Preview: Harlequins v Bath

Harlequins face Bath on Sunday at the Stoop looking to bounce back after a thrilling but ultimately disappointing game at Gloucester.

Harlequins face Bath on Sunday at the Stoop and are looking to bounce back after a thrilling but ultimately disappointing game away at Gloucester.

With Danny Care and Nick Easter away on England duty, Karl Dickson and Tom Guest come into the team while Joe Marler, who was called up to the England squad as injury cover, has been released and starts in the front-row, where he is joined by Matt Cairns and John Andress.

Tom Guest is at eight, with familiar faces Will Skinner and Chris Robshaw on the flanks, while George Robson partners Tomas Vallejos at lock.

Nick Evans, despite his heroics against Gloucester, could not prevent the loss but he will look to continue his fine form this season. George Lowe and Jordan Turner-Hall are in the centre. Tom Williams, the hat-trick hero against Prato, Gonzalo Camacho and Mike Brown make up a fast back-three.

Meanwhile, Bath will be looking to match performance with a result this weekend as they travel to Twickenham.

After an improved performance against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road last weekend, which saw the visitors bring a losing bonus point back to the West Country, Head Coach, Steve Meehan, is aware of the challenge Harlequins pose, and the importance of the fixture this weekend.

“To try and put your finger on what team they will actually play is quite difficult because they have chopped and changed their team quite a lot over the last four games. Which XV we're going to play against is a bit of a mystery, but their style of play won't change that much,” he said.

“They have had a beginning to the season that's been similar to ourselves. The fact they change it around often can be seen as one their strengths. It's difficult to plan for who we're going to get and that's part of the enjoyment.

“We're in a reasonable spot – sixth in the table, a couple of points off the top four – and we've played four of the top five teams. We feel pretty good and we know this is a key match for us, a very important match. I don't think we have gone there in the past and had anything but a tight match – and we've been unlucky a couple of times not to come away with the win. We've always been very competitive at The Stoop, but it's time we won away at Harlequins.”

Form: Bath have lost on their last five visits to the Stoop, and have won there just once in the Premiership since 2000: 18-10 on 25 September 2004. Harlequins' last six matches in all competitions have been won by the home side on the day. Quins' only defeat at the Twickenham Stoop in their last nine encounters was 16-20 against Northampton on 11 September. Bath Rugby's only win in their last four Aviva Premiership Rugby matches was 31-16 at home to Sale in round four. Bath have been victorious once on the road in the Premiership this season: 32-16 at Leeds on the opening weekend. Bath's 24-13 victory at the Rec the last time the two teams met ended a four game losing run to the Londoners.

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Will Skinner, 6 Chris Robshaw (capt), 5 George Robson, 4 Tomas Vallejos, 3 John Andress, 2 Matt Cairns, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 Mark Lambert, 19 Pete Browne, 20 Chris Yorke, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Ollie Smith.

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Luke Watson (capt), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 David Flatman, 18 Mark Lilley, 19 Ignacio Fernandez-Lobbe, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Ben Williams, 23 Jack Cuthbert.

Date: Sunday, October 31
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Referee: Sean Davey
Assistant referees: Kevin Stewart, Stuart Terheege
Coach: John Burtenshaw
Television match official: Graham Hughes