Leicester Tigers v Bath: Aviva Premiership preview
Last Updated: 27/11/15 9:22pm
Matt Banahan make his 200th appearance for Bath in Sunday's Aviva Premiership clash with Leicester at Welford Road.
Banahan has scored 76 tries for the club since joining in 2006, and partners Kyle Eastmond in the midfield in his milestone game. Argentine wing Horacio Agulla makes his first start of the season and is joined in the back three by Semesa Rokoduguni and full-back Anthony Watson.
Scrum-half Niko Matawalu is paired with George Ford in the half-backs as the visitors look to build on last week's 19-16 Champions Cup win over Leinster.
Nick Auterac, Ross Batty and Henry Thomas all retain their places in the front row while skipper Stuart Hooper packs down alongside Bath Academy and former England U20 second row Tom Ellis on his debut for the senior side.
Among the replacements is Scotland's David Denton, who could feature for Bath for the first time after joining them at the conclusion of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Ed Slater makes his 100th appearance for Leicester and his first start of the season in Sunday's showdown while Tommy Bell continues in the No 10 jersey after registering his 100th point for the Tigers in their 36-3 win over Benetton Treviso last weekend.
A reshuffled backline includes captain Mathew Tait at full-back, Telusa Veainu on the wing and Peter Betham alongside Matt Smith in the midfield.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait (c), 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Telusa Veainu, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Ed Slater, 5 Mike Fitzgerald, 6 Mike Williams, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey.
Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 George Catchpole.
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 George Ford, 9 Niko Matawalu; 1 Nick Auterac, 2 Ross Batty, 3 Henry Thomas, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 5 Tom Ellis, 6 Matt Garvey, 7 Francois Louw, 8 Leroy Houston.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 David Denton, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.