Bath v Ulster: Teams
South Africa fly-half Butch James will make his long-awaited return to the Bath side when they face Ulster on Saturday.
Last Updated: 18/12/10 9:29am
South Africa fly-half Butch James will make his long-awaited return to the Bath side when they face Ulster in the Heineken Cup on Saturday.
James will be making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury he picked up during the Tri-Nations.
The Pool Four clash will bring up a landmark for second-rower Danny Grewcock, who is set to make his 200th start for Bath.
Top spot in the pool is still up for grabs after Biarritz suffered a shock defeat to Aironi last weekend, but following their own 22-18 loss to Ulster at Ravenhill, Bath know that a win is now crucial.
"Without a doubt if we want to go through to the next stage then we have to win this match," skills and defence coach Brad Davis said.
"We will go out there and put in a performance that everyone can be proud of."
Character
He added: "Looking back to Ravenhill what you saw from the squad was loads of character, despite us not playing the best rugby we are capable of.
"If we didn't have that then we would have been turned over by Ulster by a much larger amount of points.
"If we can tidy up our unforced errors when we have the ball in hand and get an equal share of possession we can cause problems with some clean line breaks and if we are a little more clinical then we can finish them off."
Matt Banahan moves to the wing to replace Tom Biggs, with Olly Barkley moving into the starting line-up at outside centre.
Ulster will have to do without Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris, who has been ruled out of the contest with a leg injury.
Robbie Diack comes into the back row at No. 8 while Pedrie Wannenburg moves to take the spot vacated by Ferris at blindside flanker.
The only other change sees Chris Henry replaced by Willie Faloon at openside flanker.
Bath: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Olly Barkley, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens (capt), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 David Barnes, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Nick Abendanon.
Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Nevin Spence, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 BJ Botha, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andi Kyriacou, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Bryan Young, 19 Tim Barker, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Jamie Smith.