Back on the Saints bench: Courtney Lawes
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Bath have made two changes to their starting XV for Friday's Premiership clash with Northampton at the Rec.
Paul James comes in at loosehead, with Nathan Catt switching to the bench. James joins Lee Mears and David Wilson in the front-row, with Stuart Hooper and Dominic Day continuing their partnership in the engine room. Simon Taylor, Carl Fearns and Ben Skirving complete the pack.
The other change comes in the centres, with Ben Williams coming in for the injured Matt Banahan. Williams starts at inside centre, with Dan Hipkiss outside him, as Olly Barkley and Michael Claassens are once again selected in the half-back positions. Tom Biggs and Kyle Eastmond, who both crossed the try line last weekend in the victory over Wasps, are named on the wings, with Nick Abendanon completing the line-up at 15.
With both teams unbeaten so far, coach Gary Gold knows that Friday will be a stern test for Bath.
"Northampton are a very strong side, who have made a good start to the competition. We all know about their strength in the forwards, but they also back that up with some hugely skilful backs who can attack from anywhere on the field," said Gold.
"We were pleased with the performance against Wasps, but know there is still more we can do to improve and we have been working hard on this. It's these big games that you want to be involved in - as a player and as a coach - and whilst it will be a big challenge for us tomorrow night, we are looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, England lock Courtney Lawes returns on the Northampton bench while Stephen Myler is chosen at fly-half.
Director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that Bath will provide a "big challenge" for his players.
"They have started the season very well. In Round 1 they came from a long way behind and held their nerve to win at Sixways, while against Wasps last weekend they put together some dangerous attacking moves," said Mallinder.
"The Rec is always a tough place to play. It is a place where the fans are right on top of you and where it can be intimidating for visiting teams. So it is up to us as to how we respond, and we believe that we can do that in the right way.
"At times in our first two games we have played well and scored good tries. But we have also been guilty of not finishing games off and this is something we will be looking to improve. Despite having only had a five-day turnaround between matches out training has been very positive and all of the players are determined to keep our good start to the season going this Friday."
Form: Bath have won their opening two games of the 2012/13 Aviva Premiership Rugby season, overcoming Worcester and Wasps. Bath's most recent two victories at The Rec have now both been against London Wasps. Northampton Saints have also begun with back to back victories over Gloucester and Exeter - the first time the Saints have begun a season with a pair of wins since 2004/05. Northampton have won their last three away games in the regular season. Northampton achieved the Premiership double over Bath last season, including a first victory at The Rec since 2005.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Josh Ovens, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Tom Mercey, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran Jones, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Tom May.
Date: Friday, September 14
Venue: Recreation Ground, Bath
Kick-off: 19.45 BST (18.45 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Small
Comments
Centre12 says...
@APV1 - Yes I agree that with Heatcoat & Donald fit we are covered at #10 allowing Barkley to move to #12 where he can partner either Hipkiss or Banahan, out wide and at #15 we are strong and yes it is odd that a player who was close to England reckoning a year or two ago cannot even start for his club.
@jamesliveinhope - I appreciate where you are coming from in terms of having a team of 22 rather than just the 15 starting, however that being said you don't see the likes of Parling, Lawes, Kitrchner, Botha, Palmer and Robson doing bench warming duties as often as Attwood seems to be. You normally start with your strongest 15.
Posted 15:55 14th September 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
@centre12 far be it from me to speak on behalf of APV1 but my opinion has always been that, in matters of the tight 5, the bench is as much a part of the starting line-up as the players on the field at kick-off, with players brought on as part of a pre-ordained tactical introduction rather than because of injury or fatigue. I resist the "impact sub" definition because I think it has got more technical than that.
As far as the Bath midfield is concerned - we are a little shuffled at present with Heathcote, Donald and Vesty all crocked, ordinarily Barkley would be at 12 with Williams or Banahan outside of him. I have to say that the one little bit of brilliance from Devoto in his cameo on Saturday was encouraging.
Posted 11:17 14th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ Centre12 - wish I knew. I had the B&I Lions starting 2R as Gray and Lawes, with Attwood on the bench. But he's no-where near England yet, let alone anything beyond. His discipline isn't a big issue and I think his ball-carrying ability is good. He's solid in the scrum and line-out and hits rucks. What more do we need? In fact, I rate him better than Hoops or D-Day...
With regards to the centres, I agree that we didn't recruit wisely there. We'll be in a better position once either Beaver or Heathcote are back from injury. That moves Barkley to 12, where I think he plays better, with Hipkiss at 13.
Personally I'd prefer:
9 Claassens
10 Beaver / TH
11 Biggs
12 Barkley
13 Hipkiss
14 Eastmond / Agulla
15 Bendy
Bananaman and Vesty on the bench cover 10 - 15 between them.
Posted 10:03 14th September 2012
Centre12 says...
@APV1
Right mate, what is the crack with Attwood, because he was touted as being the next MJ two years ago and people including yourself are still saying that he should at least be in the EPS group, but he is not even a starter for Bath, any thoughts at all???
Bath have had a good start to the season if you look at the table but we need to invest in a couple of decent centres, 9,10 and the back three are not an issue as long as Banahan is considered a wing and not a centre, but we could have done with investing in someone like Waldouck, 12Trees, McCalister while they were all looking for new clubs at the end of last season.
Posted 03:15 14th September 2012
5Lock4ward says...
When Lawes is back starting again I wonder which of Manoa or Day will be relegated to the bench. Or perhaps Manoa gets moved back to 8 man.
Posted 01:59 14th September 2012
APV1 says...
I'd be pleased to see CL in an England shirt; less so facing up to Bath!
I think the bench shows Saints' dominance really, and I have a sneaky suspicion that you could be right, my Padawan friend. The ability to bring on the likes of D-J, Lawes, Lamb and May will prove decisive, I suspect. It's not that our's is weak, it's just that the Saints' is stronger.
But will The Rec's home crowd buoy up the team? I hope so. Either way, a cracking match, to be sure.
Allez Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaath!
Posted 17:10 13th September 2012
Jediboy says...
Great to see CL back. I'm sure he'll get some game time and hope he stays fit. Expecting big things from him this season, for Saints and for England. Should be a good game but my money is on Saints.
Posted 13:13 13th September 2012