Planet Rugby

Preview: Bath v London Irish

10th September 2010 12:36

SKY_MOBILE Olly Barkley

Should start: Olly Barkley

Olly Barkley will make his first start of the Aviva Premiership season when Bath tackle London Irish at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Barkley was a late withdrawal for the West Country outfit in their opening victory over Leeds Carnegie, but takes his place at number 12.

Matt Banahan has subsequently reverted to the wing while Tom Biggs provides back-line cover.

And after both sides recorded five-point wins not even a week ago, coach Steve Meehan knows that the home side can expect a tough contest.

"London Irish proved themselves a very good side on the weekend. They've got some very good individual players and pose threats all across the pitch. We are not expecting the best conditions and that will pose problems for both sides. With the conditions we expect, a lot will be determined by who handles them the best," he said.

"The last four premiership matches between us and Irish have gone with the away team, which is certainly a trend we wouldn't mind stopping this weekend! They will be very difficult to break down, but there are some opportunities and we just have to be accurate and patient."

Meanwhile, the Exiles have named an unchanged squad of 23 after the team beat Saracens 33-16 in emphatic style at the London Double Header.

The try-scoring back-three of Sailosi Tagicakibau, Delon Armitage and Topsy Ojo all start, while Ryan Lamb will be looking for a repeat of his visit to the Recreation Ground last season when he scored all the points in a 16-0 victory.

No fewer than five current or past academy players make up a strong Irish bench that also includes the international duo of Nick Kennedy and Seilala Mapusua.

Speaking about his side's trip to the Rec, Booth said: "Everyone is delighted with the manner of our victory over Saracens, but it is a long season and we are expecting a challenging match this weekend.

"Both teams like to get their hands on the ball and play positive rugby and I am sure that will make for an entertaining afternoon for both sets of supporters."

Form: The last four matches between the two clubs have been won by the home side on the day. Northampton have not beaten Harlequins at the Stoop since September 2004, but did win the 2009 European Challenge Cup there, beating Bourgoin 15-3. Harlequins have won just one of their last four encounters in the Premiership: 35-20 over Sale at the Twickenham Stoop on 8 May. Quins have in fact won their last five games at the venue in all competitions. Northampton Saints downed the reigning Premiership champions, Leicester Tigers, at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday, but have not begun a Premiership season with back to back victories since 2004/.05. The Saints have won three of their last four away games in the competition.

The teams:

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Shontayne Hape, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Luke Watson (capt), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Duncan Bell, 19Ben Skirving, 20 Andy Beattie, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Tom Biggs, 23 Jack Cuthbert.

London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Daniel Bowden, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 George Stowers, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Bob Casey, 4 Kieran Roche, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody (capt).
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 Nick Kennedy, 20 Matt Garvey, 21 Seilala Mapusua, 22 Jonathon Joseph, 23 Chris Malone.

Date: Saturday, September 11
Kick-off: 14:15 BST
Venue: Recreation Ground
Referee: Andrew Small

Comments

Be the first to comment on this story..


