Bristol Bears vs Bath Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Bristol Bears vs Bath taking place? Bristol Bears vs Bath will take place on Friday 1st October, 2021 at 19:45 (UK)
Where is Bristol Bears vs Bath taking place? Bristol Bears vs Bath will take place at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol
Where can I get tickets for Bristol Bears vs Bath? Ticket information for Bristol Bears vs Bath can be found on each side’s official website
What TV channel is Bristol Bears vs Bath on in the UK? Bristol Bears vs Bath will be televised live on BT Sport
Where can I stream Bristol Bears vs Bath in the UK? BT Sport subscribers can stream Bristol Bears vs Bath live on the BT Sport Player & app
THE TEAM NEWS
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ioan Lloyd, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Steven Luatua (c), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Will Capon, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Fitz Harding, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Antoine Frisch, 23 Alapati Leiua
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ollie Fox, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Max Green, 22 Max Clark, 23 Anthony Watson
THE PREDICTION
Bristol Bears spent much of last season at the top of the Premiership table but they sit bottom on two defeats from two after a 44-8 thrashing at Wasps. They drew the short straw on the opening day of the season with a home tie against the returning Saracens and they will be desperate to give their fans something to cheer about here as they host rivals Bath. After an opening weekend near-miss 20-19 away at Sale, Bath returned home with some confidence to host Newcastle Falcons but they fell disappointingly to a 13-20 defeat. Bristol have won each of the last four editions of this crunch fixture and given Bath’s recent performance they should be able to comfortably cover -9 at home to get their season going.
