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Bath Rugby will have their work cut out for them on Sunday when they travel to the CorpAcq Stadium with Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson having named a very strong side for the first competitive fixture of the 2026/27 season.
The Blue, Black and White have already dusted off some cobwebs with a pre-season friendly run out against Perpignan last week, going down 53-42 in the South of France.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan has been good to his word with his first selection, saying he will continue to use the PREM Rugby Cup primarily as a development tool for the club's academy and fringe players, a strategy that saw the club lift the trophy back in 2024/25 and reach a semi-final last season.
Bath academy coach Mark Lilley will resume his head coach role for the first block of PREM Rugby Cup games, assisted by Ryan Davis and Luke Charteris, but van Graan remains in charge of team selections, naming Ewan Richards as Cup captain for a third consecutive year.
Scott Kirk, Kepueli Tuipulotu and Kieran Verden start in the front row. Richards will partner with Will Jeanes to complete the tight five.
Jack Bennett and George Timmins start on the flanks, with giant Italian international Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi getting his Cup debut at Number 8.
Ieuan Davies starts the game at 9, joined by Ciaran Donoghue at 10.
In the centre, Declan Treacey will earn his Bath Rugby debut after signing for the Senior Academy earlier this year. He’ll be partnered by Charlie Griffin who starts at outside centre.
Sam Winters and Tyler Offiah are named out on the wings, with Jack Woods completing the starting line up at full back.
Among the replacements, Jasper Spandler, Ioan Emanuel and Alfie Griffin will make their front row impact from the bench.
James Maloney and Alex Ridgway complete the replacement forwards selection.
Tom Carr-Smith, James Linegar and Jack Harrison will also provide their impact to complete the matchday squad.
The game kicks off at the CorpAcq stadium on Sunday 6 February at 3pm and will be streamed live on PREM Rugby's YouTube channel.
Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Arron Reed, 10. Alex Lozowski, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Nathan Jibulu, 3. Tye Raymont, 4. Ernst van Rhyn (c), 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Jacques Vermeulen.
Replacements: 1 6. Alfie Longstaff, 17. Ralph McEachran, 18. Patreece Bell, 19. Christ Tshiunza, 20. Tristan Woodman, 21. Xavier Roe, 22. Ollie Davies, 23. Marius Louw.
Bath Rugby: 15 Jack Woods, 14 Tyler Offiah, 13 Charlie Griffin, 12 Declan Treacey (debut), 11 Sam Winters, 10 Ciaran Donoghue, 9 Ieuan Davies; 1 Scott Kirk, 2 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 3 Kieran Verden, 4 Will Jeanes, 5 Ewan Richards (c), 6 Jack Bennett, 7 George Timmins, 8 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi
Replacements: 16 Jasper Spandler, 17 Ioan Emanuel, 18 Alfie Griffin, 19 James Maloney, 20 Alex Ridgway, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 James Linegar, 23 Jack Harrison
Referee: Sara Cox
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant and Jamie Leahy