Preview: Bath v Gloucester

In a Christmas derby on Sunday, Bath Coach Steve Meehan is looking forward to welcoming Gloucester to The Rec in the Guinness Premiership.

In a Christmas derby on Sunday, Bath Coach Steve Meehan is looking forward to welcoming Gloucester to The Rec in the Guinness Premiership.

“These two clubs have enormous history,” said Meehan. “It seems that more players travel from Bath to Gloucester now which adds a little extra excitement to it.

“I am sure that we have quite a challenge in front of us, but at the same time it is a great motivating factor and we are really looking forward to it.”

Bath were also given an early Christmas present this year with the contract renewals of Matt Banahan, David Barnes and Pieter Dixon. Meehan is delighted by their commitment, but suggests there are more to come.

“They are the first few and I am sure there will be others rolled out in the not too distant future. I am, of course, glad that the guys have decided to stay on, and as they have said, it was not a difficult decision.

“It is great that they are enjoying their time here and that they want to help the club climb back up the ladder again and be in a position that we think we are good enough to be and that the supporters deserve.

“I don't think it would have been difficult for any of them to pick up contracts in other places. We are in a privileged position at this club.”

Meanwhile, Gloucester Head Coach Bryan Redpath has opted for continuity as, following last weekend's Heineken Cup victory over Glasgow Warriors, he makes just one change for the trip to Bath on Sunday.

It is, of course, a return to Guinness Premiership action for Gloucester and the first of a trio of Premiership games from which a decent return of points will have to be gained if the table is to be climbed.

The only change sees the return of former All Black Greg Somerville at tight head in place of Paul Doran-Jones with Pierre Capdevielle taking up Somerville's place amongst the replacements.

Gloucester kicked off the 2009-10 Guinness Premiership season with a 24-5 victory over Bath at Kingsholm and ended their “Rec hoodoo” last season with their first league victory in the Roman city.

However, Redpath knows that it's going to be a typically tough West Country encounter.

“Bath are in a tough position and are fighting for their lives. If anyone thinks that we're going to go down there and win easily then they're dreaming.”

“We've got to do down there and outplay Bath and doing that won't be easy as they're actually a very good side who have had a lot of injuries and a lot of upheaval at the club.”

“A bit like us, they've lost a bit of confidence but they're a dangerous team and we have to respect that.”

Form: Bath are without a win in their last seven Guinness Premiership matches, equalling their worst ever run in the Premiership set in 2002/03. Bath have not won at home in the Premiership since Saracens were the visitors on 25 April. Gloucester's last six encounters in all competitions have all been won by the home team on the day. Gloucester's only away win in their 15 trips in 2009 was 26-10 at Leeds Carnegie in the Guinness Premiership on 4 October. Gloucester have won their last four clashes with Bath, whilst Bath's only win in their last eight matches against Gloucester since 2006 was 10-5 at the Rec in the Guinness Premiership on 4 January 2008.

The teams:

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Michael Claassens (c), 8 Luke Watson, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Peter Short, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 David Barnes, 18 David Wilson, 19 Danny Grewcock, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Jack Cuthbert.

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 James Simpson-Daniel, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Gareth Delve (capt), 7 Andrew Hazell, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Adam Eustace, 20 Luke Narraway, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Carlos Spencer, 23 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu.

Date: Sunday, December 27
Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 14.15 GMT
Referee: Sean Davey
Assistant referees: Robin Goodliffe, Luke Pearce
Television match official: Laurie Bryant
Assessor: Ed Morrison