Out-of-form Bath welcome back Francois Louw and Stephen Donald for Sunday's crunch Heineken Cup clash with reigning champions Leinster at the Rec.
The Dubliners head their Pool but only by two points and head to England on the back of two impressive victories in their domestic Pr012 campaign.
Leinster snatched a last ditch draw on France in Montpellier in the opening game of this Pool but showed their champions credentials when they strolled to a 38-13 win over Glasgow.
Bath meanwhile are struggling to find some form having won only one of their last five games - that win coming against Montpellier in Round Two.
Louw comes in on the blindside for the home side. Donald returns to partner Michael Claassens in the half-backs while Olly Barkley and Dan Hipkiss form a new centre partnership, with Nick Abendanon returning to full-back.
David Flatman and David Wilson scrum down either side of Chris Biller, who will make his first start for Bath in the front row.
"This European game is a great challenge for us, and it's this kind of game that we all want to be part of," said Director of Rugby Sir Ian McGeechan.
"Our situation with injuries is much the same as last week, although unfortunately now with the addition of Stuart Hooper, who has a fractured wrist. Leinster are obviously a good side, and have been setting the standard in Europe for the last couple of seasons, so it's great to be playing them at the Rec, in front of a full house."
Meanwhile, there are several changes to the Leinster side that defeated Glasgow in Round Two with Fergus McFadden named at outside centre alongside Gordon D'Arcy.
Up front, Damian Browne makes his second start in the Heineken Cup this term and the Galway man will partner skipper Leo Cullen at second row, with Richardt Strauss named in the front row alongside Heinke van der Merwe and Mike Ross.
Kevin McLaughlin joins fellow Ireland internationals Jamie Heaslip and Sean O'Brien in the back row.
Isaac Boss, Gordon D'Arcy and Rob Kearney - who were all try-scorers in the 38-13 victory over Glasgow in the RDS last month - are also selected in the starting side.
Ireland internationals Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Shane Jennings, Eoin Reddan and Devin Toner are named on a strong looking bench.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Jack Cuthbert, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Francois Louw (c), 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Chris Biller, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Beech, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Andy Beattie, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Sam Vesty.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Damian Browne, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke Van Der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Eoin O'Malley,
Date: Sunday, December 11
Venue: The Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 12:45 GMT
Referee: Jerome Garces
Comments
J_HDK says...
@crunchfit et al.horses for courses you pick the team for the opposition, and the conditions when away from home. Look at baths recent home loss for clues
Posted 08:34 10th December 2011
rockman says...
Tombomb makes a great point but you refer to Leinster as the 'dubliners'? the base is in Dublin but its a province. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leinster
Posted 00:45 10th December 2011
tombomb says...
im also sick to the stomach that SOB gets picked at 7. the problem is that he is leinster's best 7 Jennings is just average and so is McLaughlin darcy McFadden toner and brown why doesn't heaslip move to 7 he constantly turns over ball when needed in the big games. o'brien to 8 and the ever impressive leo auva to 6. then 2nd and back row would look like this 4.cullen 5.McLaughlin 6.auva 7.heaslip 8.o'brien also boss has outplayed reddan all season fionn carr and leo auva can't even make the bench i suppose that's why there the champs though.
Posted 19:31 09th December 2011
thatllbeme says...
its simple lads; yes o' brien is picked at 7 when he is a great 6; but hes also becoming a marked man at 6 so what better way than to hide him in the 7 shirt and let him start there and then when bath tire bring on jennings to 7 for KMcL and stick O' brien to 6 where he creates bedlam; its brilliant; keeps everyone on their toes
Posted 16:16 09th December 2011
papachinzo says...
Bath and Leinster go at it once again, always a good battle between these two. Leinster are at a different level this time around though, I see them winning this one by some margin, Too much class on their squad for Bath to stand a chance.
To Editor: Bath only have 20 players???
Posted 15:16 09th December 2011
theshaw says...
Is it just me who is getting really annoyed that Obrien keeps getting picked at 7 ot 6 or 8.Clearly jennings can do 7
Posted 14:38 09th December 2011
leinster_goy says...
i would have thought the WC QF was enough proof of the fact that o'brien is not a 7 but for some reason he is still being picked there. the heineken is jennings' natural level and it's a tough away game so why isn't he at openside, this is perfect for him. mclaughlin hasn't played well since he returned from injury and browne was crap against montpellier. o'malley should be at 13 - is there some issue over his defence? i thought he tackled well against glasgow and cardiff. i still think leinster will win this but nonetheless there are some selection issues here that are bothering me
Posted 13:15 09th December 2011
crunchfit says...
Not convinced by Browne yet. And Schmidt, etc. would obviously know more than me, so hopefully there's a good reason, but O'Malley plays better at 13 than McFadden does. Why not put him there? Schmidt chucked O'Malley in at 13 against for that away match against Clermont a year or two ago, and O'Malley did spectacularly. Why not again?
Posted 13:12 09th December 2011