News
Preview: Bath v Leicester
October 03 2008
Former Bradford Bulls star Shontayne Hape will make his first start for Bath as they welcome Leicester to The Rec for Saturday's EDF Energy Cup encounter.
Hape will start at outside centre in a side that also sees fellow summer signings Robbie Kydd, full-back, and Scott Bemand, scrum-half, starting.
In the forwards, number eight Ed Jackson and England U20 lock Scott Hobson make their first team debuts. Hobson pairs up with Justin Harrison in the second row.
For Leicester South African fly-half, Derick Hougaard, will make his debut having been named at fly-half.
Hougaard has recovered from a shoulder injury and will make his first appearance for the club following his summer arrival from the Blue Bulls.
Alesana Tuilagi is named on the wing after his recovery from a knee injury picked up in the opening win of the Guinness Premiership season at Gloucester.
Ayoola Erinle makes his first start of the season after recovering from a groin injury and there are call-ups for Brett Deacon, Mefin Davies, Sam Vesty, Tom Youngs and Ben Youngs.
Form: Bath, at The Rec Bath, have won seven of their last eight matches. Bath's only win in their last seven games in the EDF Energy Cup was 20-14 over Leicester at The Rec in last season's opening round. The Tigers have won their last three away games in all competitions since losing 25-28 at Newcastle in the Premiership on 4 May. Leicester, who were finalists in last year's EDF Energy Cup, have lost three of the four away games they have ever played in this competition. Bath have won their last two matches against the Tigers, whilst Leicester's only win at The Rec since 2003 was 19-12 in the Premiership on 25 March 2006.
The Teams:
Bath: 15 Robbie Kydd, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Shontayne Hape, 12 Tom Cheeseman, 11 Andrew Higgins, 10 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 9 Scott Bemand, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Josh Ovens, 5 Scott Hobson, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 David Flatman (c).
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Nathan Catt, 19 Stuart Hooper, 20 Adrian Griffith, 21 Mike Baxter, 22 Rhys Crane.
Leicester: 15 Sam Vesty, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Ayoola Erinle, 12 Tom Youngs, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Brett Deacon (c), 7 Seb Pearson, 6 Dan Hemingway, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Sam Raven, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Santiago Bonorino, 18 Marco Wentzel, 19 Tom Armes, 20 Sam Harrison, 21 Matt Smith, 22 Will Hurrell.
Date: Saturday 4 October, 2008
Kick-off: 14:15 BST (13:15 GMT)
Venue: The Recreation Ground
Referee: Dean Richards (England)
Touch judges: Stuart Terheege (England), Roger Baileff (England)
Assessor: Clive Leeke (England)