Harlequins v Bath: Teams
Harlequins welcome Bath to the Stoop on Sunday looking to bounce back after a last-gasp defeat to Gloucester.
Last Updated: 31/10/10 7:31am
Harlequins welcome Bath to the Stoop on Sunday looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking defeat to Gloucester last weekend.
With Danny Care and Nick Easter away on England duty, Karl Dickson and Tom Guest come into the team while Joe Marler, who was called up to the England squad as injury cover, has been released and starts in the front-row, where he is joined by Matt Cairns and John Andress.
Tom Guest is at No.8, with familiar faces Will Skinner and Chris Robshaw on the flanks, while George Robson partners Tomas Vallejos at lock.
Nick Evans, despite his heroics against Gloucester, could not prevent the last-gasp 33-26 loss but he will look to continue his fine form this season.
George Lowe and Jordan Turner-Hall are in the centre. Tom Williams, the hat-trick hero against Prato, Gonzalo Camacho and Mike Brown make up a fast back-three.
Mystery
Meanwhile, Bath will be looking to match performance with a result this weekend as they travel to the capital.
After an improved performance against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road last weekend, which saw the visitors bring a losing bonus point back to the West Country, head coach, Steve Meehan, is aware of the challenge Harlequins pose, and the importance of the fixture this weekend.
"To try and put your finger on what team they will actually play is quite difficult because they have chopped and changed their team quite a lot over the last four games. Which XV we're going to play against is a bit of a mystery, but their style of play won't change that much," he said.
"They have had a beginning to the season that's been similar to ourselves. The fact they change it around often can be seen as one their strengths. It's difficult to plan for who we're going to get and that's part of the enjoyment.
"We're in a reasonable spot - sixth in the table, a couple of points off the top four - and we've played four of the top five teams. We feel pretty good and we know this is a key match for us, a very important match.
"I don't think we have gone there in the past and had anything but a tight match - and we've been unlucky a couple of times not to come away with the win. We've always been very competitive at The Stoop, but it's time we won away at Harlequins."
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Will Skinner, 6 Chris Robshaw (capt), 5 George Robson, 4 Tomas Vallejos, 3 John Andress, 2 Matt Cairns, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 Mark Lambert, 19 Pete Browne, 20 Chris Yorke, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Ollie Smith.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Luke Watson (capt), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 David Flatman, 18 Mark Lilley, 19 Ignacio Fernandez-Lobbe, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Ben Williams, 23 Jack Cuthbert.