Preview: Premiership, Round 17
A win for the Falcons at the Recreation Ground could see them move even further away from London Irish at the foot of the Premiership table, while a win for Bath would see Homer no longer looking over his shoulder at the foot of the table.
Mike Ford's side have won just twice in the last eight rounds of the Premiership; 16-14 at Worcester in February and 25-17 at home to London Irish in March.
But what Bath would give for back-to-back home wins for the first time in this year's tournament is immeasurable.
Last Friday they slumped to defeat against Harlequins but Ford's men did produce a late comeback that almost saw them claim the unlikeliest of wins, and Homer is looking to build on the final ten minutes at the Stoop.
"We've just got to live play-by-play and do the best we can as an individual, and as a team, in that play," he said.
"Mistakes happen. That's rugby, that's sport, but as long as your next action is a positive one that's got to be the main focus, going forward.
"No-one likes losing, it's very disappointing. But I'm proud of the boys' effort to dig deep and get the losing bonus point, considering how far ahead Quins were ahead.
"It was just kind of devil may care at the end. We chucked the ball about and attacked Quins.
"The speed of the ball and our tempo was difficult to live with, but they did that to us earlier in the game. Credit to them, they played some good rugby.
"It just happened out of nowhere. It's always going to be hard in this league to claw your way back from being so far behind, but we had patches of brilliance and patches of really very average rugby.
"We need to play like we did in the last 20 minutes for the full 80. That's the bottom line."
Newcastle Falcons have lost their last three matches against Gloucester, Worcester Warriors and Exeter Chiefs and are one of only two sides yet to win away from home in the Premiership this season.
Newcastle did beat Bath 19-14 at Kingston Park in Round Eight, but have only once before achieved a season's Premiership double over them - when they were champions in the inaugural campaign of 1997/8.
The Falcons' most recent victory at the Recreation Ground was 27-16 in October 2009, but despite those unwanted statistics, Falcons boss Dean Richards is refusing to be downcast.
"We lost our shape defensively a couple of times down the short-side last week against Exeter, which caused us a problem, but once we got used to that threat we coped with it really well," said Richards.
"A couple of silly penalties here and there cost us dear, and then our lack of accuracy compounded that.
"Exeter had a few boys missing, as we did as well. It wasn't down to the players who weren't there or anything like that - it was a good game and we just needed a little bit more accuracy in attack."
We take a look at all the Round 17 action!
Friday:
Bath v Newcastle Falcons
(Recreation Ground - Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Newcastle beat Bath 19-14 at Kingston Park in Round Eight and have only once before achieved a season's Premiership double over them – when they were champions in the inaugural campaign of 1997/8. The Falcons' most recent victory at the Recreation Ground was 27-16 in October 2009.
Teams:
Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jeff Williams, 10 Ollie Devoto, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Max Clark, 23 Horacio Agulla.
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Giamba Venditti, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Calum Green, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Taione Vea, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Michael Young, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Belisario Agulla.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant Referees: Gareth Copsey, Andrew Small
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Saturday:
Harlequins v Worcester Warriors
(Twickenham Stopp - Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Harlequins have won their last 15 fixtures against Worcester in the Premiership, with the Warriors only two victories both coming in their debut Premiership season of 2004/05. The Midlanders most recent victory at Twickenham Stoop was 23-22 in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in November 2007.
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Henry Cheeseman, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Mat Luamanu, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 James Horwill(captain), 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Joe Marchant, 23 Ollie LindsayHague.
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Na'ama Leleimalefaga, 18 James Johnston, 19 Dan Sanderson, 20 Sam Betty, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Andy Symons.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, Simon McConnell
TMO: Keith Lewis
Sunday:
Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
(Sandy Park - Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)
Northampton Saints along with Wasps share the accolade of being the best side in the Premiership on current form, both having picked up 24 league points from a possible 30.
The East Midlanders only defeat in the last six rounds was 25-26 at Newcastle on February 21. Exeter's only two victories over Northampton in their last nine Premiership clashes both came last season. The Saints record in the tournament at Sandy Park is an impressive won three, lost two.
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Carl Rimmer, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Sam Hill, 23 Lachie Turner.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 Ahsee Tuala, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Jonathan Fisher, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Teimana Harrison, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 James Wilson.
Referee: Gregory Garner
Assistant referees: Thomas Foley, Andrew Pearce
TMO: Sean Dave
Wasps v Sale Sharks
(Ricoh Arena - Kick-off: 14.00; 14.00 GMT)
Sale Sharks only victory in their last four Premiership fixtures was 29-23 at home to Harlequins in Round 15. The Sharks have won on the road in the tournament just once this season: 10-3 at Leicester on February 6.
Wasps only victory over Sale in their last eight fixtures in all tournaments was 41-16 in this equivalent fixture at the Ricoh Arena last season.
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Charles Piutau, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Sam Jones (captain), 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 James Cannon, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Simon McIntyre.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Alex Rieder, 21 Jamie Stevenson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Brendan Macken.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Jonny Leota, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Mark Easter 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 TJ Ioane, 20 Viliami Fihaki, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Sam James.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Andy Watson
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
London Irish v Gloucester
(Madejski Stadium - Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
London Irish have won only one of their last nine encounters with Gloucester in all tournaments: 18-12 at Kingsholm in the Premiership in January 2013, whilst Gloucester have won on their last four visits to Reading.
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Matt Symons, 4 Will Lloyd, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Jebb Sinclair, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Fergus Mulchrone.
Gloucester: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (c), 11 Henry Trinder, 10 James Hook, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Lewis Ludlow, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Rob Cook.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Andy Watson
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Leicester Tigers v Saracens
(Welford Road - Kick-off: 15.15, 15.15 GMT)
Saracens have perhaps surprisingly picked up two more league points on their travels this season than they have at home. Sarries only defeat in the last four rounds of the Premiership was 15-20 at home to Northampton in Round 15.
The Tigers only victory over Saracens in their last eight encounters in all competitions was 31-27 in Round 22 in season 2013/14. Saracens have won just once at Welford Road since September 2011: 32-27 in February 2013.
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Jordan Crane (captain), 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Opeti Fonua, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Matt Smith, 23 Telusa Veainu.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Mike Ellery, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Titi Lamositele, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Hayden Smith, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Ben Ransom.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: David Sainsbury