It is derby time.
Bristol Bears travel the 12 miles down the road to the Recreation Ground to take on Bath Rugby in Round 19 of the 2021/21 Gallagher Premiership.
Bath beat Newcastle Falcons 30-25 at Kingston Park on Saturday in their first away win in the competition in almost twelve months. And the Blue, Black and White look to have turned the corner having won two of their last three home games at the Recreation Ground in Premiership Rugby only slipping up to table-topping Leicester Tigers, 20-24, in Round 17.
Bristol Bears ended a two-game losing streak with their 31-19 home win over Wasps on Friday night. Remarkably for last season's table-toppers the Bears have won just once away from home in Gallagher Premiership Rugby this season: 45-33 at London Irish on 30 October.
But Bristol have won their last five fixtures against Bath since Bath’s 26-19 win at Twickenham in ‘The Clash’ in April 2019. The Bears have won on their last two visits to the Rec, their best sequence there in competitive rugby.
Saturday's match is certainly a game not to be missed.
Here are all the ways you can follow the action.
What time is kick-off?
Bath Rugby v Bristol Bears kicks-off at 3pm on Saturday, March 5.
Is the game on TV?
Yes.
Thanks to the latest innovation by Premiership Rugby every game is now available to watch online on PRTV.
This weekend's match has not been selected to be broadcast on BT Sport, but the game will be broadcast live on the Premiership Rugby app.
A match pass will cost £4.99, and a full round pass will cost £6.99.
Highlights will also be available live on PRTV as well as BT Sport and ITV.
To buy matches on PRTV Live click here (link to premiershiprugby.com/prtvlive ) and to subscribe to BT Sport click here.
How else can I follow the game?
If you can’t watch the game live at The Rec you can follow live play-by-play updates, reaction, analysis and interviews on our live blog on Bristol Live and SomsersetLive.
BBC Radio Somerset will also be providing live commentary from the game.
What's the team news?
Bristol Bears: 15. Ioan Lloyd; 14. Siva Naulago, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Antoine Frisch, 11. Alapati Leiua; 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Oscar Lennon; 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Jake Armstrong, 4. Dave Attwood, 5. Joe Joyce (c), 6. Chris Vui, 7. Jake Heenan, 8. Sam Jeffries
Replacements: 16. Bryan Byrne, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. Ashley Challenger, 19. Steven Luatua, 20. Dan Thomas, 21. Theo Strang, 22. Tiff Eden, 23. Piers O’Conor
Bath Rugby: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Will Butt, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Valeriy Morozov, 2 Tom Doughty, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 4 Mike Williams, 5 Ewan Richards, 6 Josh Bayliss ©, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Taulupe Faletau
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Joe Cokanasiga
Who are the officials?
Referee: Luke Pearce (124th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox ans Rob Warburton.
TMO: Stuart Terheege.
Citing Officer: John Byett.
What are the odds?
Bath Rugby 8/11
Draw 20/1
Bristol Bears 1/1
Odds taken from SkyBet, correct at the time of publication. Please gamble responsibly.
