England star absent for Bath in Champions Cup opener against La Rochelle side reeling after Ronan O’Gara criticism
Bath centre Cameron Redpath and La Rochelle captain Gregory Alldritt.
The 2024/25 Champions Cup season gets underway on Friday night with Bath hosting La Rochelle in their highly anticipated showdown at the Recreation Ground.
Making one change to his side for the French giants’ visit, Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan brings Scotland international Cameron Redpath into the starting line-up at the expense of England star Ollie Lawrence.
Consistency is a key theme in Van Graan’s selection for the Premiership’s table-toppers.
Keeping his pack the same as last week, Bath’s boss has named Thomas du Toit at loosehead prop, with Tom Dunn at hooker and Will Stuart packing down at tighthead.
Quinn Roux and Charlie Ewels will link up in the second-row, alongside Ted Hill on the blindside flank and two of last weekend’s try-scorers, Guy Pepper (openside) and Miles Reid (number eight), completing the starting forwards.
Captain Ben Spencer will command at half-back alongside Finn Russell.
In the midfield, Will Butt retains the 12 jersey, with Redpath coming into the starting line-up at outside centre.
Will Muir, Joe Cokanasiga and Tom de Glanville also retain their positions across the back-line.
Named as replacements, Niall Annett and Francois van Wyk line up on the bench, seeing Archie Griffin return to the Bath shirt as the back-up tighthead.
Ross Molony, Josh Bayliss and Jaco Coetzee will complete the replacement forwards selection.
In a 6-2 split, Louis Schreuder and Max Ojomoh will provide their impact as backline cover on the bench.
La Rochelle ring the changes after shock loss
Meanwhile, La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has made six alterations to his run-on side which suffered a shock defeat to Vannes in the Top 14 last weekend.
In the forwards, Les Bleus star Gregory Alldritt comes in to captain the team at number eight which means Matthias Haddad shifts to the openside where he replaces Levani Botia, who drops down to the replacements bench.
The back-row is completed by Oscar Jegou while Will Skelton is joined in the second-row by Thomas Lavault, who takes over from Kane Douglas.
In the front-row, Uini Atonio and Reda Wardi continue as the starting props and Tolu Latu will pack down alongside them as the starting hooker as he swaps places with Quentin Lespiaucq.
The backline has a familiar look to the one which featured against Vannes with the only changes being the introduction of Dillyn Leyds and Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who replace Suliasi Vunivalu and Teddy Iribaren on the left wing and at scrum-half respectively.
Brice Dulin (full-back) and Jack Nowell (right wing) join Leyds in the back three while UJ Seuteni and Jonathan Danty continue in midfield and Ihaia West is the starting fly-half.
Louis Penverne and Georges-Henri Colombe are the front-row replacements while Douglas and Botia will offer second-row and loose forward cover respectively.
The matchday squad is completed by Thomas Berjon, Hugo Reus and Teddy Thomas who are the backline replacements.
The teams
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Jaco Coetzee
La Rochelle: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 UJ Seuteni, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Grégory Alldritt (c), 7 Matthias Haddad, 6 Oscar Jegou, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Thomas Lavault, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Reda Wardi
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq, 17 Louis Penverne, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Levani Botia, 21 Thomas Berjon, 22 Hugo Reus, 23 Teddy Thomas
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (IRFU), Gwyn Morris (IRFU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
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