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Preview: Northampton v Bath

Friday 21st November 2008

Improvement: Mallinder wants a better showing from his Saints

Northampton's Director or Rugby, Jim Mallinder, has called for an improvement from his side as they prepare to host Bath at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.

Bath arrive at the Gardens unbeaten on their domestic travels this season and Mallinder is well aware that the West Country side will pose a massive threat to the Saints' good home record.

"Bath have played some excellent rugby this season and are rightly top of the table," he said.

"Steve Meehan has developed an athletic and dynamic team that is comfortable keeping the ball alive and always looks to create opportunities.

"His players are also well conditioned, which was shown when they scored in the last minute against Leicester last weekend. It is understandable if they are approaching tomorrow's game in confident mood.

"But our squad are looking forward to the game as well. They have been working extremely hard during training this week. The mood has been upbeat and everyone is determined to put last Sunday's disappointment behind them."

Bath field a side showing only two changes to the starting XV that faced Leicester Tigers last week.

Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu replaces Shaun Berne at inside centre and Jack Cuthbert comes in for the injured Joe Maddock (fractured eye-socket) at full-back.

The Teams:

Northampton: 15 Stephen Myler, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Chris Mayor, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana (c), 10 Carlos Spencer, 9 Ben Foden, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Mark Easter, 6 Mark Hopley, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Barry Stewart, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Tom Smith.
Replacements: 16 Paul Shields, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Christian Day, 19 Ben Lewitt, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Nils Mordt, 22 Paul Diggin.

Bath: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Andrew Higgins, 13 Alex Crockett (c), 12 Eliota Fuimaono-sapolu, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Scott Bemand, 8 Daniel Browne, 7 Jonny Faamatuainu, 6 Peter Short, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements:16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Stuart Hooper, 19 James Scaysbrook, 20 Mike Baxter, 21 Shaun Berne, 22 Michael Stephenson.

Date: Saturday 22 November, 2008
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Referee: David Rose
Touch judges: Robin Goodliffe, Don Helme
Television match official: Brian Abrahams