Luke Charteris, Tom Dunn, Jonathan Joseph and Beno Obano all return to the Bath starting line-up for Friday’s Premiership clash against Wasps at the Rec.
Charteris, Dunn and Obano all take their places in the pack, while Joseph lines up at outside centre against last year’s finalists.
Dunn and Obano are the two changes in the front-row, with Henry Thomas continuing at tighthead prop. Charteris will link-up with Charlie Ewels in the second-row, with Zach Mercer at number eight, as Bath look to make it two out of two against Dai Young’s side. The 20-year-old will be joined in the back-row by captain Matt Garvey and Paul Grant, who switches to openside flanker.
Rhys Priestland returns to fly-half and will be joined by Kahn Fotuali’i in the half-back combination. In the midfield, there is a start for James Wilson at inside centre, with Joseph providing the support outside the New Zealander.
The back three is unchanged from last weekend’s game against Sale Sharks, with Anthony Watson at full-back and Aled Brew and Jack Wilson occupying the wing positions.
Meanwhile, Marcus Watson returns to Wasps’ Premiership line-up for the first time since round six.
His selection, in the left wing berth vacated by the injured Josh Bassett, is one of two changes director of rugby Dai Young has made to the match-day 23 which last Saturday claimed a fifth consecutive top-flight win.
The second of these sees James Haskell return to the blindside flank after being rested for the pre-Christmas clash with Gloucester.
Young has also once again rotated a number of players between replacement roles and positions in the starting line-up.
This means Dan Robson, Jake Cooper-Woolley and Kearnan Myall, all of whom made significant impact in the final 30 minutes against Gloucester, are this week named as starters against fifth-placed Bath.
Joe Simpson, Marty Moore and James Gaskell will therefore appear from the bench on Friday evening, as will Ashley Johnson, Ben Harris and Gaby Lovobalavu.
Third-placed Wasps begin the second half of their league campaign by seeking to redress the balance with Bath, who claimed a 25-9 win at the Ricoh Arena in round five.
And after claiming all five points against Gloucester, Young said tomorrow’s match, plus the visit of Saracens next weekend, are now vital encounters.
“The next two games are massive for us,” he said.
“Coming into this block of three league games, we said if we could get three good results then we’ll be sitting pretty in the top four which will take a bit of pressure off us.
“But if we don’t, it will put a bit of pressure on us and go right to the wire, so these are important games.
“Bath did a job on us at the Ricoh, but we’re better now than we were then, since we’ve evolved as a team.
“But you have to give them credit, as they were the better team on the day, so it’s up to us to go and reverse that result.”
Form: Bath Rugby have lost their last two Aviva Premiership Rugby fixtures, both away from home, at Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks, but at home their only two defeats in any competition this season have both been by a solitary point in Premiership Rugby: to Newcastle Falcons in round 4 and Gloucester Rugby in round 7. Wasps only defeat in their last seven first team matches was 29-49 at La Rochelle in round 3 of the European Champions Cup. Wasps have not lost away from home in Aviva Premiership Rugby since a trip to Saracens on 8 October.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jack Wilson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 James Wilson, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Paul Grant, 6 Matt Garvey (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 James Phillips, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Darren Atkins
Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Haskell, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Marty Moore, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Gaby Lovobalavu
Date: Friday, December 29
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Adam Leal
Television match official: David Rose
The Aviva Premiership continues this weekend with some more top class action to see you into the New Year. Here’s our preview for Betsafe.
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