Bath head to Kingston Park

Sunday afternoon sees Bath make the trip to Kingston Park to take on an improving Newcastle Red Bulls side in front of what's heading for another sell out crowd. There are no easy games in The Gallagher Prem but they don't get much harder than taking on Bath who are stacked with quality.

Bath changes but depth is unreal

Bath named their team and have made changes but the starting fifteen would still be competitive with all the other teams in The Prem. Up front they've gone with Francois Van Wyk, Dan Frost who will be very active in the loose and Archie Griffin, a Welsh international. The impressive Bath academy graduate Ewan Richards and Ross Molony are in the second row. With a back row of Josh Bayliss, Ethan Staddon and Miles Reid. Reid captains the team and he's one of those players who never seems to have a bad game and in most of countries would be in the reckoning for international selection.

The backs see Tom Carr-Smith and the footballing ability of Santi Carreras form a half back partnership. Will Butt and Chris Harris on his return to Kingston Park form a centre pairing. The back three of Tom De Glanville, Joe Cokanasiga and Louie Hennessey will look to exploit space out wide.

Then you get to the bench, If Bath needed impact then I'm fairly sure they'll get it. The Bath bomb squad that could well help Bath pull away in the last quarter are Tom Dunn, Beno Obano and Thomas Du Toit in the front row. The rest of the forwards are covered by the athletic Ted Hill, Sam Underhill and Alfie Barbeary. The backs are covered by Ben Spencer and Cameron Redpath. It's an all international bench and probably the strongest ever seen in Prem history.

Injuries hitting Red Bulls

The injury list continues to be long for Newcastle Red Bulls with eighteen players unavailable. Adam Brocklebank, George McGuigan and Murray McCallum are in the front row. The second row sees Oscar Usher and the experience of Seb de Chaves combine. The back row sees Ollie Leatherbarrow, Tom Christie and Amanaki Mafi join forces. The pack is going to have to be on its game tomorrow.

The backs see Simon Benitez Cruz and Brett Connon start at half back. The centres are Sammy Arnold and Alex Hearle and the back three are Elliott Obatoyinbo, Ethan Grayson and Oli Spencer. On the bench Ollie Fletcher, Richard Palframan and Connor Hancock cover the front row. Finn Baker and Tom Gordon cover the rest of the forwards. The backs are covered by James Elliott, Boeta Chamberlain and Max Clark who will be eager to get on against his old side.

What's the plan?

Quite simply, Red Bulls have to start quick. Bath have made changes and may be a bit rusty with combinations. I say it most previews, but this will be physical and Bath given what they have from the bench won't let up on the physicality. Santi Carreras is a quality footballer but he does have a mistake in him, if Red Bulls can get their defensive line speed going if rushed he will make mistakes.

Free hit

In a way, I don't think anyone expects anything from this game so it is a free hit for Red Bulls. But to get something they need to be in a strong position early. The concern is if that does happen then I think Johann Van Graan wouldn't have any issue in unleashing the bench at any point if Bath fall behind. Teams that play Bath can often think they're in the game until the last quarter and they up the intensity and run away with it. It's very similar to what South Africa do. Teams are exhausted from the efforts they put in and Bath then bring on players who are just as good as the ones who started, not may compete with that.

Prediction

On paper, Bath should win this comfortably. If Red Bulls can have a fast start then they could look at a try bonus point but that would need an improvement in the attack. I do think that comes in time with the work Stephen Jones will do. I think given the unavailable list and the power that Bath have, especially off the bench they will run away with it in the last quarter and win comfortably.