Character Count : 0/1900

Forthcoming Fixtures
FixtureDetails
All times are local
Aviva Premiership
Friday , February 10
Sale vs Worcester20:00
More Aviva Premiership fixtures
LV= Cup
Saturday , February 4
London Irish vs GloucesterLondon Irish vs Gloucester Preview
Sale vs ScarletsSale vs Scarlets Preview
Worcester vs OspreysWorcester vs Ospreys Preview
Northampton vs WaspsNorthampton vs Wasps Preview
Leicester vs NewcastleLeicester vs Newcastle Preview
Sunday , February 5
Cardiff Blues vs HarlequinsCardiff Blues vs Harlequins Preview
Exeter vs BathExeter vs Bath Preview
More LV= Cup fixtures
RaboDirect PRO12
Thursday , February 9
Leinster vs Benetton Treviso19:05
Glasgow vs Scarlets19:05
Friday , February 10
Ulster vs Newport-Gwent D'gons19:05
Cardiff Blues vs Connacht19:30
Edinburgh vs Ospreys19:35
Saturday , February 11
Edinburgh vs OspreysTBC
Aironi Rugby vs MunsterTBC
Cardiff Blues vs ConnachtTBC
Ulster vs Newport-Gwent D'gonsTBC
Leinster vs Benetton TrevisoTBC
Glasgow vs ScarletsTBC
More RaboDirect PRO12 fixtures
Top 14
Friday , February 10
Bayonne vs Stade Francais15:00
Montpellier vs Perpignan15:00
Agen vs Castres15:00
Biarritz vs Toulouse15:00
Lyon vs Brive15:00
Toulon vs Bordeaux-Begles15:00
More Top 14 fixtures
Recent Results
FixtureDetails
All times are local
Top 14
Friday , February 3
Bordeaux-Begles 31 - 10 Lyon
More Top 14 results
LV= Cup
Sunday , January 29
Saracens 41 - 14 WorcesterSaracens vs Worcester Report
Newcastle 37 - 7 Sale
Saturday , January 28
Bath 46 - 14 NorthamptonBath vs Northampton Report
Gloucester 40 - 3 Cardiff Blues
Wasps 16 - 30 Exeter
Scarlets 27 - 19 London Irish
Harlequins 9 - 19 Leicester
More LV= Cup results
Top 14
Castres 29 - 23 Biarritz
Brive 17 - 9 Perpignan
Racing Metro Paris 13 - 19 Toulouse
Bordeaux-Begles 10 - 17 Clermont Auvergne
Toulon 50 - 10 BayonneToulon vs Bayonne Report
Lyon 19 - 11 Agen
More Top 14 results
LV= Cup
Friday , January 27
Ospreys 26 - 21 Newport-Gwent D'gonsOspreys vs Newport-Gwent D
More LV= Cup results
Top 14
Montpellier 38 - 6 Stade FrancaisMontpellier vs Stade Francais Report
More Top 14 results
Heineken Cup
Sunday , January 22
Biarritz 36 - 5 OspreysBiarritz vs Ospreys Report
Benetton Treviso 20 - 26 SaracensBenetton Treviso vs Saracens Report
Cardiff Blues 36 - 30 Racing Metro 92Cardiff Blues vs Racing Metro 92 Report
Edinburgh 34 - 11 London IrishEdinburgh vs London Irish Report
More Heineken Cup results
Amlin Challenge Cup
Wasps 36 - 13 Bordeaux-BeglesWasps vs Bordeaux-Begles Report
Bayonne 92 - 6 Rovigo
More Amlin Challenge Cup results
Heineken Cup
Saturday , January 21
Bath 23 - 18 GlasgowBath vs Glasgow Report
Leinster 25 - 3 MontpellierLeinster vs Montpellier Report
Clermont Auvergne 19 - 15 UlsterClermont Auvergne vs Ulster Report
More Heineken Cup results
Pool 1
Heineken Cup Table
PosTeamPPts
1Munster625
2Scarlets615
3Northampton612
4Castres67
Pool 2
Heineken Cup Table
PosTeamPPts
1Edinburgh622
2Cardiff Blues621
3Racing Metro Paris69
4London Irish69
Pool 3
Heineken Cup Table
PosTeamPPts
1Leinster624
2Glasgow Warriors612
3Bath611
4Montpellier610
Pool 4
Heineken Cup Table
PosTeamPPts
1Clermont Auvergne620
2Ulster620
3Leicester Tigers617
4Aironi60
Pool 5
Heineken Cup Table
PosTeamPPts
1Saracens622
2Biarritz618
3Ospreys613
4Treviso67
Pool 6
Heineken Cup Table
PosTeamPPts
1Toulouse618
2Harlequins617
3Gloucester615
4Connacht66