Bath v Gloucester: Teams
Willie Walker comes in at fly-half for Gloucester as they go in search of their first ever win at the Rec against Bath on Saturday.
Last Updated: 12/09/08 1:04pm
Willie Walker comes in at fly-half for Gloucester as they go in search of their first ever win at the Rec when they take on Bath on Saturday.
Walker, the former Highlanders No.10, comes in for Ryan Lamb as head coach Dean Ryan makes six changes to the side that lost to Leicester last weekend.
Lamb, who disappointed with the boot, drops to the bench. Walker is joined at half-back by Welsh international Gareth Cooper, completing a new look pairing as Rory Lawson is dropped.
Matthew J Watkins comes in at outside centre as a result of Anthony Allen's ankle injury, meaning captain Mike Tindall takes the number twelve jersey.
Up front, hooker Olivier Azam comes in for Andy Titterrell, Alex Brown starts at lock in place of Marco Bortolami and Andy Hazell returns to the openside position in place of Alasdair Strokosch.
Former Bath centre Olly Barkley was not considered to play against his former club because of a wrist injury.
Positive
"I have not made decisions based solely on last weekend," Ryan said.
"I have said this week that at the top end of elite sport people are allowed to make mistakes so they can learn from them but this is a process that has been going on for some time.
"We have made some fundamental mistakes that have dented us but we have moved on this week. We are one game into a nine month season but we have had a really positive reaction to last weekend and I cannot ask for any more than that."
Bath welcome back captain Michael Lipman, who missed last week's victory over Bristol, in one of two changes to their starting XV.
Lipman comes in for James Scaysbrook, whilst David Flatman is preferred to David Barnes at loosehead prop. Both Scaysbrook and Barnes have been named on the bench.
"If you look at the two games we played last season against them, those games were probably two of the highest quality games that I have seen during my time at Bath and that is testament to both clubs and the Guinness Premiership," Forwards coach Mark Bakewell said.
"Under no stretch of the imagination do we think it will be easy - it's going to be extremely tough. It may come down to the eighth minute of injury time that someone wins this game. This game could go down to the wire. I don't think one team will run away with this."
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Tom Cheeseman, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Jonny Faamatuainu, 7 Michael Lipman (c), 6 Stuart Hooper, 5 Peter Short, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Duncan Bell, 18 David Barnes, 19 James Scaysbrook, 20 Scott Bemand, 21 Shaun Berne, 22 Jack Cuthbert.
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Mike Tindall (c), 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Will James, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Dave Young, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Ryan Lamb, 22 Mark Foster.