Bath v Harlequins: Teams
Bath will hand a debut to Romanian prop Paulica Ion for the visit of Harlequins on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Last Updated: 12/10/07 7:46pm
Bath have handed a debut to Romanian prop Paulica Ion for the visit of Harlequins.
Ion arrived at The Rec in the summer, and has been limited to bench duty so far. However coach Steve Meehan has turned to the powerhouse prop to add his weight to the pack.
Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards has the luxury of naming the same starting XV that beat Bristol for the trip to Bath.
The Quins have reached the dizzy heights of second spot after an encouraging start to the season - and victory could see them top the table for a couple of hours at least.
Changes
Richards has made some changes to his replacements, with Chris Brooker and Ugo Monye both returning from their respective injuries.
Brooker has shaken off a shoulder problem to make his Quins debut against his former club, with his inclusion meaning short-term signing Christophe Laurent misses out.
Monye replaces England Sevens international Charlie Amesbury among the replacements.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Tom Cheeseman, 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Ian Davey, 10 Ryan Davis, 9 Michael Claassens, 1 David Barnes, 2 Pieter Dixon, 3 Paulica Ion, 4 Peter Short, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Jonny Faamatuainu, 7 Michael Lipman, 8 Zak Feaunati (c).
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 David Flatman, 18 Andy Beattie, 19 Daniel Browne, 20 Nick Walshe, 21 Alex Crockett, 22 Jack Cuthbert.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Jordan Turner Hall, 11 Simon Keogh, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Steve So'oialo, 1 Ceri Jones, 2 Tani Fuga, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Ollie Kohn, 5 Jim Evans , 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Paul Volley (c), 8 Tom Guest.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 John Brooks, 18 Nicolas Spanghero, 19 Will Skinner, 20 Chris Hala'ufia, 21 Tosh Masson, 22 Ugo Monye.
