Match Preview: Leicester Tigers v bath Rugby

High-flying Bath Rugby will hope for some New Years' Eve fireworks as they travel to Leicester Tigers on the final day of 2023.

Johann van Graan's side lead the way before a ball is kicked or a scrum set in Round 10, but it is tight at the top with just four points separating the top four.

Bath will hope to continue to set the pace with victory in the East Midlands, but know they will face a tough examination of their credentials from a Leicester side with three wins from their last four Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches.

That defeat came last time out in a 29-10 loss to Exeter Chiefs, but Tigers will hope a return to Mattioli Woods Welford Road can help inspire a fifth win of the season.

Oval Insights

Leicester Tigers

• For the fifth consecutive round, Jasper Wiese made more carries than any other player in Round 9 (22). He also beat more defenders than any player has in a single match this season (13).
• Freddie Steward made more carries than any other back last weekend (21) and more metres than any other player (122).
• A round-high four of Anthony Watson’s tackles were dominant in Round 9. Teammates George Martin, Harry Wells, Handre Pollard, and Solomone Kata also made two apiece.
• The Tigers’ goalkicking success rate is the highest in the Premiership (78.3%). Handre Pollard’s success rate is currently 80.8% - the highest of the top five point-scorers in the league.

Bath Rugby

• For the first time in 2023, Joe Cokanasiga scored two tries in a match last weekend in Bath’s win over Harlequins. He also made as many clean breaks as any other player (three).
• Alfie Barbeary made more dominant carries than any other player in Round 9, a total of eight. He also beat five defenders and made the second-most metres in contact (31).
• Finn Russell made a round-high total of four offloads against Harlequins last weekend.
• Bath have retained a league-high average of 5.1 kicks in play per 80 minutes this season. Ben Spencer (14) and Finn Russell (13) have had the second and third most kicks retained.

TV: Live coverage on TNT Sports, 3pm kick-off

Referee: Karl Dickson

Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales and Paul Dix

TMO: Andrew Jackson

Leicester Tigers:

15 Freddie Steward, 14 Harry Simmons, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Tom Whiteley; 1 James Cronin, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 3 Joe Heyes, 4 George Martin, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Matt Rogerson, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Jasper Wiese

Replacements:

16 Finn Theobold-Thomas, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Kyle Hatherell, 21 Olly Cracknell, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Jamie Shillcock

Bath Rugby: 15 Sam Harris, 14 Tom de Glanville, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Will Butt, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Louis Schreuder; 1 Juan Schoeman, 2 Hame Faiva, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Josh McNally, 6 GJ van Velze ©, 7 Chris Cloete, 8 Jaco Coetzee

Replacements: 16 John Stewart, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Louie Hennessey, 23 Brendan Owen