Newcastle v Bath: Teams
Tim Visser starts for Newcastle against Bath, who will be without England standby Nick Abendanon.
Last Updated: 19/10/07 2:38pm
Newcastle director of rugby John Fletcher has admitted he has taken a risk by selecting Tim Visser to face Bath despite backing the Dutchman to shine.
Visser replaces Adam Dehaty at outside centre for the visit of the West Country outfit to beef up his centres.
And Fletcher has no qualms about letting the 20-year-old loose in the Premiership.
He told the club's official site: "Adam has been one of our best players over the past few weeks and I thought he had an excellent game down at Bristol, so he retains his place in the 22 on merit but drops to the bench just because we feel what Tim offers us will be more relevant this Sunday.
"There's no denying it is a bit of a risk chucking Tim in at outside centre with relatively little senior experience there, but he is a big talented kid at 17 stone and only 20 years old who makes things happen.
Glint
"He takes some serious stopping when he gets that glint in his eye and spots an attacking opportunity, he can do things that other players can't, and I look forward to watching him this weekend."
The inclusion of Visser is one of six changes made by Fletcher, with Jon Golding, Matt Thompson and Micky Ward forming a new-look front row, while Andy Perry replaces Jason Oakes at lock and Lee Dickson named at scrum-half.
Bath coach Steve Meehan will not rush Nick Abendanon back into his squad - despite the talented full-back missing out on a place in the World Cup final.
Abendanon received a late call-up to the England party to replace the injured Josh Lewsey.
And although Abendanon missed out on a place in the match-day 22, he will remain in France as cover for Saturday's final.
However, Bath will not race Abendanon back for Sunday's game.
Psychological
Meehan said: "While he is not in the match-day 22, if anything happens to one of the players involved, then he could feature.
"We also have to take his psychological state into account. If he is not mentally right we will be better off sticking with the 22 players on duty."
In Abendanon's absence, Michael Stephenson moves to full-back with Andy Higgins coming in on the wing. Alex Crockett also gets the nod in the centres, while Daniel Browne is named at No.8.
Newcastle: 15 Matthew Burke (c), 14 Tom May, 13 Tim Visser, 12 Joe Shaw, 11 John Rudd, 10 Steve Jones, 9 Lee Dickson, 1 Jon Golding, 2 Matt Thompson, 3 Micky Ward, 4 Andy Perry, 5 Mark Sorenson, 6 Geoff Parling, 7 Brent Wilson, 8 Russell Winter.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Joe McDonnell, 18 David Wilson, 19 Jason Oakes, 20 Eni Gesinde, 21 James Grindal, 22 Adam Dehaty.
Bath: 15 Michael Stephenson, 14 Ian Davey, 13 Alex Crockett (c), 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Andy Higgins, 10 Ryan Davis, 9 Michael Claassens, 1 David Flatman, 2 Pieter Dixon, 3 Paulica Ion, 4 Peter Short, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Andy Beattie, 7 Michael Lipman, 8 Daniel Browne.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Laurence Ovens, 18 Jonny Faamatuainu, 19 James Scaysbrook, 20 Nick Walshe, 21 Tom Cheeseman, 22 Matt Banahan.