Preview: Premiership, Round 17
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After three consecutive Premiership defeats Dominic Day believes it's time for Bath to get their season back on track.
Defeats to Saracens, Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs in recent weeks have seen a side that burst out of the blocks in the league slip back to fifth place.
But with the gap between second and seventh currently just one point, Bath have the chance to move up second with victory against Steve Diamond's Sale Sharks under the Friday night lights.
It is a match that Day believes is winnable but he has called on his teammates to step up to the challenge.
"It's obviously been a bad few rounds in terms of results but it's a weird feeling because the mood in the camp is still really good," said Day.
"We are confident in our ability and the game we are playing so we will be happy to get out there this weekend and get the win.
"We have lost three in a row now so I don't think you can chalk it up to being a bad day at the office.
"But it's something we want to rectify and I think you have to take into account the teams that we have come up against.
"It is hard to pinpoint where we have gone wrong and maybe on another day with a different roll of the ball we wouldn't have lost three on the bounce.
"With players missing it's important that we have other guys that step up and I think you have seen that with the likes of Ollie Devoto coming in and playing so well."
While Bath have several key players away on international duty Day has refused to use that as an excuse for poor results.
And the 29-year-old has called for calm at the Rec as his team look to get back to winning ways.
"We have had quite a bit of disruption with players going out on international duty and a couple of injuries," he added.
"But we can't turn that into an excuse because we pride ourselves on having a good squad that can handle people being out of the team.
"Playing 80 minutes obviously takes it out of you physically but the team here manage us well and I am really happy with how I am going this season.
"We have to adapt a bit with our game and make sure that we aren't making the same mistakes twice.
"But we can't panic and have to make sure that we believe in what we are doing and get back on track."
All of the Premiership match details:
Friday, March 6
Bath v Sale Sharks
(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Teams:
Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Sam Burgess, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Ollie Devoto, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Alafoti Faosiliva, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Micky Young, 22 Matt Banahan, 23 Luke Arscott.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Magnus Lund, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Tom Brady.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Andrew Small, Roger Baileff
TMO: Sean Davey
Saturday, March 7
Exeter Chiefs v London Welsh
(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00)
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Tom James, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Henry Slade, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm (captian), 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Carl Rimmer.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Brett Sturgess, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Ben White, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Byron McGuigan.
London Welsh: 15 Elliot Kear, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 James Tincknell, 11 Alan Awcock, 10 Tristan Roberts, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Richard Thorpe (captain), 6 Lachlan McCaffrey, 5 James Down, 4 Ben West, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Nathan Morris, 1 Nathan Trevett.
Replacements: 16 Rob Elloway, 17 Eddie Aholelei, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Chris Hala'ufia, 21 Alex Davies, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Tom May.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Andrew Pearce
TMO: Geoff Warren
Harlequins v London Irish
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00)
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Jack Clifford, 5 George Robson (captain), 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Matt Shields, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert .
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Seb Adeniran-Olule, 19 Netani Talei, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ugo Monye.
London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 James Short, 10 Shane Geraghty (captain), 9 Scott Steele, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 Nic Rouse, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Luke Narraway, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Chris Noakes, 23 Eoin Griffin.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes, Luke Pearce
TMO: Steve Terheege
Gloucester v Northampton Saints
(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 15.15; 15.15 GMT)
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Steve McColl, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Henry Purdy.
Northampton Saints: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Tom Wood (captain), 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Ahsee Tuala.
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant referees: Kevin Stewart, Ashley Rowden
TMO: Dave Grashoff
Sunday, March 8
Wasps v Saracens
(Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 14.00; 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 James Downey, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).
Replacements: 16 Simon McIntyre, 17 Phil Swainston, 18 Kearnan Myall, 19 Ed Jackson, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Andrea Masi.
Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, (captain), 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Ernst Joubert, 20 Matt Hankin, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Tim Streather.
Referee: Matt Carley
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, Andy Watson
TMO: Dave Sainsbury
Newcastle Falcons v Leicester Tigers
(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Will Welch, 6 Richard Mayhew, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Alex Rogers, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Mark Irving, 18 Rob O'Donnell, 19 Josh Furno, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi, 23 Noah Cato.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Vereneki Goneva, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Laurence Pearce, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Sebastian De Chaves, 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Jordan Crane, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 David Mele, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Jack Roberts.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Andy Jackson. Roy Maybank
TMO: Trevor Fisher
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