Bath vs London Welsh Anglo Welsh LV Cup preview

Bath’s 19-year-old Academy lock Charlie Ewels continues the remarkable start to his season by being named captain for the Anglo Welsh LV= Cup clash on Saturday.

No fewer than fourteen current and former members of Bath Rugby’s Academy comprise the home squad, with Ewels making only his second start for the senior team following an exemplary display against Toulouse in the Champions Cup.

Ewels partners Tom Ellis in the second row, behind a front row of loosehead Nick Auterac, hooker Ross Batty and tighthead Kane Palma-Newport.

Openside Guy Mercer, blindside Max Northcote-Green and number eight David Sisi form the back row, whilst Chris Cook and Gavin Henson start at nine and ten respectively.

Inside centre Ollie Devoto and outside centre Matt Banahan make up a powerful midfield combination, with a well-balanced back three of fullback Luke Arscott and wings Horacio Agulla and Olly Woodburn.

Meanwhile, London Welsh have named a much changed line up.

In the backs, Chris Elder comes in at full-back with team captain Tom May returning to the side at inside centre. Tristan Roberts and Rob Lewis start at fly-half and scrum-half respectively.

In the forwards, Pablo Henn, Nathan Morris and Eddie Aholelei make up a new-look front row, and the second row also sees a new combination – Ben West moving from blindside flanker to partner James Down.

Daniel Browne takes over the number six jersey from Ben West, for what will be his first competitive start of the season, while Nathan Vella reprises his role at openside flanker. Ben Pienaar is named at number eight.

Date: Saturday, November 1
Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kickoff: 15:00 (GMT)
Match Officials
Referee: David Procter
Assistant Referees: Peter Huckle, Stuart Terheege

Teams

Bath: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Chris Cook, 8 David Sisi, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Max Northcote-Green, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Tom Ellis, 3 Kane Palma-Newport, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nick Auterac

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Marcus Garratt, 20 Tom Woolstencroft, 21 Micky Young, 22 Max Clark, 23 Richard Lane

Welsh: 15 Chris Elder, 14 Rhys Crane, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (c), 11 Nick Scott, 10 Tristan Roberts, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Ben Pienaar, 7 Nathan Vella, 6 Damian Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Ben West, 3 Eddie Aholelei, 2 Nathan Morris, 1 Pablo Henn

Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Taione Vea, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Peter Browne, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Adam Field.