By Ed Scott
April 12 2013

Saturday marks the first of Bath’s remaining three Premiership games in the form of a trip to play champions Harlequins at The Stoop. Bath are clinging on to their vital sixth place in the table by a solitary point, whilst Quins’ recent poor form has seen them slip from 1st to 3rd in the table, seven points off a home play off semi final, but more significantly, only two points clear of 5th placed Gloucester.

Although Harlequins have not been strong of late, a trip to TW2 is never an easy task, especially considering that Bath have not won on the road in this competition since the first match of the season. Bath have also recently lost to a largely second string Harlequins team at the same venue in the LV Cup, so the odds are not in their favour.

Both teams enter the game on the back of disappointing European exits and will be desperate to try and finish the season on a positive. With so few games remaining, this game is a vital match for each side. Looking at the remaining fixtures for the teams around Bath, I would guess that they will need a minimum of six points from their last three games to hold onto sixth. As such, we must be looking for a win with games against Leicester and Saracens coming up.

With Gloucester odds on win at Sale, and Northampton unlikely to lose to London Welsh, Harlequins may well be concerned about dropping out of the top four altogether if they don’t produce a winning result. Bath are going to have to play their best rugby of the season if they are to win as the Londoners are going to be up for the fight.

If the task wasn’t hard enough for Bath, it looks like they will be without at least four of their starting XV on Saturday. Banahan and Fearns are out until the end of the season with rumours that both Biggs and Abendanon are also on the treatment table. Missing three of their first choice backline is not going to make things easy for the blue, black and white.

Harlequins have a young, talented squad with real depth so any side picked I believe will provide a stern test. If I were a neutral I’d love to see Luke Wallace wear the seven shirt on the weekend. A genuine open-side, Wallace is fast emerging as a talent and I wonder whether we may see England captain Robshaw donning the six jersey more next season as the 21 year old begins to show his quality. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wallace on the plane with the England squad this summer which could help catapult him into a starting berth come September. If he does get a starting slot, his battle with Flo should be one Stuart Lancaster might be intrigued to watch. That said, Gatland is likely to want to see Robshaw take on that challenge.

There will be several other intriguing battles on Saturday with much likely to hinge on Wilson vs Marler and James vs Johnson. Bath simply cannot afford to give away penalties in the scrum this week and will hopefully be boosted by the return of powerhouse Attwood in the second row. Other match ups to keep an eye on will be the battle of the Kiwi flyhalves as well the likely sniping between the two number nines.

Although injuries are likely to influence the Bath line up there are still choices to be made. Will Hooper start in the second row with Attwood fit? Is Heathcote going to be preferred over Donald? Do we go for the youth of Devoto at fullback or give a start to Jack Cuthbert? I think the team will be:

1. James 2. Webber 3. Wilson 4. Hooper 5. Attwood 6. Taylor 7. Louw 8. Skirving 9. Stringer 10. Donald 11. Woodburn 12. Eastmond 13. Roko 14. Agulla 15. Devoto Replacements: 16. Batty 17. Catt 18. Perenise 19. Day 20. Gilbert 21. Claassens 22. Heathcote 23. Cuthbert

After an impressive half for United on Monday night, there is a chance that our Argentinian hooker Guinazu may get a slot on the bench. I’d also like to see Koster get more game time, but the departing Skirving is a man on form with Gilbert’s performances warranting his place in the side.

Bath have got one hell of a task above them if they are to get anything out of their remaining games. They must take each one at a time, starting here, and play their own game. Victory is not impossible, but they are going to have to pull something special out of the bag if they are to produce a result.

Match Preview - Business End?

Discussion started by Comeonmylovers.co.uk (IP Logged), 12/04/2013 09:32

Comeonmylovers.co.uk
12/04/2013 09:32

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:15:19:12:30 by TCM2007.

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abendanon-anon-anon
12/04/2013 14:06

Excellent summary - unbiased and paints a good picture of the mountain we have to climb
Interesting you don't end with a score prediction - I think deep down most of us are expecting a loss - but the manner of the defeat counts. Never feel great after a defeat to anyone but an LBP would be a good result if I'm honest.

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