Match Preview: Spencer tells Bath Rugby to expect a challenge at Cardiff

Spencer was electric in Bath Rugby’s opening win over Ulster Rugby, orchestrating The Rec side’s potent attack and kicking 10 points from the tee. 

But with all of his experience, the three-time winner of EPCR’s elite competition told his side to expect no quarter to be given in the Welsh capital. 

“You know what you expect when you go and play in Wales,” Spencer said. 

“The crowd will be getting right behind them.  

“Hopefully a few of the Bath fans can get down to that one and cross the bridge, but the games come thick and fast in EPCR competitions.  

“The challenge is huge, but one that we're really looking forward to.”

Cardiff Rugby will themselves be looking for a bounce-back win after suffering a 52-7 loss at the hands of Stade Toulousain. 

But powered on by their home support, back-row Josh Turnbull has backed his side to prove themselves. 

“We’ve had a pretty good record at home in EPCR competitions,” he explained. 

“We’ve played Harlequins a couple times in the past few years, and we have a good record against Bath Rugby as well.  

“It’s nice to test yourself against these English teams, their style of rugby is a bit different to ours.  

“We like to play a loose head style of rugby in terms of how we play, move the ball about and play fast on the artificial turf we’ve got. 

“Hopefully that can give us the upper hand.” 

That’s a sentiment shared by Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt, who is looking forward to the challenge Bath Rugby will bring. 

"The reason you start playing rugby is to play against the likes of Stade Toulousain away or Bath Rugby at home in the best club competition there is around,” Sherratt said. 

Cardiff Rugby against Bath Rugby will start at 20:00 GMT on Saturday evening. The match is available to watch on S4C, TNT Sports, beIN SPORTS, FloRugby and SuperSport.