Injury recovery for Ben Spencer as Bath face Champions Cup holders Bordeaux-Begles
English champions travel to France for highly anticipated semi-final with key absentees in backline
Quick Look
- Bath's first-choice scrum-half Ben Spencer returns from a shoulder injury to start in Sunday's Champions Cup semi-final against holders Bordeaux-Begles.
- The English champions face the French side without centre Max Ojomoh, wing Joe Cokanasiga and midfielder Cameron Redpath, all injured.
- Louie Hennessey starts at 13 with Ollie Lawrence shifting to inside centre, while Henry Arundell switches to right wing.
AI-generated summary
First-choice scrum-half Ben Spencer has recovered from injury to take his place in Bath's starting line-up as the English champions travel to holders Bordeaux-Begles in Sunday's highly anticipated Champions Cup semi-final.
Spencer has been suffering with a shoulder injury and hasn't played since 10 April's last-eight win over Northampton. After South African Bernard van der Linde had ankle surgery to leave Tom Carr-Smith as the only senior specialist, Bath called teenager Isaac Mears into the senior squad to plug a potential hole at nine.
Bath do have absentees elsewhere in their backline however. Centre Max Ojomoh and wing Joe Cokanasiga, rated as "touch and go" by boss Johann van Graan earlier in the week, have failed to recover from knee and leg knocks respectively. With midfielder Cameron Redpath also out, Louie Hennessey, who impressed on the wing against Northampton at the weekend, starts at 13, while Ollie Lawrence shifts to inside centre.
Will Muir keeps his place on wing in the absence of Cokanasiga, with Henry Arundell switching to his less-accustomed right wing. Santi Carreras completes the back three.
Arundell will be in direct competition with the prolific Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who has scored 28 tries in 26 games for club and country this season, including four against England in the final round of the Six Nations.
