Dave Attwood and Jonathan Joseph are set to mark milestone appearances for the Bath Rugby against Northampton Saints tomorrow afternoon at Franklin’s Gardens, kick-off 14:45.
Attwood will mark his 150th appearance for the Club, whilst Joseph will bring up a century of appearances in the Blue, Black and White.
Nathan Catt and Henry Thomas line-up either side of Tom Dunn in the front row. Attwood continues his second row partnership with co-captain Luke Charteris, whilst the back row remains unchanged from last Saturday’s bonus-point victory over Newcastle Falcons. Elliott Stooke remains in the number six jersey, with Francois Louw and Zach Mercer completing the pack.
Co-captain Will Chudley and Rhys Priestland link-up once again in the half-back pairing, whilst Jackson Willison returns to the starting line-up at inside centre. Willison is joined by Joseph in the midfield, as Bath face an in-form Northampton side.
Ruaridh McConnochie and Cooper Vuna come in on the wings, whilst Darren Atkins starts at full-back for the trip to Franklin’s Gardens.
Director of Rugby, Todd Blackadder, said: “You can obviously see that Northampton have got their confidence up. They’ve got some big ball carriers and they are a momentum team, so it’s a good challenge for us. We are not overawed by the challenge, but really excited for it.
“We lost Roko (Semesa Rokoduguni) last week and unfortunately we are going to have do without Aled Brew for a prolonged period. It’s hugely disappointing to lose two experienced players, but injuries are part and parcel of sport. That’s why the last month of games was hugely important for us in terms of building that depth in the squad. We have absolute confidence in the squad we have and the team we put out there on the weekend.”
Bath Rugby team to face Northampton Saints
15. Darren Atkins
14. Ruaridh McConnochie
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Jackson Willison
11. Cooper Vuna
10. Rhys Priestland
9. Will Chudley (co-capt)
1. Nathan Catt
2. Tom Dunn
3. Henry Thomas
4. Dave Attwood
5. Luke Charteris (co-capt)
6. Elliott Stooke
7. Francois Louw
8. Zach Mercer
Replacements
16. Jack Walker
17. Jacques van Rooyen
18. Max Lahiff
19. Charlie Ewels
20. Paul Grant
21. Max Green
22. Freddie Burns
23. Max Clark
Northampton Saints team
15 George Furbank
14 Ahsee Tuala
13 Rory Hutchinson
12 Piers Francis
11 Taqele Naiyaravoro
10 James Grayson
9 Alex Mitchell
1 Alex Waller (c)
2 Reece Marshall
3 Paul Hill
4 David Ribbans
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 James Haskell
7 Lewis Ludlam
8 Tom Wood
Replacements
16 James Fish
17 Francois Van Wyk
18 Ben Franks
19 Alex Moon
20 Jamie Gibson
21 Cobus Reinach
22 Luther Burrell
23 Ken Pisi
