Bath Rugby will be boosted by players with senior international experience when they take on Sale Sharks in a crucial PREM Rugby Cup tie tomorrow, Saturday 22nd November.
Bath Rugby will be boosted by plenty of senior international experience when they face Sale Sharks at The Rec on Saturday 22nd November in PREM Rugby Cup Round 5 | Photo © Richard Briggs
The Blue, Black & White won the competition last season – but this term, with two defeats from three outings, they find themselves lying in third place in Pool A.
Second-placed Sale will come to The Rec to take on a Bath side whose starting XV features eight changes from the previous week, when Gloucester Rugby inflicted a 19-17 defeat on a young team at Kingsholm Stadium.
Scott Kirk and Kieran Verden will retain their starting positions in the front row, Dan Frost returning to the field as hooker.
Harvey Cuckson will also retain his starting jersey, in the second row, with lock Ewan Richards resuming the captaincy after spending time with England A in recent weeks.
Ethan Staddon and Miles Reid will take the flanks, with Arthur Green coming into the starting fold at number 8 after making a big impact from the bench at Gloucester.
Tom Carr-Smith and Scotland international Cameron Redpath will partner up as half-backs.
Will Butt and Scotland’s Chris Harris – a former British & Irish Lion – will be in the midfield.
Charlie Griffin will move across to the 11 channel, with Sam Winters retaining his starting position at 14.
Tom de Glanville will complete the starting line-up at full-back.
England international Tom Dunn and Francois van Wyk will look to add their experience from the bench, with Vilikesa Sela and Kepueli Tuipulotu – both back from England A duty – also named as replacements.
Ireland international Quinn Roux, Ross Molony and England international Ted Hill will complete the selection of replacement forwards, with Neil Le Roux the replacement back.
Bath starting XV: 1 Scott Kirk, 2 Dan Frost, 3 Kieran Verden, 4 Harvey Cuckson, 5 Ewan Richards, 6 Ethan Staddon, 7 Miles Reid, 8 Arthur Green, 9 Tom Carr-Smith, 10 Cameron Redpath, 11 Charlie Griffin, 12 Will Butt, 13 Chris Harris, 14 Sam Winters, 15 Tom de Glanville.
Bath replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Ross Molony, 21 Neil Le Roux, 22 Ted Hill, 23 Kepueli Tuipulotu.
Sale, who are six points ahead of the Blue, Black & White in Pool A, have named a matchday squad boasting 20 players from the North West club’s senior academy.
Reuben Logan will have his first start for Sale, and trialist Regan Grace is being given a chance to impress as the Sharks make 11 changes.
Forwards James Harper, Tom Burrow and Ethan Caine and back Alex Wills will remain from the team that beat Exeter Chiefs 34-3 in Round 4 on Friday 14th November.
In the front row, tighthead Harper will be joined by hooker Caine and loosehead Tumy Onasanya.
Burrow will take over as captain once again and will be joined in the second row by Patrick Hogg.
In the back row will be number 8 Logan and flankers Jos Gilmore and Tristan Woodman.
Dom Hanson will start at scrum-half. He will be partnered in the half-backs by Ollie Davies. Joe Bedlow and Osian Roberts will combine outside them in the centres.
Grace, who spent time at Bath after starring in rugby league with St Helens, will start on the left wing, with Obi Ene on the right and Wills at full-back.
The Sharks’ bench will comprise forwards Ralph McEachran, Patreece Bell, Tadgh McElroy, Huw Davies and Seb Kelly and backs Nye Thomas, Toby Wilson and Albert Bradshaw.
Sale starting XV: 1 Tumy Onasanya, 2 Ethan Caine, 3 James Harper, 4 Patrick Hogg, 5 Tom Burrow, 6 Jos Gilmore, 7 Tristan Woodman, 8 Reuben Logan, 9 Dom Hanson, 10 Ollie Davies, 11 Regan Grace, 12 Joe Bedlow, 13 Osian Roberts, 14 Obi Ene, 15 Alex Wills.
Sale replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Ralph McEachran, 18 Patreece Bell, 19 Huw Davies, 20 Seb Kelly, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Toby Wilson, 23 Albert Bradshaw.
Kick-off will be at 3pm. Gates will open at 1pm.
The match will be followed by Bath Ladies versus their University of Exeter counterparts, which will get under way at The Rec at 5.30pm.
Anyone wanting to watch just the women’s match can attend for free – access will be from 5pm via the Riverside Gate – but must register for a ticket here.
Meanwhile, among the Bath Rugby players set to be involved in international matches this weekend are Max Ojomoh, Ben Spencer, Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill, who are all named in England’s starting XV for the Quilter Nations Series clash with Argentina at the Allianz Stadium, London, on Sunday 23rd November (4.10pm). Among the England replacements are Bath’s Will Stuart and Charlie Ewels.
Underhill scored a try as England beat New Zealand on Saturday 15th November. Also crossing the whitewash in the 33-19 success at the Allianz Stadium was Bath’s Ollie Lawrence, who dropped out of contention for a place in the squad to face Los Pumas due to injury.
Bath’s England men could line up against clubmate and Argentina star Santi Carreras on Sunday.
The Blue, Black & White’s Archie Griffin will be on the bench for Wales in their Quilter Nations Series match against New Zealand at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, tomorrow (3.10pm).
Clubmate Thomas du Toit will start at tighthead for South Africa as they take on Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, tomorrow, in the Quilter Nations Series (5.40pm).
And the Blue, Black & White’s Josh Bayliss has been selected as a replacement for Scotland in their Quilter Nations Series encounter with Tonga at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh, on Sunday (1.40pm).
Clubmate Finn Russell has missed out on a place in the matchday 23, having featured last weekend when Scotland let slip a 21-point lead as they lost 33-24 to Argentina, Carreras converting four of the tourists’ five tries.
