Preview: Leicester v Bath

Cosy draw against the fourth-placed team? Not on your life as Leicester will have their work cut out against Bath on Sunday.

Cosy draw against the fourth-placed team? Not a chance as Leicester will have their work cut out against a rejuvenated Bath side on Sunday.

Although boosted by the return of top England internationals Toby Flood, Louis Deacon and Jordan Crane for this mouth-watering semi-final, they meet a side that has been flourishing of late.

The trio come straight back into the Tigers' XV that will be looking for a positive response following a narrow home defeat to Saracens last time out.

“There are four very good sides in the semi-finals, which is just what you want at this stage of the competition,” said Head Coach Richard Cockerill.

“We didn't play well last week (against Saracens), we made too many mistakes, but the good thing in sport is that there is always another challenge to face and a chance to put it right.

“We've been playing well and the players have worked extremely hard all year to get into this position and now we have the opportunity to take a step further. But we'll only be able to do that if we play at our best.

In response to the form of Bath, Cockerill found time to praise his opponents, viewing them as a real threat to his Tigers who will be keen to give an exiting Ben Kay a good send-off.

“Bath have put a good run together, they're a good side and it should be a cracking contest.”

Meanwhile, spirits in the Bath camp are quite rightly high ahead of the semi-final. Having endured a bitter loss the last time the team made the trip to Leicester, the club are now determined to come out on top in the race to Twickenham. They have a real chance.

“We were not anywhere near our potential the last time we faced Leicester and we certainly were not true to ourselves at all,” admitted a quietly confident Head Coach Steve Meehan.

“There is very different feeling this time though. There is a lot more positivity and you can really feel it.

Having won an incredible eleven out of their last twelve Premiership matches, Bath have been rewarded for their continued determination and self-belief and Meehan has, throughout, always affirmed that the team were going to deliver when it mattered most.

“The plan has always been to peak at this stage of the season rather than earlier which we have suffered from in previous years,” he continued.

“We were always aware that whilst we could look after our own performances we couldn't control what was going on elsewhere and we needed other people to slip up which they did.

“But, we have worked so hard and have been through so much that we have to make the most of the opportunity ahead of us.”

Head-to-head: The form of Olly Barkley during recent weeks has been a major plus for both Bath and England but inside him, Butch James really needs to fire against Toby Flood if the visitors are to cause an upset. The winner of that battle could be vital in how this result goes.

Form: Leicester's six game winning run in the Guinness Premiership ended at the hands of visiting Saracens on Saturday but nevertheless the Tigers still contest the playoffs for a sixth straight season. Leicester have won their last eight semi-final games in all competitions since Wasps beat them in the Powergen Cup at Millennium Stadium in 2006, whilst Leicester's most recent semi- final defeat at Welford Road was in 1995, again to Wasps but this time in the Pilkington Cup. Bath's only defeat in their last 12 Guinness Premiership matches was 20-43 against Leicester at Welford Road on 3 April. Bath have made it to a third straight semi-final appearance despite residing in 11th place in the Guinness Premiership table at the half-way stage at the turn of the year. Leicester are unbeaten in their last six matches with Bath in all competitions, whilst Bath's only win at Welford Road since 1995 was 13-12 in the Premiership in November 2003. The two teams have met twice before in semi-finals: Bath winning 10-6 at Welford Road in the John Player Cup in 1986, and the Tigers triumphing 24-10 at Walkers Stadium at this same stage last season.

Prediction: Two home defeats in as many weeks? Come on. Leicester by five!

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (c), 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Joe Duffey, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Boris Stankovich, 19 Craig Newby, 20 Ben Woods, 21 James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Johne Murphy.

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

Date: Sunday, May 16
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 16.00 BST
Referee: Chris White