Bath coach Johann van Graan has named seven forwards on his bench for Sunday’s English Premiership match against Northampton.
That includes Bok prop Thomas du Toit and former DHL Stormers No 8 Jaco Coetzee, with South African scrumhalf Louis Schreuder the only backline player among the substitutes.
The match at Franklin’s Gardens is a repeat of last season’s final, which was won by Northampton.
Bath are currently top of the Premiership log, with eight wins from nine matches.
“It’s the first time we’ve done it,” Van Graan said of his 7-1 split on the bench. “We’ve got a specific plan for the weekend, it’s not too much difference from 6-2.
“As a team we’ve become very fluent, we can adapt to situations. We’ve planned for all the different scenarios and the players are very comfortable with the plan.”
Bath – 15 Orlando Bailey, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Archie Barbeary, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano.
Subs: 16 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Josh Bayliss, 23 Jaco Coetzee.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images