Catt set for Rec return
Veteran playmaker Mike Catt will make his first start of the new season this weekend as London Irish travel to the Rec to face Bath in the Guinness Premiership.
Catt, who starts at No.12, has great knowledge of this weekend’s opposition, having played for the West Country club for twelve years of his illustrious career.
The return of the World Cup winner is one of four changes to the starting line-up of the Exiles team that played Newcastle last weekend.
David Paice and Alex Corbisiero come in at hooker and tighthead respectively while Richard Thorpe comes into the back-row at blindside flank. Having completed his duties with England, Paul Hodgson returns to the match squad where he is named among the replacements.
“We are not used to losing in the Guinness Premiership and want to return to winning ways tomorrow evening,” said Toby Booth, London Irish Head Coach.
“We’ve trained exceptionally well and honestly after last weekend’s disappointment and are expecting to perform much more competitively against Bath.”
Bath meanwhile are determined to record a big win this weekend following a disappointing 12-all draw with the Warriors last weekend.
Skills and Defence Coach Brad Davis is confident that with the hard graft the players have been putting in over recent weeks, the pay-off is just around the corner.
“They have had a great week training so far. The players have shown excellent focus throughout and everything is in place to put in a strong performance against London Irish,” he said.
“Playing against the leading try scorers makes it all the more exciting and challenging for us, as we know we have got to be on form to get a result, but we are ready for that challenge.”
The Teams
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Jack Cuthbert, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Ryan Davis, 9 Michael Claassens (captain), 8 Luke Watson, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Peter Short, 20 Daniel Browne, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Nicky Little, 23 Michael Stephenson.
London Irish: 15 Jamie Lennard, 14 Peter Hewat, 13 Elvis Seveali’i, 12 Mike Catt, 11 John Rudd, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Peter Richards, 8 Chris Hala’Ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Richard Thorpe, 5 Bob Casey (captain), 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Alex Corbisiero, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Kieran Roche, 20 Jonathon Fisher, 21 Marcus Watson, 22 Paul Hodgson, 23 Chris Malone.
Date: Saturday, November 28
Venue: The Recreation Ground
Time: 17:00 (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Paul Dix
TMO: Laurie Bryant, Alan Hughes
