By Chris Chaplin
October 6 2004

The time in the season has arrived when the two dominant forces in club rugby over the past couple of decades meet to start their battle to establish who is to be top dog this year. Bath and Tigers – always a tasty dish, regardless of the sometimes doubtful quality of the fare! Last weekend Bath continued winning their psychological battle with West Country neighbours Gloucester as they undid the hitherto unbeaten Cherry and Whites 29-14 at The Rec.

Before Saturday Gloucester’s lineout had been rock solid, yet Grewcock and Borthwick repeatedly dismantled it, in spite of Adam Eustace at last returning to join Alex Brown as the Cherry and White’s first choice pairing. It was not even as if American Football throwing Olivier Azam started, the dependable Chris Fortey getting the nod instead and things didn’t get much better when ex Gloucester stalwart Rob Fidler joined for the final quarter, which he almost saw out before heading for the Sin Bin!

Similarly, and in spite of the loss of Woodman and the other problems that Gloucester have had in the front row, Sigley, Powell and Nick Wood had overcome all that appeared in front of them, including the supposed all star trio at Northampton, but they found David Barnes, Jonathan Humphreys and their apprentice Duncan Bell too much to cope with, even when the monstrous Christo Bezuidenhout made his debut for the visitors. The Cherry and Whites’ pack in fact performed little better than the woeful Quins eight which Bath pushed around the preceding week. All very strange. Very strange indeed.

This lack of a forward platform produced a degree of chaos in the Gloucester backs and half backs who looked flat and uninspired, perhaps with the exception of Marcel Garvey who at least kept his chin up.

However the Bath backs were seemingly only a little more scintillating than they had been in previous matches and given their forward dominance the Bath coaches will doubtless be concerned that they were unable to achieve more than Tindall’s brace of tries, one of which came gift wrapped with a little card saying “with love from Duncan McRae” who buckled under pressure from Andy Beattie when Olly Barkley first asked Goodridge and then our pal from down under to collect a lovely high kick in front of the Glaws’ posts.

There was more forward dominance up at Kingston Park when Tigers over ran Newcastle Falcons just as had Gloucester the week before and of course this is the very same Falcons who scored a 33-18 win over Bath at The Rec just a couple of weeks ago – it just gets stranger and stranger!!

I have watched an awful lot of rugby, probably more than is good for me, but with both of my biased eyes wide open I can’t remember seeing Tigers play better than they did last Saturday. Whether other clubs have produced such a fine performance I don’t know but if they have they’ll have done pretty well.

Tigers’ performance was all the more remarkable given the changes forced on the team behind the pack and it was hard to believe that this was not an entirely settled combination, even young Matt Cornwell, after a debut flutter, put in a good performance making some useful breaks and looking confident, probably due to having the big right arm of his skipper firmly around his young shoulders when he made his debut appearance for the first XV at the beginning of the second half.

If the Bath pack play as they did last weekend and Tigers are similarly inclined then the meeting at Welford Road next Saturday could be a titanic battle, in the first half at least.

To my mind there are two Bath packs. The one that has Jonathan Humphreys in the number 2 shirt and the one that doesn’t.

Humphreys, at 35, doesn’t last the full 80 odd minutes these days and at around the hour mark is usually replaced by the talented Lee Mears or, as was the case last week, the new rising star from the Bath academy, Rob Hawkins, who was part of the England U21 Grand Slam winning side of last season.

Both Mears and Hawkins may well be the future but it’s Humphreys’ vast experience gained with his 35 caps for Wales that makes the Bath tight five tick just as Johnno does for Tigers and when the Welshman departs and prowls the touchline, looking frustrated that he is not still out there, something is somehow missing from the way the Bath pack goes about it’s business.

Aiding and abetting the newly anointed skipper at Bath is another front rower who has been there and got enough T shirts to fill Madonna’s wardrobe, one David Barnes, who has, of late, had to play second fiddle to the currently injured Flatman and will, next weekend, have the dubious pleasure of facing Julian White for most of the first half anyway after which Matt Stevens can be reckoned to make an appearance.

While not a particularly great scrummager Stevens is very swift around the park and an excellent ball carrier in the Phil Vickery mode.
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On the other side of Humphreys probably Duncan Bell who is, if nothing else, a “big old unit” but in fact he is more than that he’s actually a pretty good scrummager and Rowntree will know he’s been in a contest.

It is rumoured by the way that Rowntree will also be vying with Humphreys for the title of player most often losing his contact lens!

Looking at the respective front rows I think it unlikely that even with the experience that Bath have available that they will be able to overcome the Tigers’ trio for 80 odd minutes although if Bath go as well as they did against the Cherry and Whites I expect the first quarter to be the most rigorous examination that the dominant Tigers’ front row has had to undergo so far this season.

If the contest in the front three is to be fierce then that at lock could be positively volcanic and we shall be fortunate in having Chris White on parade to administer some sensible control, he usually being one of the few officials these days that can effectively referee set pieces.

Thank all the Gods that watch over rugby that we aren’t getting Dave Pearson!

Interestingly Messrs White and Pearson have both already officiated over Bath twice this term with Lander doing the honours on the other occasion against Newcastle.

