Bath v Northampton: Teams

Stuart Hooper: Returning for Bath

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Northampton go into Saturday's clash with Bath with wholesale changes following 10 players leaving for representative duties.

Both sides are currently top of their pools with maximum points from their LV=Cup matches so far as the pair battle it out on their mission to make the semi-finals.

The home side have made changes themselves with Stuart Hooper returning to accompany Ryan Caldwell in the second row while Ben Skirving, Francois Louw and Simon Taylor combine to formulate the Bath back row.

Ross Batty will begin the game at hooker while David Flatman and Anthony Perenise will be on either side in the front row.

Michael Claassens is set to team up with Stephen Donald in the half-backs again with Tom Biggs and Olly Woodburn starting out on the wins.

Olly Barkley and Sam Vesty form a new centre pairing for Bath while Nick Abendanon completes the line-up at No.15 and boss Sir Ian McGeechan is expecting a big challenge against the Saints.

Challenge

"We're looking forward to what we know will be a tough challenge for us, against a strong Northampton Saints squad," he said.

Meanwhile Northampton boss Jim Mallinder also believes that his side will face a test with Bath lining up with 10 internationals in the starting XV.

However, Mallinder is not fazed and expects the players to provide evidence which gives value to the club's rotation policy.

All of the starting line-up for Saints have made a first-team appearance with the coaches keep on rotating players to develop a stronger squad.

Experienced

"Winning is obviously what we are about as a club, but it was also important that as many players as possible experienced first team action," he told the club's official site.

"We knew it was a possibility that several members of our squad would be called up for England and therefore needed as many players as possible to be able to step into the first team.

"They will have to play well in what is going to be a challenging afternoon. Bath have been going well in the LV= Cup and like ourselves need a win to take a big step towards the semi-finals.

"It's therefore no surprise that they have named a strong team with 10 internationals in the starting line-up. The Rec is a tough place to play and we will need to be switched on right from the first whistle."

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Sam Vesty, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ross Batty, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16. Lee Mears, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Nick Scott.

Northampton: 15 Paul Diggin, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Scott Armstrong, 12 Greig Tonks, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Ben Nutley, 6 James Craig, 5 Christian Day, 4 Mark Sorensen, 3 Tom Mercey, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 James Ingle, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Ryan Glynn, 22 Tom May, 23 Noah Cato.