Bath v Newcastle: Teams
Duncan Bell makes a rare start for Bath in their Guinness Premiership clash with Newcastle, who make three changes.
Last Updated: 07/03/08 11:46am
Duncan Bell will make a rare start for Bath when they entertain Newcastle in the Guinness Premiership on Saturday.
With four players away on international duty and Andy Beattie ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, Bell comes in for just his second start of the campaign.
Tom Cheeseman returns to the bench after a lengthy injury absence having performed well in training.
"He was one of a couple of players who we were looking at for a position on the bench (last weekend) and he actually put his challenge in and performed very well at training and it was there that he was really eye-catching," said coach Steve Meehan.
"We gave him the opportunity on the bench as a direct result. He only had a few minutes on the field but he has played better for being back around the group.
"It has done him good just taking part in the warm-up with everybody and being part of the build up. So this week he has been back in full training and will be part of the group again this weekend."
Newcastle have made three changes to their starting line-up for the trip to the west country.
Two of the changes made by director of rugby John Fletcher are enforced, with Andy Perry and Andy Long both ruled out by injury.
Perry is replaced by Brent Wilson while Matt Thompson steps up to take the place of Long.
The only other change comes at loose head prop, where England Saxon Jon Golding takes over from Joe McDonnell, who is among the replacements.
Last weekend's match against Wasps was postponed due to high winds and Fletcher admits that could be a blessing in disguise.
"It was very frustrating not to play last Friday in front of a full house, but we understand the circumstances and what it does mean is that the boys are nice and fresh going in to this weekend," Fletcher said.
"They are mad keen to play, and they are itching to get stuck into Bath. You can see it in training every day because it's been getting a bit feisty, and hopefully that will translate into a big performance down at The Rec."
Bath team: 15 Joe Maddock, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Alex Crockett (capt), 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Andrew Higgins, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Michael Claassens, 1 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 4 Peter Short, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Chris Goodman, 7 Jonny Faamatuainu, 8 Daniel Browne
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Paulica Ion, 18 Martin Purdy, 19 Zak Feaunati, 20 Mike Baxter, 21 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
Newcastle team: 15 Tom May, 14 Ollie Phillips, 13 Tom Dillon, 12 Alex Tait, 11 John Rudd, 10 Steve Jones, 9 Lee Dickson, 1 Jon Golding, 2 Matt Thompson, 3 Carl Hayman, 4 Geoff Parling, 5 Mark Sorenson, 6 Brent Wilson, 7 Ben Woods, 8 Phil Dowson (capt)
Replacements: 16 Rob Vickers, 17 Joe McDonnell, 18 Tim Swinson, 19 Russell Winter, 20 James Grindal, 21 Joe Shaw, 22 Tim Visser