Bath Rugby v Harlequins Premiership Preview

Harlequins have named a team with six changes for Saturday’s Aviva Premiership match against Bath at The Recreation Ground.

Joe Marler, Joe Gray, Chris Robshaw, Nick Easter and Club captain Danny Care make their first starts of the season, while Tim Visser, who starts on the wing, makes his senior debut for Harlequins.

Among the replacements, Luke Wallace and Karl Dickson are named.

In other Harlequins news back-row forward Netani Talei suffered a knee injury during Monday evening’s match with Newport Gwent Dragons. The Fijian is expected to be out for a considerable period of time and the club say that they will know more following a consultation with a specialist.

Bath Rugby’s only defeat at the Recreation Ground in the last fifteen Aviva Premiership Rugby fixtures at the venue was to Northampton Saints in February.

Bath have lost two of their last three encounters in the tournament, including last year’s final.

Harlequins have won just one of their last four Aviva Premiership Rugby matches: 26-21 over Wasps at the Twickenham Stoop in round 1, whilst their only victory on the road in the tournament since January came at Sale Sharks in April.

Harlequins have beaten Bath just once in any tournament since April 2013: 19-16 at home in May 2014 whilst they have not been victorious at the Recreation Ground since November 2011.

Bath have also made six changes to their side and five of the changes come in the pack, with Max Lahiff, Rob Webber and David Wilson forming a new front row.

Dominic Day comes into the second row to make his first Club start of the season (in a year that saw the lock win his first cap for Wales) alongside the weekend’s captain, Dave Attwood.

Openside flanker Guy Mercer comes into a back row featuring blindside Matt Garvey and number eight Leroy Houston. In the only change to last weekend’s backline, Matt Banahan steps in on the left wing, as Anthony Watson shifts to fullback.

Kyle Eastmond and Ollie Devoto are again named in the midfield, with Niko Matawalu and George Ford also set to enjoy a second outing together in the half-backs.

A minute’s silence will be held ahead of kick-off and wreaths laid at the Rec to commemorate the upcoming Remembrance Day.

Match : Bath Rugby v Harlequins
Date : Saturday 31st October
Venue : Recreation Ground,
Kick Off : 1.30pm
Live on: N.A
Match Officials
Referee :Matthew Carly (34th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Andrew Pearce and Roy Maybank.
TMO: David Sainsbury.

Teams

Bath

15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood ( c ), 4 Dominic Day, 3 David Wilson , 2 Rob Webber ,1 Max Lahiff,

Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Stuart Hooper, 20 Max Northcote-Green, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer

Harlequins

15. Mike Brown , 14. Marland Yarde , 13. George Lowe , 12. Harry Sloan , 11. Tim Visser , 10. Nick Evans , 9. Danny Care (C), 8. Nick Easter , 7. Chris Robshaw , 6. Jack Clifford , 5. Sam Twomey, 4. James Horwill , 3. Adam Jones , 2. Joe Gray , 1. Joe Marler

Replacements: 16. Dave Ward , 17. Mark Lambert , 18. Kyle Sinckler , 19. Charlie Matthews , 20. Luke Wallace , 21. Karl Dickson , 22. Ben Botica , 23. Ollie Lindsay-Hague