Bath v Northampton: Teams
All Blacks international Stephen Donald will come back into the Bath line-up for the visit of Northampton on Saturday.
Last Updated: 30/03/12 1:28pm
All Blacks international Stephen Donald will come back into the Bath line-up for the visit of Northampton on Saturday.
Donald, who kicked the crucial penalty in the World Cup final against France, has been sidelined since straining his knee ligaments in February.
However he makes a welcome return to partner Michael Claassens at half-back, with Tom Heathcote dropping out of the squad.
Matt Banahan and Dan Hipkiss also return to the back division, with David Flatman and Ben Skirving named in the pack.
Sam Vesty, Josh Ovens and Duncan Bell also return to the squad on the bench.
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder has tweaked his pack for the trip to Bath.
Difficult
Mark Sorenson comes into the second row, with James Craig moving the blindside and Phil Dowson switching to the openside. Tom Wood misses out, with James Ingle providing back-row cover from the bench.
And despite a difficult week for the club - with Dylan Hartley and Calum Clark both handed long bans - Mallinder insists his team are fully focused.
"It's been easy to concentrate on this weekend because it is a massive game for us," he told SaintsTV.
"If we don't concentrate then we'll go down to Bath and get beaten. But we've had our focus on Saturday's game, the lads have trained well and we're looking forward to the challenge.
"We've got a good side for the game, but so do they. They've lost a number of players through injury, but so have we, so it's going to be a tough match. They're difficult to stop when they get on the front foot and get their offloading game going, but so are we and we will need to take the game to them."
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Matt Carraro, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens (capt), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Josh Ovens, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 George Pisi, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Lee Dickson (capt), 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 James Craig, 5 Christian Day, 4 Mark Sorenson, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Andy Long, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 James Ingle, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Tom May.
