Bath to Flush out Wasps Nest

After the wolf pack has been repelled, can Wasps offer more than a few irritating stings to Bath? Potentially, yes. A great club which spent half of last season at sixes and sevens recovered to qualify for Europe’s top tier. They have started this season well: Dai Young has firmed their scrum and sharpened the sting in their attack. Three weeks ago they snatched the scalp of champions Northampton Saints at Adams Park. They have, however won only 2 from 5 and defeat at Sale pushed them from a promising 5th place to the bottom third of the table. They still harbour ambitions of a Top 4 finish and will be even more stung next weekend having been thwarted at Sale.

Core to the Wasps revival is their back row. There will be great battles in prospect on Sunday. Mercer the terrier against the experienced Rottweiler Haskell. A clash of carrying titans at 8 between Houston and Hughes. It is at 6 though that Wasps have made the most progress. Last season, “Smashley” Johnson seemed to be an apprentice Jacques Burger. This term he has broadened his game, showing searing breaks, a deft offload and skilful attacking kicks as part of his armoury. Containing him will be a key task for Alfie Fa’osiliva and David Sisi. Of course the best way to blunt a back row is to win the battle of the front fives and although Wasps are stronger in this area now, Bath will fancy their chances to do just that. They will need to as Wasps also carry threats behind the scrum – sniping Simpson, two flying wings and the ability of Daly on the break. Lineout control will also be key. Bath’s lineout has functioned well so far, and in last year’ Amlin semi that was a set piece that embarrassed Wasps. On Friday against Sarries, Ross Batty, newly restored after a long injury layoff, struggled initially to find his jumpers. A better return will be needed at Adams Park.

If Bath do get the upper hand up front and sufficient front foot ball, expect them to continue to use Kyle Eastmond and Jonathon Joseph to find space and get behind the home side’s defensive line. In the AP matches last year Bath wasted the chance of a try bonus away and struggled to gain one at home. They will want to be more ruthless than that on Sunday – not so much for the bonus point, but to secure a margin of safety as this Wasps team do not seem to know when they are beaten.

Bath though have their tails up. With 10 league points from their last three fixtures- against last year’s top 3 they are on a wave of confidence. Expect them to win, but watch out for the sting in Wasps’ tail.

Possible Teams:
Bath:
James, Webber, Wilson, Hooper, Attwood, Fa’osiliva, Mercer, Houston, Cook, Ford, Rokoduguni, Eastmond, Joseph, Watson, Henson

Bench: Auterac, Batty, Thomas, Day, Sisi, Young, Devoto, Woodburn.

Wasps: Mullan, Festuccia, Cooper-Woolley, Launchbury, Gaskell, Johnson, Haskell, Hughes. Simpson, Goode, Varndell , Daly, C. Bell, Wade, Miller

Bench: Yapp, Lindsay, Cittadini, Cannon, Jones, Davies,Tagicakibau. Helu