Premiership: Tigers face Bath drought
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Leicester Tigers have not beaten Bath in their last four previous encounters, and will be looking to reverse that trend on Saturday.
After thumping London Welsh 53-26 on home soil last weekend, Bath will be looking to begin their campaign with three successive victories for the first time since 2003/04.
It's a rivalry that dates back over a century, but Bath have had the upper hand recently with Leicester's last Premiership win at The Rec coming back in 2006.
England lock Geoff Parling thinks the Tigers have enough talent to leave the West Country with the win.
"With the squad we've got this year we're confident that we can win at home and on the road this season," he said.
"There's a lot of expectation and pressure here, and we expect it from each other to perform well wherever we are playing.
"The most important thing is what the team does. It's Leicester versus Bath – we think we can beat them and that's what we'll try to do," he said.
All eyes at The Rec will be on the battle at No.10 between the two England prospects, Freddie Burns and George Ford, both of whom have made formidable starts to their Premiership seasons.
"It'll be a good battle between Freddie [Burns] and George [Ford] because they're both very good players, but there will be good matchups across the board," Parling added.
But hooker Rob Webber knows Bath are not yet nearing full steam, despite Saturday's result suggesting otherwise, insisting Leicester will pose an entirely new challenge.
"Leicester is one of the first fixtures that people look for," he said. "They have got two wins from two and a Leicester side is always dangerous.
"We were really happy to score 53 points last week and pick up five points, but we have things to work on. There is a lot of improving to do and it is a long old season in which to do that.
"We will need to raise our intensity in defence this week. It is a massive test to play against Leicester. They are a top team and have won the league many times," he said.
All of the weekend's match details:
Friday, September 19
Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs
(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 19.45; 18.45 GMT)
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Purdy, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Ross Moriarty, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 John Afoa, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Bill Meakes.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Ben White, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Moray Low, 19 Ryan Caldwell, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Phil Dollman, 23 Jack Nowell.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Andrew Pearce
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Saturday, September 20
Sale Sharks v London Welsh
(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Will Addison, 12 Jonny Leota, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Viliami Fahiki, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Olly Barkley (captain), 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Pete Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Ricky Reeves
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Shane Cahill, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Ollie Stedman, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Tristan Roberts, 23 Tom May
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Peter Huckle
TMO: Sean Davey
Harlequins v London Wasps
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Harry Sloan, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Luke Wallace, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 George Merrick, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Louis Grimoldby, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague
Wasps: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 John Yapp, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Alapati Leiua
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Gordon Goodliffe
TMO: Rowan Kitt
London Irish v Saracens
(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 James Short, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Scott Steele, 9 Luke Narraway, 7 Ofisa Treviranus, 6 Blair Cowan, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Kieran Low, 21 Tom Guest, 22 Tomás O'Leary, 23 Eamonn Sheridan.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Tim Streather, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Duncan Taylor.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Nigel Carrick
TMO: David Grashoff
Bath v Leicester Tigers
(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 15.15; 14.15 GMT)
Teams:
Bath: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Olly Woodburn.
Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 David Mele, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Matt Smith.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Kelvin Stewart
TMO: Graham Hughes
Sunday, September 21
Newcastle Falcons v Northampton Saints
(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 14.00; 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alex Tuilagi, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Josh Furno, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Calum Green, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Scott Lawsons, 1 Kieran Brookes
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 19 Mark Wilson, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi, 23 Sinoti Sinoti.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Will Hooley, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 James Craig, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Dom Waldouck, 23 James Wilson
Referee: Gregory Garner
Assistant referees: Stuart Terheege, Ashley Rowden
TMO: Trevor Fisher
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