Meehan ready for final Bath push

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Bath are ready to take their place in the Guinness Premiership title play-offs tomorrow after transforming a season that saw them flirt with relegation.

Victory over Leeds Carnegie at the Recreation Ground guarantees Bath a Welford Road play-off appointment with current league champions Leicester on Sunday week.

Having taken 44 points from the last 11 Premiership games, it is inconceivable Bath will blow their chance after consigning pre-Christmas relegation anxiety to history.

But even though Leeds are safe from the drop and have little to play for this weekend, Bath boss Steve Meehan insists they will not be taken lightly.

"We will prepare expecting them to come down with their best team and play their best rugby," said Meehan.

"We know they can't make their way up to the Heineken Cup (qualification), and they can't be relegated.

"At the same time, a side without any pressure at all, a side that plays in certain ways and has been very disciplined might say 'to hell with all this, let's have a dig'.

"All of a sudden, they are chip-kicking, making passes inside their 22 and attacking from all over the place.

"For us, it's a case of expecting the unexpected and trusting our systems in attack and defence."

In the unlikely event of Bath slipping up, Wasps or London Irish could capitalise.

Wasps, three points behind Bath, visit Newcastle, while Irish - one point and one place behind their fellow Londoners in sixth - host title-chasing Northampton after collecting just 16 points from the last 10 Premiership games.

Northampton though, know a win at the Madejski Stadium will guarantee a home play-off against Saracens on May 16.

For their part, Saracens travel to Leicester tomorrow where they will encounter a Tigers side unbeaten at home since September 2008 and already through to the title play-offs for a sixth successive season.

A Leicester victory would also see them complete a Premiership campaign unbeaten at home for the fifth time.

Wasps, for whom fly-half Danny Cipriani could make his final appearance before embarking on a two-year stint with new Super 15 franchise Melbourne Rebels, will encounter a Newcastle side now under the direction of new head coach Alan Tait.

The Falcons parted company with rugby director Steve Bates earlier this week, and Tait has taken charge.

"I am ready for this challenge and I'm determined to take this club forward now with a different approach," said Tait.

"I am in the process of reviewing the coaching and support structures at the moment.

"If we bring people in from outside or change the existing set-up that will be my call, and I hope to have some announcements in that regard in the not-too-distant future."

Worcester, already confirmed to finish bottom, will be under the stewardship of club academy manager Andrew Stanley for their final Premiership fixture after six successive seasons in English rugby's top-flight against Sixways visitors Gloucester tomorrow.

"We must give a good account of ourselves and show the rest of the country what character we have got," said Stanley, who has temporarily stepped in following Mike Ruddock's resignation.

"The players have responded well, given the circumstances. They are professional enough to know they must perform."

In tomorrow's other game, Harlequins host Sale Sharks with Quins knowing a bonus point win would guarantee them a seventh-placed finish.