Just two points separate Bath in sixth, on 30 points, and Irish in eighth, on 28

When these two sides met in December of 2019, Bath tore down the Christmas decorations as they ran in five first-half tries on their way to a 38-10 victory. The Exiles only had an Adam Coleman try in the second half to show they had anything to throw back at Bath.

But while a lot has changed since the pandemic hit, there has not been a huge gulf between the pair when the Premiership ground to a halt.

Just two points separate Bath in sixth, on 30 points, and Irish in eighth, on 28. Each side took heavy losses in their last outings – Bath lost 57-20 to Chiefs and Irish lost 39-0 to Sale – and while both teams have won three and lost three in their last six games, Irish earned 16 points from those while Bath only had 13.

However, we have had an unprecedented break and plenty of personnel swaps, so form could well be irrelevant.

In recent days Bath promoted former London Irish hero Neal Hatley to the role of head coach. Bath have also signed scrum-half Ben Spencer from Saracens and no-nonsense lock Will Spencer. But gone are Rhys Webb, Freddie Burns, Francois Louw and Tom Homer, with the full-back returning to Irish.

The Exiles have also added a huge number of international caps to their ranks, with former Argentina skipper Agustin Creevy joining up, alongside 100-cap Wallabies lock Rob Simmons. With Ireland back-rower Sean O’Brien also raring to get torn in for London Irish, they will be optimistic of a reversal of last year’s festive flop.

Bath: Anthony Watson; Samesa Rokoduguni, Jonathan Joseph, Josh Matavesi, Ruaridh McConnochie; Rhys Priestland, Ben Spencer; Lewis Boyce, Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Josh McNally, Charlie Ewels (captain), Zach Mercer, Sam Underhill, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Jack Walker, Beno Obano, Christian Judge, Elliott Stooke, Josh Bayliss, Will Chudley, Cmeron Redpath, Tom De Glanville

London Irish: Tom Parton; Ben Loader, Curtis Rona, Terrence Hepetema, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Paddy Jackson, Nick Phipps, Harry Elrington, Motu Matu’u, Sekope Kepu, Ben Donnell, George Nott, Matt Rogerson, Seán O’Brien (captain), Albert Tuisue.

Replacements: Matt Cornish, Will Goodrick-Clarke, Ollie Hoskins, Sebastian de Chaves, Blair Cowan, Ben Meehan, Theo Brophy Clews, Matt Williams.

It’s game day.

Bath Rugby are back at The Rec on Friday night in the quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup with silverware just three games away.

Standing in the way of the Blue, Black and White are Gallagher Premiership rivals London Irish.

Bath saw off Zebre 27-35 away in Parma last weekend to book their place in the last eight of the competition while London Irish also came back to beat Cardiff Blues 41-35 at the Brentford Community Stadium.

The two sides met just a couple of weeks ago in league action with the Exiles coming out on top 36-33 after visitors Bath lost Charlie Ewels and Tom Dunn to red cards. Club captain Ewels will be back this weekend, but hooker Dunn remains suspended as does winger Will Muir who was later suspended for a tip tackle in the course of the game.

Bath Rugby are now just three games away from some potential silverware in the European Challenge Cup with London Irish coming to The Rec tonight in the quarter-finals

Unfortunately once again there will be no fans permitted inside the ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic and international lockdown rules but of course the game is being shown live on TV and here are all the ways you can follow it.

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