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With fixtures against Berea Rovers on 16th August and Natal Sharks on 21st (both on the South Africa tour) already confirmed and participation in the London Pride Middlesex Sevens on 14th August, the game in Wales completes Bath Rugby's pre-season trial schedule.
With a return to the Heineken Cup this season, Head Coach John Connolly is pleased that his side will be facing tough quality opposition as part of the pre-season preparations. 'The match against the Ospreys will be a good test for us as they are a quality side containing some big names,' said the Australian. 'We will be heading into the fixture on the back of our tour and it will be a good yard stick for us ahead of the new season. We will be treating the match as a trial and the main focus is to give everyone a meaningful run out and to try a few things before the first game of the season.'
Meanwhile, the club is currently preparing for the whistle-stop tour to South Africa which begins on Thursday. John Connolly and his coaching staff will be taking a squad of 31 on tour for what promises to be a tough schedule of daily training and two matches within the ten days. 'It will be a tough trip,' said Connolly. 'We have two games and will be training on the morning of the Berea Rovers game, whist the Natal game will have a test match intensity as we will be playing in front of a capacity crowd as a curtain raiser to a tri-nations match.'
Brendon Daniel, Gareth Delve and Lee Best are all in line to make their playing returns after lengthy spells on the sidelines, whilst summer signings Joe Maddock, Nick Walshe and Christian Loader will make their club debuts.
'With one or two new faces in the squad, we will be looking to give every player on the trip some game time and will be aiming to peak in the game against Natal which will be extremely testing indeed,' added Connolly.
Bath Rugby Pre-season schedule:
August 14th: London Pride Middlesex Sevens, Twickenham
August 16th: Berea Rovers tour match, Durban
August 21st: Natal Sharks tour match, Durban
August 26th: Neath/Swansea Ospreys, St Helens (7.30pm).
