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Search forLipman set to skipper Bath after ban escape
Wednesday, December 03, 2008, 17:59
Lipman was cited by independent match commissioner Andrew Prior for stamping on an opponent during England's 32-6 defeat to New Zealand at Twickenham last Saturday, but he escaped a ban after an International Rugby Board hearing in London yesterday.
The citing was upheld, but the disciplinary panel ruled that the flanker's actions did not warrant a red card and so he is expected to make his return to Steve Meehan's starting line-up at The Rec this weekend.
With team-mates Matt Stevens and Lee Mears also back in the fold following autumn international duty with England, Bath will be looking to return to winning ways in the first of back-to-back fixtures against the Warriors in Pool 5.
Sunday's game will be Bath's 50th in the Heineken Cup and they will be only the third English club to reach the milestone, joining Leicester Tigers and London Wasps among the elite teams of European club rugby.
And, following their 21-14 defeat at Harlequins in the Guinness Premiership at the weekend, defence coach Brad Davis is looking for his players to be more disciplined in their approach.
"If you look at our performance across the board against Quins, we were solid without being great – nobody really stood out for us," said Davis.
"When you go away from home against a quality side, you've got to play better than we did. Okay, some of the decisions didn't go our away and the penalty count against us was high.
"In the context of that game, some of the decisions disrupted our momentum, but we accept that a referee is never going to get everything right. As players and coaches we are in control of our own destiny at the end of the day and we didn't perform well enough to get the win, but we cannot afford to give away three-pointers."
Glasgow are currently bottom of the group after opening with defeats at home to Toulouse (22-16) and away to Newport Gwent Dragons (32-22), but those scorelines and the fact they lie second behind Munster in the Magners League suggest anything but an easy ride for Bath over the next two weekends.
Davis said: "To get through the group stages we have to win these next two games.
"We've put the Guinness Premiership to bed for now and are fully focused on the Heineken Cup. It's all about wanting the win.
"Yes, with style would be good, especially for the home fans, but the focus is purely on the win."
News from the medical room is good ahead of the two-week European spell, with Nick Abendanon emerging unscathed from Sunday's defeat at Quins.
Club captain Alex Crockett is also expected to return in the backs after picking up a hamstring injury during the draw at Northampton a fortnight ago
Davis said: "In some positions we were a bit thin on the ground, but we've pretty much got everyone back on board, while obviously there are a few whose workrate and conditions we're still monitoring.
"It's presenting the coaching staff with a selection headache, and that's definitely a good thing to have right now."
Danny Grewcock (heel), Jack Cuthbert (ankle) and Andrew Higgins are expected to shake off their respective injury worries in time for Sunday's match.
Michael Lipman
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