Preview: Bath v Ulster
January 22 2010
Bath have named an impressive XV for their final Heineken Cup Pool game of 2009/10, against Ulster on Saturday.
The home side will only be playing only for pride against their in-form visitors as the English side sit bottom of Pool 4 after four losses from five.
Yet it seems they are looking to finish their effort on a high before turning their attention back to Guinness Premiership matters for the term run-in.
Head Coach Steve Meehan will boast a strong core to his side with Lee Mears, Danny Grewcock, Luke Watson and Michael Claassens all involved.
Meanwhile, Ulster have made just one change to their line-up with Niall O'Connor preferred to Ian Humphreys at number ten for a must-win game.
The Ravenhill outfit require maximum points at the Recreation Ground and will be hoping for favourable results elsewhere if they are to qualify for the quarter-finals.
"Bath are going to be a hard team to beat, it's their home ground. They're going to be very physical up front, so we're going to need to be solid at set piece time to get some good quality ball, in order to put them under pressure defensively. We've got to go in with the attitude that we've got to win the game first, and then go for the bonus point," said Assistant Coach Neil Doak.
Captain Chris Henry has also thrown his opinion into the ring and summed up the fixture perfectly in the context of their European season.
"This game is like a cup final; it is literally win or bust," he said.
"We have to go to Bath with confidence because we know from some of our performances and results this season, we need not fear anyone."
The teams:
Bath: 15 Joe Maddock, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Luke Watson, 7 Jules Salvi, 6 Andrew Beattie, 5 Stuart Hooper, 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 David Barnes, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Peter Short, 20 Jonny Fa'amatuainu, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Ulster: 15 Jamie Smith, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Chris Henry (capt), 7 David Pollock, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Ed O'Donoghue, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andi Kyriacou, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Ryan Caldwell, 20 TJ Anderson, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Timoci Nagusa.
Date: Saturday, January 23
Kick-off: 15:45
Venue: Recreation Ground
Referee: Jérôme Garces (France)
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert (France), Jerome Lamirand (France)
Television match official: Daniel Gillet (France)
