Men’s 1st XV looking to extend unbeaten run in last BUCS Super Rugby home game of 2017
The Sports Training Village will stage its final BUCS Super Rugby match of 2017 tonight (Wednesday, 6.30pm) when the University of Bath men’s 1st XV take on Durham University.
Bath – sponsored by IKON Construction and supported by Investigo – are looking to extend their unbeaten run to three games after their dramatic home win against Hartpury and last week’s storming comeback draw at Leeds Beckett.
Both Bath and Durham currently have 15 points and will be looking for a victory that closes the gap on the top five before the festive break.
George Frampton replaces the injured Tom Doughty at hooker, while Bath Rugby Academy player Miles Reid makes his first start of the season in the back row.
The match will once again be played on the athletics infield and admission, as always, is free.
Meanwhile, University of Bath men’s 2nd XV player Benn Morris has been called into the Scotland U20 squad and is training with them this week.
Sports Performance student Josh Bayliss has also signed a contract extension with Bath Rugby and will move up into the Aviva Premiership club’s senior squad in the 2018-19 season.
The England U20 Grand Slam winner made his Premiership debut against London Irish last month and is considered one of the country’s most exciting back row talents.
“I’ve learnt a huge amount in my time with Bath so far and I know this is absolutely the best place for me to grow as a player,” Bayliss said. “I’ve got some world-class players to look up to and learn from in the likes of Francois Louw, Matt Garvey and Taulupe Faletau, and the coaches really put faith in you as a young player to go out and perform. We have the coaches’ full backing, and that belief really helps you focus on learning and performing to the best of your ability.”
Tonight’s teams
University of Bath: 15 Will Hughes, 14 Finn Murphy, 13 Charlie Dunbar, 12 Craig Duncan, 11 Levi Davis, 10 Will Flinn, 9 Luca Petrozzi; 1 Austin Hay, 2 George Frampton, 3 David da Costa, 4 Derryn Jones, 5 Will Britton (c), 6 Miles Reid, 7 Chris Barry, 8 Jack Davies. Replacements: 16 Jordi den Hartog, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Bradley Packham, 19 Jordan Martin, 20 Tom Bottoms, 21 Louis Mulholland, 22 Alex Burrage.
Durham University: 15 Tristan Rawcliffe, 14 Rory Hardman, 13 Charlie Norman, 12 Elliott Manley, 11 Nathan Wyman, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Jacob Collin; 1 Jack Conteh, 2 Harry Baron, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 4 Colin Markham, 5 Justin Clegg (c), 6 Joe Duffy, 7 Ethan Harbinson, 8 Benjamin Fowles. Replacements: 16 Luke Chadwick, 17 Max Hayes, 18 Henry Paremain, 19 Hugo Chambre, 20 Owen Bennett, 21 Joshua Wright, 22 Tom Lewis.
Referee: Andy Wigley.
Assistant referee: George Selwood, Alex Marsh.
