Luke Charteris and Zach Mercer set for Bath Rugby debuts

Luke Charteris and Zach Mercer will make their competitive debut for Bath on Saturday as the Newcastle Falcons come to town.

Charteris joined Bath from French club Racing 92 over the summer while Mercer is a product of the Bath Rugby academy, which Director of Rugby Todd Blackadder has stressed that he wants to use as much as possible.

Captain Guy Mercer remains sidelined with a foot injury, so vice captain George Ford, who scored all 18 of Bath's points in their win over Northampton last Saturday, leads the line.

Saturday's clash with Newcastle will be the first home match under the Blackadder regime.

Taulepe Faletau does not make the squad as a result of the injury he sustained 12 minutes into the Northampton win.

Bath Rugby team in full:

15. Tom Homer

14. Semesa Rokoduguni

13. Jonathan Joseph

12. Max Clark

11. Matt Banahan

10. George Ford (c) 

9. Kahn Fotuali’i

1. Nick Auterac

2. Ross Batty

3. Kane Palma-Newport

4. Luke Charteris

5. Dave Attwood

6. Charlie Ewels

7. David Sisi

8. Zach Mercer

Replacements:

16. Tom Dunn

17. Beno Obano

18. Max Lahiff

19. Elliott Stooke

20. Levi Douglas

21. Chris Cook

22. Rhys Priestland

23. Jeff Williams