Bath v Wasps: Champions Cup preview
By Keith Moore
Last Updated: 20/12/15 5:14pm
Bath have named an unchanged team to face Wasps in the second of back-to-back European Rugby Champions Cup fixtures.
Bath were victorious over their Premiership rivals at the Ricoh Arena last week, with George Ford kicking a conversion with no time on the clock to snatch a 25-23 win.
Ford once again pairs with Fiji's Niko Matawalu in the half-backs while last week's 80th-minute try scorer Anthony Watson joins wingers Semesa Rokoduguni and Matt Bahanan in the back three.
Springbok flanker Francois Louw captains Bath and his battle with Wasps fetcher George Smith will be crucial to the outcome of the game.
Smith completes a formidable loose forward combination with No 8 Nathan Hughes and James Haskell.
There are three changes to the Wasps side that narrowly missed out last weekend, with Frank Halai making a return to fitness that sees him on the wing, while Jimmy Gopperth starts at fly-half.
In the front Lorenzo Cittadini starts in place of the injured Jake Cooper-Woolley in the No 3 jersey, with Phil Swainston covering on the bench.
Dai Young said he had been pleased with the response from his team following Sunday's loss..
"We were all frustrated with the performance and the manner in which we lost the game last weekend," said Young.
"But everyone has come back to the club with a positive mentality and I've been pleased with the reaction we've seen from the players this week.
"The back-to-back games throw up an interesting battle and both sides will know how the other wants to play, which means we have to be even more clinical and precise with what we are doing.
"We all know how tough it is to win at The Rec, but we go there confident in our game and with the belief that we can get a positive result if things click for us."
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Niko Matawalu; 1 Nick Auterac, 2 Ross Batty, 3 David Wilson, 4 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood, 6 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (c), 8 David Denton.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Joe Simpson; 1 Matt Mullan, 2 Ashley Johnson, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Bradley Davies, 6 James Haskell (c), 7 George Smith, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Edd Shervington, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Alapati Leiua.