Teams Up for Bath - Joe Starts, Alfie on the Bench

[Rossm]

Lee Blackett has named his side to host Bath at Coventry Building Society Arena in Gallagher Premiership Round 16 on Saturday.

There are six personnel changes and one positional switch from the team that beat Exeter last Saturday.

Ben Morris starts at openside flanker, as he makes his 50th Wasps appearance. Morris is joined by James Gaskell and Brad Shields in the back row.

Joe Launchbury returns from England’s Six Nations training camp, to once again lead the side at lock. He forms the second-row partnership with Elliott Stooke once more.

Sam Spink starts at outside centre, as Malakai Fekitoa is side-lined with a rib injury. Spink partners Jimmy Gopperth in the midfield.

Rob Miller starts at full back, having impressed off the bench against Exeter last week. He is joined by double try-scorer Paolo Odogwu and Josh Bassett in the back three.

Bomber Hislop and Gabriel Oghre come into the front row, with Biyi Alo completing the pack at tighthead prop.

The half-backs are unchanged from Round 15, as Dan Robson partners Charlie Atkinson once more.

On the bench, try-scorer last week Alfie Barbeary lies in wait. Ryan Mills and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen also return to the squad. They are joined by Tom Cruse, Tom West, Vaea Fifita, Will Porter and Marcus Watson as the other replacements.

Wasps team to face Bath at Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday (kick-off 3:00pm)

Wasps (First-team appearances)

15 Rob Miller (131)

14 Paolo Odogwu (27)

13 Sam Spink (15)

12 Jimmy Gopperth (143)

11 Josh Bassett (166)

10 Charlie Atkinson (23)

9 Dan Robson (145)

1 Robin Hislop (14)

2 Gabriel Oghre (57)

3 Biyi Alo (29)

4 Joe Launchbury (162) (c)

5 Elliott Stooke (15)

6 James Gaskell (147)

7 Ben Morris (49)

8 Brad Shields (69)

Replacements

16 Tom Cruse (110)

17 Tom West (63)

18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen (57)

19 Vaea Fifita (12)

20 Alfie Barbeary (22)

21 Will Porter (43)

22 Ryan Mills (7)

23 Marcus Watson (63)

Unavailable (10): Malakai Fekitoa, Dan Frost, Francois Hougaard, Zach Kibirige, Rodrigo Martinez, Matteo Minozzi, Jacob Umaga, Jack Willis, Tom Willis, Thomas Young.

[HDAWG]

Looks pretty solid, bench also looks good Wrt West, Barbeary and Fifita.

[Neils]

Solid Rob starts. What was Ali Crossdale's injury?

Interesting team with a good bench.

[Raggs]

What have Bath's results looked like recently? Starting XV looks solid, but the bench looks like it's made to really cause a mess when it arrives.

[RogerE]

That bench really makes it look like "starters & finishers"

No mention of Crossdale at all?

[Rossm]

Bath:

Nathan at 8 and Simmo on the bench.

[Covkid40]

Good starting lineup and strong bench. I do think there is a certain element of next weeks game against Quinn’s that has gone into the starting 15 but it is still strong and quality on the bench. How nice is it to have the option to do it.

[JonnyD]

Wasn’t there something on Crossdale coming back at the end of last week into training so maybe available but not quite there yet or just not selected.
Miller deserves a shot, as does Gaskell.

That is a large pack with some serious lineout options.
With Fifita and Barbeary on the bench it offers a lot of flexibility.

Congratulations to Morris on the 50, deserves a start and looking forward to him and Shields working in tandem on Nathan

Atkinson vs Bailey and Pabs vs Muir on recent form should be a good contest too

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Its nice to see the unavailable list shrinking towards manageable proportions. At this stage of the season I don't think you can ask for much better, perhaps 2 or 3 fewer to give the coaches more options.

[Westy68]

That is a pretty good starting line up and the bench is strong. For me Bath will go full throttle at the beginning and we must be careful, as sometimes we can be slow starters.

If we can stop Bath for the first 30 minutes< i believe our strength in depth should carry us forward and Bath heads will hopefully drop. We mustn't give them hope at the beginning or we could be in trouble.

This is no way going to be easy.

[Shugs]

I’m trying to work out if this is rotation or not. The bench certainly looks packed. Morris deserves his chance and I’ve always liked Gaskell at 6. Mills gives us cover at 10.

[hopwood]

I'm interested to see how Rob Miller goes.
I don't hold him quite as high in estimations as some do.
He's a good squad player.

But maybe I'm not giving him enough credit.
Keen to see how it goes with a solid start.

[Westy68]

Bath's back row is strong, isn't that 3 8's playing in the back row. Must admit I was more confident last week then this week. I am a bit nervous

[Heathen]

BATH: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni , 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Valeriy Morozov, 2 Jacques du Toit, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 4 Ewan Richards, 5 Josh McNally ©, 6 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jaco Coetzee, 8 Nathan Hughes

Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Josh Dingley, 20 Richard de Carpentier, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Max Clark, 23 Tom de Glanville

[RogerE]

Will be good to see Simpson again - even if he is playing for the opposition.