying second with 21 points from six outings.
Third-placed Gloucester Rugby, who will visit The Rec in Round 10 on Saturday 28th February, have 19 points from six matches, and Sale Sharks (12 points from six fixtures) are fourth. Bristol Bears (seven points from seven ties) are bottom.
Scott Kirk, Jasper Spandler and Kieran Verden will line up in the Bath front row tomorrow.
Jack Bennett will make his first start for the club, joining Ewan Richards in the second row.
Ethan Staddon and Arthur Green will remain in the back row, where they will be joined by George Timmins.
Carr-Smith will partner Will Roue in the half-backs.
Will Butt will captain Bath from inside centre. Joining him in midfield will be Chris Harris.
Charlie Griffin and Austin Emens will take the wings, and Tom de Glanville will start at full-back.
The replacement forwards will be former Exeter man Dan Frost, Ioan Emanuel, Alfie Griffin, James Maloney and Kepueli Tuipulotu. Maloney will make his Bath debut if he comes on.
Ieuan Davies, James Linegar and recent debutant Tyler Mason will be the replacement backs.
Bath starting XV: 1 Scott Kirk, 2 Jasper Spandler, 3 Kieran Verden, 4 Jack Bennett, 5 Ewan Richards, 6 Ethan Staddon, 7 George Timmins, 8 Arthur Green, 9 Tom Carr-Smith, 10 Will Roue, 11 Charlie Griffin, 12 Will Butt, 13 Chris Harris, 14 Austin Emens, 15 Tom de Glanville.
Bath replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Ioan Emanuel, 18 Alfie Griffin, 19 James Maloney, 20 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 21 Ieuan Davies, 22 James Linegar, 23 Tyler Mason.
For the Chiefs, Lewis Pearson has recovered from a knee knock and will start in the second row with Rusi Tuima.
Props Will Goodrick-Clarke and Josh Iosefa-Scott and hooker Max Norey will form the front row.
Ethan Roots will captain the Chiefs from number 8, with Martin Moloney and Exeter University captain Finn Worley Brady at blindside and openside flanker respectively.
Scrum-half Tom Cairns will be rotated back into the starting XV alongside fly-half Harvey Skinner, and Ollie Batson and Zack Wimbush will play in midfield.
On the Exeter wings will be Olly Woodburn and Paul Brown-Bampoe, with Dan John completing the starting XV at full-back.
The replacement forwards will be Fisilau, Julian Heaven, Khwezi Mona, Jimmy Roots and Joe Bailey.
Slade, Will Haydon-Wood and Charlie Chapman will provide cover for the backline.
Explaining his decision to include Slade and Fisilau in his matchday 23, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “We weren’t intending to use our England boys but we’ve had a couple of late withdrawals from our original line-up, so we’re fortunate that they’ve been released back to us to select.
“They wanted game-time and Henry specifically can cover multiple positions, so they were kind of no-brainer decisions for us when the opportunity arose to draft them in.
“The competition isn’t completely in our hands is the reality of it. But I’d like to think a decent performance and decent result would give us a very good opportunity to advance in the competition. Ultimately, every team wants to play more games.”
Tickets for the match at Sandy Park are available here.
Bath have announced their side for the clash with Bristol Bears in the PREM Next Gen academy league’s Finals Day at Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester, on Sunday 22nd February.
The derby, which will start at 7.05pm, will be the third consecutive academy league final for the Blue, Black & White, who will be looking to reclaim the title they last won in 2024.
Bath starting XV: 1 Henry Veale, 2 Logan Jarvie, 3 Ned Cartwright, 4 Ben Allen, 5 Henry Ball, 6 Alex Yeabsley, 7 Harry Hellier, 8 Georgia Faosiliva, 9 Ollie Lewis, 10 Max Hooper, 11 Ryan Carr, 12 Declan Treacey, 13 Aston Barrington-Hibbert, 14 Stan Walsh, 15 Sam Bunch.
Bath replacements: 16 Malachi Randolph, 17 Theo Lewis-Zdybel, 18 Sid Moore, 19 Filippo Hurrell, 20 Charlie Greenhough, 21 Oscar Harrison, 22 Cade Comer, 23 Taotafa Faosiliva.
