Preview: Bath v Leicester
November 14 2008
England Elite Squad members George Chuter, Jordan Crane and Dan Hipkiss have been included in the Leicester Tigers team to play Bath on Saturday.
The trio have been selected for the Guinness Premiership trip to the Recreation Ground after returning from England duty earlier this week.
Chuter lines up in the front row with Boris Stankovich and Dan Cole, while Crane returns at number eight. He is joined in the back row by Lewis Moody, who will make his first Guinness Premiership start of the season at openside flanker following his return from injury, and Martin Corry, who captains the side from the blindside.
Julien Dupuy and Derick Hougaard team up at half-back while Aaron Mauger partners Hipkiss in the centre.
Tigers head coach Heyneke Meyer has named Geordan Murphy at full-back after he returned from international duty with Ireland.
"It's very tough, especially playing away, but we have a good record away from home," Meyer said.
"It's a tough part of the season, a very important part because we have players away, and most other clubs do as well.
"It should be a huge challenge but I am positive and think the guys will live up to it."
Fresh from enjoying a few days off last week, Bath are ready to get back to match action.
Talking earlier this week, Head Coach Steve Meehan was feeling quietly confident that after giving the boys some much-needed rest, the team will be in the right frame of mind to take on the Tigers.
"The guys have come back full of beans this week, they are over their knocks and bruises, mentally they are fresh and this is a tremendous way to come back and re-start our Guinness Premiership campaign," he said
"I would like to think we are playing some decent rugby at the moment.
"Leicester are in their third season in a row with a new Head Coach, but you can see that they still haven't quite settled. But they have such quality that they have won four out of their five Guinness Premierships games, so they are a real threat and we are going to have to work very hard to win."
Form: Bath's only defeat in the Guinness Premiership this season was 17-21 at home to Gloucester on 13 September. Leicester Tigers have won five of their last six matches in all competitions, and have not lost away from home in the Guinness Premiership since their visit to Newcastle on 4 May. The Tigers have already won at the Rec this season: 19-15 in the EDF Energy Cup on 4 October. Leicester's only win in their last five visits to the Rec in the Premiership was 19-12 on 25 March 2006.
The Teams:
Bath: 15 Joe Maddock, 14 Andrew Higgins, 13 Alex Crockett (c), 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Scott Bemand, 8 Daniel Browne, 7 Jonny Faamatuainu, 6 Peter Short, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Stuart Hooper, 19 James Scaysbrook, 20 Mike Baxter, 21 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 22 Jack Cuthbert.
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Matt Smith, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Jordan Crane. 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry (c), 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Richard Blaze, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George Chuter, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Santiago Bonorino, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Brett Deacon, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Tom Varndell, 22 Craig Newby.
Date: Saturday 15 November, 2008
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Venue: The Rec
Referee: Andrew Small
Touch judges: Bob Mullis, Ken Stewart
Assessor: Brian Campsall
Television match official: Laurie Bryant