'Desperate' Bath host Saracens
Despite a disappointing start to the season, Bath head coach, Steve Meehan, is determined to remain optimistic and is confident that his team can overcome Saracens this weekend at the Rec.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s big clash, Meehan said: “We have just got to go out and give it everything we have physically got and make sure we play through to the 80 minutes,
“Once we do that we are good enough to beat anybody. Confidence comes as a result of winning and as a result of doing things well.
“We have physically just got to burst through this wall. We may change the way we do things slightly and try to work on a win and a good performance.
“We are desperate to get a result because the effort is terrific. The reality is we are sitting in 11th place in the Guinness Premiership but my perception of things is we are a much better side than that. We just need to keep working hard and I know it will come and hopefully it will be this weekend.”
With the challenge of taking on the top of the table team Saracens, Meehan is sure that it is enough motivation for the team to really show what they are made of.
“This should be the motivation for them to come out and show their true colours. It does show when we came out against the big clubs like Stade that we can do it and this week we have the league leaders who are undefeated. So what a great opportunity for us to come out and really represent the club and the city in the way we know we are capable of.”
Saracens meanwhile are looking to maintain their impressive 100% reckon this weekend.
And in team news ahead of the game, Director of Rugby Brendan Venter has shuffled his pack, bringing in Matias Aguero and Hugh Vyvyan to start in the forwards.
Vyvyan comes in for Steve Borthwick who is away on England duty while prop Aguero gets the nod ahead of Rhys Gill who moves to the bench.
In other news, Wikus van Heerden captains the side while in the backline, the only change sees Neil de Kock return at scrum half. On the bench, Derick Hougaard misses out through injury with Rodd Penney returning to the matchday 23 alongside scrum half Kevin Barrett who comes in for the rested Justin Marshall.
Venter said: “Any trip to Bath is always difficult and we are expecting a tough clash at The Rec on Saturday. We’ve made a good start to the campaign but we know that we need to improve on our performance levels to keep it going but everyone in the squad is fully focussed and determined to do just that.”
The teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Jack Cuthbert, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Michael Stephenson, 10 Ryan Davis, 9 Michael Claassens (captain), 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Stuart Hooper, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Peter Short, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 David Barnes, 18 Mark Lilley, 19 Jonny Faamatuainu, 20 Chris Cracknell, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Nicky Little, 23 Tom Cheeseman.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Wikus van Heerden (captain), 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Hugh Vyvyan, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Rodd Penney, 23 Michael Tagicakibau.
Date: Saturday, October 31
Time: 14.15 (14.15 GMT)
Venue: Recreation Ground
Referee: Chris White
Assistant referees: Ken Stewart, Alan Biggs
TMO: Laurie Bryant
