Battling Bath looking to revive cup campaign

JOHANN van Graan is braced to take on the Italian national team in all but name as Bath look to revive their Champions Cup campaign.

- JON NEWCOMBE

Last weekend's 24-20 defeat to La Rochelle was a blow but a win in Treviso would put them right back in the mix.

The format Champions Cup is such that Bath could potentially afford to lose two of their remaining three pool games and still qualify for the knockout stages. But with seven of last year's eight Round of 16 teams won by the home side, ideally they'll of the need more than that to stand a realistic chance of going deeper into the tournament.

Meanwhile, Benetton were beaten 28-0 away to Clermont in their opening match. But withplayers of the calibre of Pumas playmaker Tomás Albornoz and the Azzurri midfield duo of Six Nations player of the pear Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, who starts on the bench, and Seb Negri in the pack, van Graan says the long weekend Bath are planning on having in Italy will be no holiday.

"They are basically the Italian national team with a few very good Argentineans, a few very good South Africans, a few very good Islanders, so they are a very good specifically at team, home," he said.