James Goode makes his Ospreys debut after arriving on trial last week while James King and Justin Tipuric make their first starts for the region after debuting over the last two weeks.
Will Taylor and Hanno Dirksen will make their Ospreys debuts if they come off the bench during the game. Ross Davies made his Ospreys debut as a replacement last weekend, and along with Richard Kelly and Matthew Jarvis has just one Ospreys appearance to date.
Rhys Webb returns to action ahead of schedule following ACL and shoulder reconstructions at the end of April
Ospreys Coach Jonathan Humphreys commented: “We’re looking forward to playing Bath on Saturday, and what will be another chance to test ourselves against Guinness Premiership opposition. I’ve got no doubts that Bath will be looking at our current situation here, with injuries and unavailability and will be targeting a win, but we’ll travel full of self belief and confidence in the players that we put out. It’s a fantastic opportunity for some of these guys to put their hand up and show what they can do, and while it’s been tough preparing for the game, I have to say that the attitude and application of the squad has been first class.
“Bath haven’t had the best of runs recently, if you just look the W’s or L’s in the column, but that doesn’t tell the full story. They’ve put on some good performances and recorded some really narrow defeats as well as a draw against Leicester, so we now that they will pose a real threat. Bath sides have always had a strong pack, and that is what they are trying to build there. It’s going to be a real test for our young side, and one that I’d like to think that they would enjoy and learn from as they continue their development.
“With the new format of the LV= Cup, there is an extra game in the pool stages this year, so with us both losing last weekend, we have an opportunity to bounce back and keep alive our hopes of progressing.”
Following a convincing display against Saracens last Sunday, Bath Head Coach Steve Meehan will be looking for yet another strong performance from the team, especially the younger players who will be challenging for future match time.
“We went out against a very good Saracens side,” admitted Meehan. “And we chose to give some players that were coming back from injury, and some of our younger players who have been training very well, the opportunity to play.
“If you took the score line out of it we probably got a lot more out of the game than Saracens did with regards to knowing a bit more about some of our players and where we are as a squad. I am pretty happy with that.”
Due to a shoulder injury to Rhys Crane, Academy winger Nick Scott gets a place on the bench and with David Barnes having sustained an injury during England training, he is replaced on the bench by David Flatman.
Luke Watson makes his debut for Bath and whilst he is on the bench Meehan is sure to give him a good run out against the welsh side.
“What we want to do is improve on the things we have been working on in training and give particularly our young players a good run out, this time in front of their home supporters, and I hope they deliver the same sort of performance as they did last week.”
Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies 14 Nicky Thomas 13 Sonny Parker 12 Andrew Bishop 11 Ashley Beck 10 Gareth Owen 9 Liam Davies; 1 Ryan Bevington 2 Ed Shervington 3 Cai Griffiths 4 James King 5 James Goode 6 Jerry Collins (Capt) 7 Justin Tipuric 8 Tom Smith
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard 17 Will Taylor 18 Ross Davies 19 Richard Kelly 20 Steve Tandy 21 Rhys Webb 22 Matthew Jarvis 23 Hanno Dirksen
Bath Rugby: 15. Jack Cuthbert 14. Joe Maddock 13. Tom Cheeseman 12. Ben Williams 11. Michael Stephenson 10. Ryan Davis 9. Mike Baxter: 1. Nathan Catt 2. Rob Hawkins 3. Aaron Jarvis 4. Scott Hobson 5. Peter Short (capt) 6. Andy Beattie 7. Guy Mercer 8. Ben Skirving
Replacements: 16. Lee Mears 17. David Flatman 18. Mark Lilley 19. Daniel Browne 20. Luke Watson 21. Chris Cook 22. Paul Roberts 23. Nick Scott
