Springbok flank Francois Louw returns to the Bath starting line-up for Saturday's Premiership clash with London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.
Louw, who has been on international duty with South Africa in the Rugby Championship, comes into the back row, with Carl Fearns shifting to the blindside and Simon Taylor to number eight. Ben Skirving is named on the bench.
There are also changes in the front row. Nathan Catt starts at loosehead and Anthony Perenise comes in on the other side of the scrum for David Wilson who picked up a knock in training. Lee Mears at hooker and Stuart Hooper and Dominic Day in the engine room complete the pack.
The backs are unchanged from last week.
There is also a notable return to the bench for Stephen Donald, who will make his first appearance of the season if called upon.
Whilst London Irish have yet to win this season, Head Coach Gary Gold is under no misconceptions of the threat they pose for Bath.
"We know that Irish are a very good side, who will obviously be looking to get off the mark, which actually makes them more of a potent threat for us, " said gold.
"They have an unpredictability we will have to react to, and it will require us to be on top of our game in all areas to do that."
Meanwhile, former Ulster pivot Ian Humphreys will play his first match for London Irish.
Humphreys, who will form a half back combination with Tomás O'Leary, is one of four changes made by Brian Smith.
Halani Aulika will start his first match for the Exiles, lining up alongside Scott Lawson and Max Lahiff in the front row.
Matt Garvey joins Bryn Evans in the second row and Jamie Gibson has recovered from injury to be named in the back row. Steven Shingler moves from fly half to inside centre.
"Bath have made a good start to the season and have an excellent coaching and playing staff," said London irish boss Brian Smith.
"Things are not currently where we want them to be but the season is a marathon so we have time to make up the lost ground. We've done some very good things over the past few weeks and we need to build on these positives."
Form: London Irish have suffered three successive defeats and conceded 40 points or more on each occasion. No team in Premiership history has ever conceded 40 in four successive matches. The Exiles only win in their last five games at Madejski Stadium came against Gloucester in May. Bath's perfect 100 percent winning start to the season was spoiled at home to Northampton on Friday. Madejski Stadium was one of just three away grounds at which Bath were successful in Aviva Premiership Rugby last season. London Irish have won just one of their last ten clashes with Bath: 16-0 at The Rec on 28 November 2009.
The teams:
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo 13 Jonathan Joseph , 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Marland Yarde 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Ofisa Treviranus 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher (c), 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Bryn Evans , 3 Halani Aulika , 2 Scott Lawson , 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements:16 David Paice , 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa , 18 Alan Cotter, 19 George Skivington, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Anthony Watson, 22 Shane Geraghty , 23 Jack Moates
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Paul James, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Stephen Donald, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Date: Saturday, September 22
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Venue: Madejski Stadium
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Kevin Stewart
Timekeeper: Brian Abrahams
Comments
TVaddict says...
Front Row= Both average, so pretty even
Second Row = Also even
Back Row = Bath
9&10= Bath if only because of more game time together
11= London Irish
12&13= London Irish
14= Bath
15= Even. Homer's a better kicker, but Abendanon a better attacking player.
That said, London are better attacking but Bath are a lot, and I mean a lot, better in defence. Plus the fact that the coaches know London Irish so well is only going to help Bath. So I can't see past a Bath victory. Bath by 5?
Also, why is Attwood on the bench, has he been in bad form lately or something?
Posted 13:39 21st September 2012
Frooschman says...
One wonders whether Booth and Hatley will be the deciding factor in this game?
Posted 13:07 21st September 2012