London Welsh v Bath: Aviva Premiership preview
Last Updated: 29/03/15 1:51pm
Bath have opted to rest their England stars for Sunday’s Aviva Premiership meeting with winless London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium.
George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson are all given the weekend off after playing pivotal roles in England’s Six Nations campaign.
Bath head coach Mike Ford makes four changes to the side that defeated Sale Sharks earlier this month. Kane Palma-Newport replaces the injured Henry Thomas at tighthead, while scrum-half Micky Young is preferred to Chris Cook in the sole change to their backline.
Carl Fearns moves to the blindside to accommodate Leroy Houston’s return at No 8, with Alafoti Faosiliva set to make his first start of the season at openside.
London Welsh will be relegated if they fail to beat Bath, although their fate could already be sealed if Newcastle claim any points at London Irish on Saturday.
Rowland Phillips takes charge of the Exiles for the first time and he makes six changes to the team that was crushed 74-16 at Exeter Chiefs in round 17.
Seb Jewell returns at full-back with captain Tom May named at inside centre, while Koree Britton and Ben Cooper come into the front row.
Dean Schofield starts in the second row and Carl Kirwan is selected at openside flanker.
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (c), 11 Alan Awcock, 10 Tristan Roberts, 9 Rob Lewis; 1 Nathan Trevett, 2 Koree Britton, 3 Ben Cooper, 4 Dean Schofield, 5 James Down, 6 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Opeti Fonua.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Eddie Aholelei, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Ben West, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Will Robinson, 23 James Lewis.
Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Sam Burgess, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Ollie Devoto, 9 Micky Young; 1 Nick Auterac, 2 Rob Webber, 3 Kane Palma-Newport, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 5 Dominic Day, 6 Carl Fearns, 7 Alafoti Faosiliva, 8 Leroy Houston.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 David Sisi, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Matt Banahan, 23 Horacio Agulla.