THREE CHANGES TO THE TEAM THAT BEAT BRISTOL BEARS LAST WEEK

Matt Symons returns to the Harlequins starting XV to face Bath on Saturday after missing last week’s victory over Bristol Bears with illness.

Elsewhere Lewis Boyce starts at Loosehead and Ben Glynn moves to Blindside flanker as Joe Marler and Jack Clifford, two of Quins' best performers this season, are rotated out and named as Game Changers.

There is only one change in the backs with James Lang starting at Fly-half and Marcus Smith announced as a Game Changer as they continue to share the jersey this season.

Harlequins have won their past four Premiership matches, scoring 19 tries and Head of Rugby Paul Gustard said he was pleased with the ever-improving attack at the Club.

“We are pleased to have developed a winning momentum with recent winning streaks in Europe and the Premiership,” he said. “Our excellent try-scoring record is testament to the attacking intent we have shown and is deserved return for the hard work the team and our two attack coaches, Tofty [Mark Mapletoft] and Snap [Nick Evans], have put in. The boys, as always, deserve the credit for their hard work in training and courage and bravery when playing.

“We always aim to respect the DNA of Harlequins by approaching all our matches in a positive manner and Bath will be no different this weekend. We know they are a very talented team with some excellent players. We were deservedly beaten earlier in the season by them but we have made some significant improvements over the last two months and we are looking forward to the match at The Rec.”

Harlequins XV to play Bath (Quins appearances in brackets. Kick-off: 15:00)

15. Mike Brown (312)
14. Ross Chisholm (97)
13. Joe Marchant (75)
12. Ben Tapuai (14)
11. Nathan Earle (18)
10. James Lang (41)
9. Charlie Mulchrone (36)

1. Lewis Boyce (31)
2. Elia Elia (29)
3. Will Collier (146)
4. Matt Symons (17)
5.  James Horwill (Co-Captain, 60)
6.  Ben Glynn (36)
7.  Chris Robshaw (Co-Captain, 266)
8. Alex Dombrandt (15)

Game Changers
16. Dave Ward (162)
17. Joe Marler (186)
18. Josh Ibuanokpe (7)
19. George Merrick (95)
20. Jack Clifford (88)
21. Dave Lewis (26)
22. Marcus Smith (49)
23. Francis Saili (17)

Not considered for selection
Nick Auterac
Rob Buchanan
Renaldo Bothma
Danny Care
James Chisholm
Max Crumpton
Henry Cheeseman
Gabriel Ibitoye
Mark Lambert
Paul Lasike
Josh McNulty
Aaron Morris
Cadan Murley
Niall Saunders
Kyle Sinckler

Much as I think Glyn's been solid for us, we haven't used him in the Back Row more than maybe a couple of times. I hope he's up to speed. with the different position.

Visser rejoins the "not getting picked" list.

Glynn at 6 shows how far down the pecking order Wallace is (rightly IMO).

It's a good team selection for me.  I like the rotation policy of keeping players fresh, especially with a huge game v Gloucester next week.

Clifford and smith are 2 of those on the naughty step after McDonald’s-gate

As someone who has no idea what happened, can you explain McDonald's-gate?

It's a good team selection for me. Good call putting Boyce in starting XV against his new club. Show 'em what your made of Boycy! Taps playing against his old club who has been great for us this season. Putting Glynn in the back row gives us a more physical presence which we need. When we played Bath at The Stoop they had big units all over the park and pushed us around a bit. Bath have a quality bench but so do we.

It has been said before on CAW, but one of the things Gussy has done is to show faith in his squad and rotate so much more than we have been used to. Come the business end of the season I'd like to think our boys are going to have a lot more left in the tank for the big games.

COYQ!

Interesting selections. Shame Chisholm is out again. What is McDonaldsgate

It's a good team selection for me. Good call putting Boyce in starting XV against his new club. Show 'em what your made of Boycy! Taps playing against his old club who has been great for us this season. Putting Glynn in the back row gives us a more physical presence which we need. When we played Bath at The Stoop they had big units all over the park and pushed us around a bit. Bath have a quality bench but so do we.

It has been said before on CAW, but one of the things Gussy has done is to show faith in his squad and rotate so much more than we have been used to. Come the business end of the season I'd like to think our boys are going to have a lot more left in the tank for the big games.

COYQ!

Agreed on all points. Bath won't have been expecting that lineup, I daresay. Boyce will have a point to prove, to both DoRs. Glynn is a sizeable unit and will hopefully make his presence felt. No DC is a shame, but the backline looks good and the pack looks big and strong. With Marler and Big Josh to join the fray, I think we'll see an extremely bruising encounter.

Hopefully we'll get a fast start, followed by solid defence.