Match Preview: Bristol Bears v Bath Rugby
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A sold out Ashton Gate is set to witness a West Country cracker on Saturday as Bristol Bears welcome Bath Rugby.
PlayerMic will be used for the first time in the match, being shown live on TNT Sports, as the hosts go in search of recording a double over their near neighbours, a feat they have not achieved since 2008/09.
Former Bath player Rich Lane comes in for the injured Max Malins at full-back for the Bears, while the visitors line up with Finn Russell at fly-half in his final match before he links up with Scotland for the Six Nations.
TV: Live on TNT Sports, kick-off 3.05pm
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and John Meredith
TMO: David Rose
Bristol Bears: 15. Rich Lane, 14. Noah Heward, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Jake Woolmore 2. Will Capon, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. James Dun, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Steven Luatua, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Magnus Bradbury.
System players: 16. Fred Davies, 17. Sam Grahamslaw, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Josh Caulfield, 20. Jake Heenan, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Virimi Vakatawa, 23. Siva Naulago
Bath Rugby: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Will Butt, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Louis Schreuder; 1 Juan Schoeman, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Elliott Stooke, 5 Quinn Roux, 6 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Miles Reid, 8 Jaco Coetze
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Chris Cloete
Oval Insights
Bristol Bears
- AJ MacGinty made more carries than any other player in Round 11 (19). Teammate Max Malins made the third-most (16).
- Max Malins and Noah Heward were the only teammates in Round 11 who both made three offloads; no player made more.
- Bernhard Janse van Rensburg has made more dominant tackles than any other back this season (37). He has also made the most post-contact metres outright, a total of 181.
- Virimi Vakatawa has made the most offloads in the Premiership (15).
Bath Rugby
- Tom de Glanville made more metres than any other player in Round 11, a total of 151. Teammate Will Muir made the third-most (106). Between them, they scored three tries.
- Cam Redpath beat the joint-most defenders in Round 11 (seven), made two clean breaks and the third-most carries (16).
- Joe Cokanasiga made the joint-most clean breaks (three) and joint-most dominant tackles (three) in Round 11.
- Bath have conceded more turnovers than any other team this season: an average of 14.7 per 80 minutes.
