Preview: Bath v Exeter
Exeter will be hoping to make it three wins from three in the Aviva Premiership when they face Bath at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.
Exeter will be looking to make it three wins from three in the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership when they take on Bath at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.
Head Coach Rob Baxter has been forced into changing his winning formula from that of last weekend against the Falcons. Summer signing Josh Tatupu picked up an injury in that victory, so Nic Sestaret comes in for his first Premiership appearance of the season on the wing, whilst Richard Baxter is also sidelined for the game and is replaced by number eight James Phillips, who will be making his first Premiership start since Exeter's defeat at Leeds Carnegie back in April.
The third change sees Fijian Sireli Naqelevuki – who has scored tries in the opening two games – also ruled out. Bryan Rennie is promoted from the bench with Mark Foster coming into the squad.
Otherwise the team is unchanged meaning starting roles for former Bath duo James Scaysbrook and Peter Short, the latter of whom made the switch from the Rec to Sandy Park during the close season.
“Bath are a club with not only a lot of history in the Premiership, but that of being very successful over a number of years,” said Baxter.
“It's also one of those grounds that everyone wants to play at. Hopefully it's the right time of year to go there, the weather should be half decent, it's firm underfoot and it should be a good game of rugby.
“That said, we do feel pretty confident of where we are at the minute as a team and we want to go there and challenge them in most aspects of the game. We feel most things we are doing are holding up well and we have always looked forward to the challenges of going away from home. This weekend will be no different as we are looking forward to it again.”
Duncan Bell will play his 200th game for Bath when he runs out onto the Rec to face the Chiefs.
Bell will start at tighthead, scrumming down with David Flatman and Pieter Dixon.
Captain Stuart Hooper returns in the second-row to partner Ryan Caldwell, with Dave Attwood named on the bench.
In the back-row, with Simon Taylor side-lined through injury, Ben Skirving takes his place at number eight, Carl Fearns moves to the blindside, and Guy Mercer starts on the openside.
The only other change to the starting XV who so narrowly lost to Saracens last weekend is at scrum-half, where Mark McMillan takes the starting jersey, with Michael Claassens named as a replacement.
“It's great. I am very proud of that record. To play that many times for the club I supported as a boy is something I could only have dreamed would happen,” said Bell on his 200th cap.
“I love every time I run out at the Rec. It really is a fantastic venue and my only regret so far is that we haven't won as much silverware as we should have in my time here.”
Form: Bath's six game winning run came to a halt at the Rec on Saturday with their 26-28 reversal to champions Saracens. Bath's last ten home Premiership matches have resulted in five wins and five defeats. Exeter Chiefs top the Aviva Premiership Rugby table with their 100% winning start to their second season in England's top flight. The Chiefs have recorded four successive Premiership wins. Bath were victorious in both Premiership encounters against Exeter last season.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Mark McMillan, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Stuart Hooper (capt), 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Andy Beattie, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Nic Sestaret, 13 Bryan Rennie, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 James Phillips, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Peter Short, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Neil Clark, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Ben White, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Mark Foster.
Date: Saturday, September 17
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 17.30 BST (16.30 GMT)
Referee: David Rose