Obano to make his 150th appearance for Bath
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Bath Rugby return to The Rec this Saturday for Round 6 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Taking on Sale Sharks, Beno Obano is set to earn his 150th cap in the hoops of Blue, Black and White.
Obano will pack down alongside Tom Dunn at hooker.
Thomas du Toit has been named as tighthead, before linking up with the Springboks squad next week for the autumn international campaign.
In the second row, Quinn Roux retains his number 4 jersey from last week, seeing Ross Molony come back into the fold.
Ted Hill and Guy Pepper will feature on the flanks, with Miles Reid captaining from Number 8.
Among the backs, Louis Schreuder will start at scrum-half.
Finn Russell remains at fly-half before heading into Scotland camp next week.
In a new centre pairing, Will Butt will start at 12, seeing Wales U20, Louie Hennessey, come into the fold at 13 for his first Premiership appearance of the season.
Also back in the starting line-up, Will Muir returns to the left wing hunting down Horse Corner, with Joe Cokanasiga on the right wing and Tom de Glanville at 15.
In another impactful show for van Graan’s bench last week, Niall Annett and Francois van Wyk take their spots, with van Wyk getting across the whitewash for the first time in Blue, Black and White last week.
Vilikesa Sela takes the replacement tighthead spot after making his Bath Rugby debut during Round 2 against Leicester Tigers.
Ethan Staddon looks to make his first Premiership appearance of the season, with Josh Bayliss & Jaco Coetzee completing the replacement forwards.
In a repeat of last week’s replacement backs, Tom Carr-Smith and Orlando Bailey complete the 6-2 bench split.
Cameron Redpath is unavailable for selection following an injury sustained prior to last week’s Harlequins game.
TEAMS
Bath Rugby: 1 Beno Obano (150), 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid ©, 9 Louis Schreuder, 10 Finn Russell, 11 Will Muir, 12 Will Butt, 13 Louie Hennessey, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Tom de Glanville
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20 Ethan Staddon, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee
Sale Sharks: 1 Si McIntyre, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 3 James Harper, 4 Ben Bamber, 5 Hyron Andrews, 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 7 Sam Dugdale, 8 Dan du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 10 Rob du Preez, 11 Arron Reed, 12 Sam Bedlow, 13 Luke James, 14 Will Addison, 15 Joe Carpenter
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Josh Beaumont, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Jean-Luc du Preez
MATCH DETAILS
Fixture: Bath Rugby v Sale Sharks
Date: Saturday 26 October 2024
Time: 15:05
Location: The Rec
Competition: Gallagher Premiership
Round: 6
Coverage: TNT Sports, The Rugby Network, BBC Radio Bristol (radio commentary), X (written commentary)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Joe James & John Meredith
TMO: David Rose