Preview: Bath v Worcester
Skipper Pat Sanderson will hit his double century in the English top flight when Worcester tackle Bath in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday.
Skipper Pat Sanderson will hit his double century in the English top flight when Worcester tackle Bath in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday.
Sanderson will join the exclusive 200 Club as Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock makes just one change to the side that narrowly lost to Saracens at Wembley Stadium last weekend.
Tongan hooker Aleki Lutui comes into the front row, with Chris Fortey moving to the replacements bench.
Matt Mullan and Alex Grove return the playing squad after being away on international duty and both are named among the replacements.
Pocket Rocket Sam Tuitupou will make his 50th appearance for Warriors in the centre, as he is again paired with Dale Rasmussen, and Willie Walker, the current leading scorer in the Guinness Premiership, is just five points short of hitting 500 in his English career.
“We go down to The Rec and focus on playing a Bath side who will be full of energy and are rejuvenated. They had a very good victory at London Irish so they will be ultra confident after that game,” said Ruddock.
“All we can do is concentrate on our performance and if we perform like we did against Saracens, particularly in attack and our set piece, we will be right in the game. What we have to do is cut out some of the penalties.
“We made lots of line breaks against Saracens and what we have to do now is carry that form into the Bath game and make sure our performances keep getting better.”
Meanwhile, Olly Barkley will, at last, be able to pull the Bath jersey back on and run out at The Rec.
Since breaking his leg in pre-season training, the 28-year-old has been raring to get out in front of the home crowd and described the last few months as “the longest seven months of my career.”
Featuring on the bench, Olly is counting down the hours: “I cannot wait to pull the Bath shirt back on and play alongside my team-mates again – I have waited a long time for this.”
Having secured a bonus point win against London Irish last Sunday, the team have definitely had more of a spring in their step and Forwards Coach, Martin Haag says that whilst focus is still key, the recent wins have really enhanced their confidence.
“You can't underestimate what winning does,” admitted Haag. “There has been a lot of banter this week and lot of enjoyment, which is great.
“The players have been working very hard and we put some strategies in place that they have really taken on board. They are taking their excellent training to the pitch, which is fantastic, and this also showed in their performance against London Irish.”
Form: Bath Rugby have won their last three games in the Guinness Premiership and have won three of their last four matches at The Rec in all competitions. Worcester Warriors' only victory in their last four fixtures was 19-9 at home to London Irish in the LV= Cup on 6 February. The Warriors remain the only side without an away win in the Guinness Premiership this campaign. Worcester have not beaten Bath in their last six encounters since a 21-15 result at Sixways in the Premiership on 3 March 2007. The Warriors have lost on all five previous visits to The Rec.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Shontayne Hape, 12 Ryan Davis, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens (c), 8 Luke Watson, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Ben Skirving, 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 Scott Hobson, 20 Jonny Faamatuainu, 21 Mike Baxter, 22 Olly Barkley, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Worcester: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Chris Pennell, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Pat Sanderson (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Olivier Sourgens, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Chris Cracknell, 21 Ryan Powell, 22 Matthew Jones, 23 Alex Grove.
Date: Saturday, February 20
Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 14.15 GMT
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth