Bath v Bristol: Teams
Bristol coach Richard Hill has been forced to drop on of his Heineken Cup heroes due to the Premiership overeas ruling.
Last Updated: 23/11/07 1:03pm
Bath coach Steve Meehan is focused solely on winning as his side prepare for the West Country grudge match against Bristol.
After a scratchy performance in the European Challenge Cup, Bath take on a Bristol side buoyed by their superb win over Stade Francais.
And Meehan is looking towards the likes of Steve Borthwick and Butch James to lead his side to victory.
He told the club's website: "It is a massive game, but we have been playing some good rugby.
"There was a little bit of criticism that came our way last week, because of the way we played, but we think it was a result of the programme that we were in.
"The fact of the matter is that we really encourage the players to go out and play and to really try and push things, so, at times, it didn't really go our way, but it was all part of the programme and in the end we achieved the objective of winning the game and scoring four tries and it has given us a good development towards this weekend.
"I think we will find Steve Borthwick has an immense match. It will be the sort of game that is made for him and he will be looking to lead by example as the captain.
"I also think Butch will stand up and show exactly why he is a World Cup winner."
Bristol coach Richard Hill has been forced to drop on of his Heineken Cup heroes due to the Premiership overeas ruling.
Neil Brew scored the decisive try in the 17-0 win over Stade Francais on Sunday, while David Hill weighed in with 12 points.
Dilemma
However, a return to domestic action against West Country rivals Bath means only one of the two New Zealanders can be on the pitch at the same time - with Brew getting the nod, and Hill named on the bench.
Jason Strange is handed the No.10 jersey in Hill's absence, while Lee Robinson comes in for the injured Tom Arscott.
Coach Hill told the club's official website: "It's been a dilemma because Brew and Hill have both been playing well. I've been mulling it over for a couple of days and I knew I would disappoint someone.
"But it's good to be able to bring Lee Robinson back in as he can't stop scoring against Bath! Perhaps it's because he started playing at Bath but he loves playing against them.
"Everybody is still fairly happy after the Stade result but as we get closer to that 2:15pm kick off on Saturday, the mood will change and will be every bit as focused as it was before the Stade game."
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Andrew Higgins, 13 Shaun Berne, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens, 1 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 3 Lorne Ward, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 5 Peter Short, 6 Andy Beattie, 7 Michael Lipman, 8 Daniel Browne.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Paulica Ion, 18 James Scaysbrook, 19 Jonny Faamatuainu, 20 Nick Walshe, 21 Tom Cheeseman, 22 Michael Stephenson.
Bristol: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Lee Robinson, 13 Rob Higgitt, 12 Neil Brew, 11 David Lemi, 10 Jason Strange, 9 Shaun Perry (c), 1 Alex Clarke, 2 Mark Regan, 3 Jason Hobson, 4 Roy Winters, 5 Sean Hohneck, 6 Andrew Blowers, 7 Joe El Abd, 8 Dan Ward-Smith.
Replacements: 16 David Blaney, 17 Darren Crompton, 18 Gareth Llewellyn, 19 Alfie To'oala, 20 Brian O'Riordan, 21 David Hill, 22 Josh Taumalolo.