Rugby betting: Guinness Premiership - Wasps vs Bath

Bath coach Steve Meehan has made the bold move of leaving out World Cup-winning fly-half Butch James this afternoon, and the gutsy strategy could well pay off when his side clash with Wasps at Adams Park in front of the Sky cameras.

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Meehan has effectively thrown down the gauntlet to opposition coach Ian McGeechan, and so well are his West Country team playing at the moment that the gamble could well pay off.

Bath are eight places and 16 points better off in the Premiership than Wasps, who made a slow and turgid start to the season without their World Cup stars. Most of those internationals are in the starting line-up today and it is fair to say that both sides will approach this fixture with full-on determination.

High Wycombe is set for a drenching if the BBC have got their forecast correct, and the loss of James could well play into Bath's hands as the more prosaic Shaun Berne takes the reins at No 10.

The Aussie has a good attacking philosophy about him, but he generally makes percentage calls and in the wet that could be crucial to Bath's chances of staying in touch this afternoon.

Wasps have found it hard this season to shrug off teams, and there have been numerous occasions this campaign where sides have finished close to McGeechan's men. They couldn't get rid of Clermont and Munster in the Heineken Cup, and the Dragons, and most recently Bristol, drew with them in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and Premiership respectively.

With that in mind, the ten-point start offered to the West Countrymen by Victor Chandler may well be a good bet at 10/11, but punters should get better value by backing Wasps to win by 1-5 points and 6-10 points in the winning margin market.

Verdict: 1pt Wasps to beat Bath by 1-5 points @ 15/2 (Bet365); 1pt Wasps to beat Bath by 6-10 points @ 6/1 (Bet365)

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