Preview: Bristol v Bath
Bath welcome back four England internationals for their Guinness Premiership game against Bristol at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
Bath welcome back four England internationals for their Guinness Premiership game against Bristol at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
Lee Mears, Steve Borthwick, Matt Stevens and Michael Lipman all return to action having featured in England's 24-13 victory over France last weekend.
Bath forwards coach Mark Bakewell is expecting a war of attrition up front, but is confident his pack have what it takes to win that war.
“I think at this stage, our line-out is second only to London Irish, but we are aware of the strength of Bristol's driving game in their line-out – it will be a real battle in that area,” he said.
“Statistically, we have dominated in that aspect of the game all season, so we will look to continue to do that.
“However, I think any Bath Bristol game is going to be tough up front and you have to throw statistics out of the window in a sense. I have no doubt that Bristol will put emphasis on taking us on up front and I'm pretty sure that side of the game will have a real influence on the mentality of the game.”
“There is a lot of history. The thing I recognised in the first game this season, was the importance to both teams of these matches. It's going to be hellishly tough – we are under no illusions to that.”
Despite having signed for Gloucester in the week Olly Barkley is handed the number ten jersey and is partnered at half-back by South African international Michael Claassens.
Meanwhile, Bristol Rugby Head Coach Richard Hill makes just two changes to the pack that came so close to victory at London Wasps last weekend as he names his side for the Ashton Gate showdown, keeping faith with Ed Barnes at fly-half.
Bristol have put in some excellent performances in the Guinness Premiership in recent weeks with a victory over Gloucester and four tries before losing to the final play of the game at London Wasps last weekend.
So Hill sticks with the squad that has played so well and makes only two rotational changes to the side that started last weekend, as Gareth Llewellyn and Andrew Blowers are both promoted from the bench and into the starting lineup. The backs remain the same.
Llewellyn comes in for Roy Winters who suffered a dead leg at Wasps, with Winters moving to the bench. Blowers swaps places with Alfie To'oala.
There are also changes on the bench as Mark Regan returns from England duty and Dave Hilton replaces the injured Jason Hobson. Haydn Thomas is in for Graeme Beveridge and Jason Strange is back after being rested last weekend.
Hill acknowledged that Bath can be a tough proposition on their day
“They have some great players and they have the ability to cut a side to ribbons. They've a good pack of forwards who give them a great set piece and they also carry the ball well and like to offload. The coach gives them a license to play that way and they can be devastating,” he said.
“In the past, we've set out to restrict their possession in the first twenty or thirty minutes and try and contain them. When we've been able to do that, we've usually emerged with the win. When we haven't and they've scored early tries, it's been a difficult afternoon.
“But our mentality will have to change as it has done in the past few weeks. We can't just sit back. We'll go out and play a lot more rugby than usual against Bath which should make for an entertaining game.”
Form: Bristol's only win in their last five matches in all competitions was 29-26 at home to Gloucester in the Guinness Premiership on 17 February. Bristol are unbeaten in their last six home encounters in the Premiership since Leicester won 26-13 at Memorial Stadium on 16 September. Bristol's only previous loss at Ashton Gate was 13-35 in an 'away' game to Gloucester last April. It was back to winning ways for Bath at Leeds on Sunday following successive defeats in the Guinness Premiership. Bath have obtained a try bonus point in back to back matches for the first time since season 2000/01. Bath won 28-13 when these two great West country rivals met at the Rec in November, but have not won in Bristol since a 22-16 victory at Memorial Stadium in the Premiership on 8 March 1998.
The Teams:
Bristol: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Anthony Elliott, 13 Rob Higgitt, 12 David Hill, 11 David Lemi, 10 Ed Barnes, 9 Brian O'Riordan, 8 Andrew Blowers, 7 Joe El Abd, 6 Matt Salter (c), 5 Sean Hohneck, 4 Gareth Llewellyn, 3 Darren Crompton, 2 Scott Linklater, 1 Alex Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Mark Regan, 17 Dave Hilton, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Alfie To'oala, 20 Haydn Thomas, 21 Jason Strange, 22 Sam Cox.
Bath: 15 Joe Maddock, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Alex Crockett, 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Daniel Browne, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Duncan Bell, 18 Peter Short, 19 Jonny Faamatuainu, 20 Mike Baxter, 21 Tom Cheeseman, 22 Andrew Higgins.
Date: Sunday March 2, 2008
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Venue: Ashton Gate
Referee: David Rose
Touch judges: Stuart Terheege, David Kurk
Assessor: Paul Bridgman
Television match official: Laurie Bryant