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Arundell and Lawrence to start as Bath's No.10 reserves are tested

Henry Arundell of Bath Rugby looks on prior to the pre-season match between Worcester Warriors and Bath Rugby at Sixways Stadium on September 19, 2025 in Worcester, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Henry Arundell is set to make his competitive debut for Gallagher PREM champions Bath on Friday night against Harlequins at the Stoop in their first match of the season.

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The 22-year-old will start on the left wing in London, marking his return to England after almost two years in France with Racing 92.

He will be joined in the backline with fellow England international Ollie Lawrence, who will make his first competitive start since rupturing his Achilles tendon against Italy in the Six Nations.

Amid a mini-crisis at fly-half, Max Ojomoh will wear the No.10 jersey against Quins, having been trialled there in a preseason fixture against Worcester Warriors.

Fixture
Gallagher Premiership
Harlequins
31 - 47
Full-time
Bath
All Stats and Data

Ojomoh, who was capped by England in the summer against USA, only has a handful of appearances at fly-half, but with British & Irish Lion Finn Russell stood down for the first two league matches, Santi Carreras with Argentina at the Rugby Championship, and Sam Harris and Ciaran Donoghue not fit for this fixture, head coach Johan van Graan has been forced to turn to the centre.

Like Bath, Harlequins will also be without their Lions fly-half, Marcus Smith, with Jarrod Evans wearing the No.10 jersey.

Former England tighthead Harry Williams will make his PREM debut for Quins, while Kieran Treadwell will mark his return to the club. Both will start, with fellow new signing George Turner on the bench.

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Harlequins XV: 15. Tyrone Green, 14. Nick David, 13. Oscar Beard, 12. Sean Kerr, 11. Cadan Murley, 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Will Porter, 1. Fin Baxter, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Harry Williams, 4. Chandler Cunningham-South, 5. Kieran Treadwell, 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. Will Evans, 8. Alex Dombrandt (C)
Replacements: 16. George Turner, 17. Jordan Els, 18. Ollie Streeter, 19. Jonny Green, 20. Zach Carr, 21. Max Green, 22. Ludo Kolade, 23. Cameron Anderson

Bath XV: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid, 9 Ben Spencer ©, 10 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Cameron Redpath, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Tom de Glanville
Replacements: 16 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 17 Francois Van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Sam Underhill

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Tom 1 hour ago
Change at the top is only answer for England – Andy Goode

We aren't miles ahead of any other nation in terms of talent at all. I agree Borthwick is a mediocre coach but let's not get carried away. France have won the u20 world cup three out of the last five times and just beat us in both the u20 and u18 six nations… and I don't think many people would claim we've got more talent than SA or the ABs either. Ibitoye isn't someone you want in a test match, he's so unpredictable. In a tight test match there are very few scoring opportunities for wingers but there are lots of opportunities for wingers to make defensive misreads and balls things up. In a tightly contested, low scoring game, you'd much rather have someone like Feyi Wabosi who has X factor but can be relied upon to defend properly or not have a brain farts, we've got other good wingers without needing Ibitoye.

I agree in general with your sentiment but we should be realistic. We've won the u20 WC once in the last decade, won the six nations only twice. A prem club hasn't won anything in Europe since Bristol won the challenge cup when they had Piutau, Radradra. There is talent out there for sure but our clubs and u20s aren't enjoying the level of success which could support statements about us having the most talent in the world. If a new coach comes in they aren't going to wave a magic wand and make us the best team in the world. There are a lot of structural problems and engrained attitudes which need to be overcome within the RFU and Prem etc. Plus any new coach is going to have to undo the damage Borthwick and Wigglesworth have done. They're going to have their work cut out for them.



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