Leicester v Bath: Teams
Leicester's Richard Cockerill is relishing the chance to set the record straight when his side face Bath in the Premiership semi-final.
Last Updated: 16/05/10 1:32pm
Leicester head coach Richard Cockerill is relishing the chance to set the record straight when his side face Bath in the Guinness Premiership semi-final.
Despite finishing the season on top of the Premiership table, Leicester lost their final game of the regular season to fellow of play-off hopefuls Saracens.
Cockerill, though, is confident his side can bounce back against their old rivals.
"There are four very good sides in the semi-finals, which is just what you want at this stage of the competition," said Cockerill.
"We didn't play well last week, we made too many mistakes, but the good thing in sport is that there is always another challenge to face and a chance to put it right.
"We've been playing well and the players have worked extremely hard all year to get into this position and now we have the opportunity to take a step further. But we'll only be able to do that if we play at our best.
"Bath have put a good run together, they're a good side and it should be a cracking contest."
Cockerill has recalled England internationals Toby Flood, Jordan Crane and Louis Deacon for the clash.
Positivity
Bath coach Steve Meehan insists his side are peaking at just the right time going into the play-offs.
Having been one place off bottom spot at one stage, Bath have gone on a run of 11 wins from 12 games to claim a place in the play-offs on the final weekend.
And although their only defeat in that run came at Welford Road to the Tigers, Meehan is hitting form at the right time.
"We were not anywhere near our potential the last time we faced Leicester and we certainly were not true to ourselves at all," said Meehan.
"There is very different feeling this time though. There is a lot more positivity and you can really feel it.
"The plan has always been to peak at this stage of the season rather than earlier which we have suffered from in previous years.
"We were always aware that whilst we could look after our own performances we couldn't control what was going on elsewhere and we needed other people to slip up which they did.
"But, we have worked so hard and have been through so much that we have to make the most of the opportunity ahead of us."
Leicester Tigers: 15 Geordan Murphy (c), 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Joe Duffey, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Boris Stankovich, 19 Craig Newby, 20 Ben Woods, 21 James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Johne Murphy.
Bath:15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens (c), 8 Luke Watson, 7 Julian Salvi, 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 Peter Short, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mike Baxter, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Shontayne Hape.