Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Bath name returning Obano on the bench
FREDDIE Burns, Paul Grant and Jamie Roberts return to the starting line-up as Bath Rugby take on Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership this afternoon.
Grant starts at blindside flanker, with fellow back-rowers Francois Louw and Zach Mercer at openside flanker and eight respectively.
Elliott Stooke switches back to the second row, where he will feature alongside Dave Attwood.
The front row remains unchanged with Nathan Catt and Henry Thomas lining up either side of Tom Dunn.
Will Chudley and Rhys Priestland continue in the half-back pairing, with Roberts partnering Jonathan Joseph in the midfield.
Burns comes in at full-back and will be joined in the back three by wing men Ruaridh McConnochie and Cooper Vuna.
There is also a welcome return to action for Beno Obano, who will be looking to make an impact from the replacements’ bench.
Bath Rugby have gone through the 40,000-ticket mark for The Clash with Bristol Bears at Twickenham.
In the third edition of the nowannual Premiership ‘home’ game away from the Rec, it will be a West Country derby on Saturday, April 6.
More than 62,000 supporters watched the Blue, Black & Whites beat Leicester in 2017 and just over 60,000 were in attendances when they lost to the Tigers last April. The club now hope to set a new record.
Wasps will aim to put themselves back in the Gallagher Premiership play-off picture when they visit rivals Leicester this afternoon.
And boss Dai Young has put the emphasis on an 80-minute effort following last week’s home loss to Sale.
Wasps are currently sixth in the table, five points and three places above Tigers, with Harlequins and Gloucester occupying play-off spots behind runaway top two Exeter and Saracens.
Young said: “We were really poor in the first half against Sale last weekend. We didn’t manage the first 20 minutes well.
“In the second half we were lots better, and maybe unlucky at the end not to get the win.
“It was a game of two halves, but when you go to Welford Road you’ve got to play for 80 minutes.
“You look at the history and tradition of Wasps and Leicester, and we’ve probably both been fighting at the top, but both of us are not where we want to be at this time.
“Since we’ve moved to Coventry, you can’t help but bump into a Leicester fan next door.
“You sense it’s a big game for the supporters, and you can’t help but get dragged into the buzz of it as players and coaches.”
Leicester lost to Worcester last time out, and head coach Geordan Murphy said: “It was very disappointing to lose to a late try, but we can’t really focus on looking back.
“We have to learn the lessons very quickly, and we’ve got to move forward in this six-day turnaround.”
Fifth-placed Northampton travel to Saracens on Saturday, while leaders Exeter face a testing encounter away against Sale.
Exeter are again without their sizeable England playing contingent, and Chiefs forwards coach Rob Hunter said: “It is probably one of the hardest away fixtures in the league. Sale are notoriously strong at home. They target games there, and they’ve had some notable scalps.
“I know they had a bit of a blip at Northampton the other week, but overall they are a tough, tough side with some world-class talent within their ranks.”