After the long lay off through injury of Andy Beattie and Danny Grewcock, the two forwards are back and fighting fit to face Cardiff Blues this Friday in the EDF Energy Cup match.
Having beaten Sale Sharks last week, reigniting their Cup campaign with a 21- 24 win, try scorer Shontayne Hape makes a welcome return to the pitch, alongside kicker Cuthbert who booted nine points for the team last Friday.
With Michael Lipman on England duty, off-the-field captain Alex Crockett takes the captaincy reins once again. However, earlier this week, Steve Meehan praised ‘on the bench’ Stuart Hooper for his contribution over recent weeks: “In the two EDF matches to date, the on-field captain has been replaced and Hooper has taken his place. Although he does not say a lot, what he does say people take very seriously. He thinks very deeply about the game.”
Whether Bath Rugby progress in the EDF Energy Cup now hangs in the balance and will be determined by the final score line against the welsh side, but with players returning from injury and the team playing well, there have been understandable selection headaches this week.
“There is the possibility now of progressing in the competition, but an important factor about this game is that obviously we have the guys coming back from injury and have a squad that is performing pretty well,” said Meehan.
“Those guys who delivered last Friday night were in good form and that put the pressure on the rest of the squad. But, we have had the opportunity to use quite a number of our squad over the course of these two matches and in light of this competition for places – the one’s who have been given the opportunity this Friday, are those who really wanted it.”
The Bath squad to face Cardiff Blues:
15. Jack Cuthbert
14. Joe Maddock
13. Alex Crockett (c)
12. Shontayne Hape
11. Andrew Higgins
10. Shaun Berne
9. Scott Bemand
1. David Flatman
2. Pieter Dixon
3. Duncan Bell
4. Peter Short
5. Danny Grewcock
6. Andy Beattie
7. James Scaysbrook
8. Daniel Browne
16. Rob Hawkins
17. Aaron Jarvis
18. Nathan Catt
19. Stuart Hooper
20. Jonny Faamatuainu
21. Mike Baxter
22. Tom Cheeseman