Johnno has been in imperious form this season and never more so than at Kingston Park last weekend. Tigers are blessed in having Ben Kay returned to form and rotating with the very talented Louis Deacon. Bath of course are similarly favoured with Grewcock, Borthwick and the evergreen Rob Fidler all in good fettle.

The lineout will be very tight and I for one cannot call the outcome and indeed anybody that thinks they can should perhaps make contact with me and tell me next Saturday’s winning lottery numbers as well! Frankly I see little to choose between this match up if all these players are at their best whether it be at the set piece or around the park. I just hope that everybody manages to stay on the pitch.

In the backrow Bath’s usual starting combination of Beattie, Lipman and Fea’unati are also a pretty useful bunch.

Personally I think that ex Bristol player Lipman has real potential to add to his two England caps being very potent in attack but perhaps with something still to learn from the master, Mr Back, in defence.

I have always liked Andy Beattie. He’s not only excellent at taking the ball up but strong defensively and gives Bath a real option at the lineout. He will be tussling with Martin Corry at the back of the set piece and again I hope that the sparks don’t ignite.

The Wellington born Samoan international Fea’unati, or “Zakattack” to his friends, has again started to show what he can do and is another strong and opportunistic ball carrier who will have to be closely marshalled by the Tigers. He can have a quiet period from time to time when he drifts out of the game but when in the mood can be devastating, especially inside the opposition 22.

Nevertheless in spite of their performance against Glaws it’s probable that at some point in the proceedings new signing Geraint Lewis will get a run fresh from his acquisition and with the blue and black paint hardly dry, his having the dubious honour of being the best of the Rotherham side last year, rather a matter of damning with faint praise perhaps but no, he is a fine player and did stand out from the rest.

Against Gloucester, and indeed to a lesser extent Quins, Bath used the pick and drive to good effect and marched the Gloucester pack sharply backwards early on, much as did Falcons with Tigers, so the Tigers’ loose forwards will have to be very quick to the breakdown and as awesomely efficient around the tackle area as they have been thus far (the debacle of Edgely Park excepted of course).

Of course having come through his A team test we may see Lewis “MadEye” Moody take some part on Saturday and if he does what a welcome he’ll get from the Welford Road faithful but with or without his particular brand of play I think that the fast developing Brett Deacon and the next England #8, Martin Corry, should combine with Neil Back in shading the contest.

Both of the packs likely to start have a settled look about them now with the Bath pattern only being broken when Fidler started against Quins due to Borthwick being in the cooler.

Behind the pack Tigers have been rejuvenated under the tutelage of Pat Howard showing cohesion whatever the starting combination as was shown when Ollie Smith moved to inside centre and Seru Rabeni to outside him. We have been told that Rabeni is ready for a rest so having seen him scoring try after try I wonder what he’ll be like when he’s had some R & R!?

Bath on the other hand have, by and large, looked stolid and unimaginative but there’ll be some interesting contests nevertheless.

Martyn Wood having cemented his starting spot at Bath, only failing to start against Quins when new boy Nick Walshe got the nod, clearly harbours aspirations to get his hands on the England #9 shirt for which Harry Ellis is seemingly already having his measurements taken if the press are to be believed and so this should be another area of high drama with both players being sparky and combative however Ellis is on fire this term and it’s hard not to see him having the edge over his rival for international honours.

Olly Barkley again showcased his prodigious talents with both hand and boot once more restored to his rightful position at fly-half from where he has made two starts this term with Malone otherwise being given the #10 shirt. Nothing wrong with Malone but Barkley just has that intuitive spark and it may just be coincidence but on both the occasions that he has started at fly-half this term, against Worcester and Gloucester, Bath have recorded wins.

Ross Broadfoot was again in impressive form against Falcons putting Geordan Murphy in for a try with an inch perfect kick the like of which Jonny Wilkinson would have been proud and if Ross is fit and recovered from the deadleg kindly provided by Ed Williamson in a border line late tackle our own Wunderkind will, for the second week running, have another benchmark against which to measure himself, always assuming that Andy Goode is not, as rumoured, near to recovery.

Bath will be pleased to have Mike Tindall returned to them, especially as he now seems to have the Royal Warrant as Purveyor of Rugby to the Princess Royal and her family, indeed he celebrated his command appearance at The Recreation Ground last weekend, fresh from the pages of Hello magazine, with a brace of tries. We all know what Tindall is capable of; strong running now combined with an eye for a line through the opposing defence and a useful boot.

As much as I hope to see Daryl Gibson restored a tiny part of me would savour Ollie Smith against Tindall but either way this will be another close contest although more likely to be a bash up if Gibson is fit thereby permitting Ollie Smith to return to what is still his best spot in the #13 shirt.

I do not think it unfair to say that Robbie Fleck has, thus far, been a bit of a disappointment for those who saw him in his Springbok days. It’s true of course that he was cursed by injury last season, when he broke his ankle in (I think) his first outing in the premiership but for all that this is a 31 time Springbok who scored 10 tries for his country and I’d expected something more.

Although such has been the demeanour of the Bath backs this term perhaps a single try from his 11 premiership appearances is all that can reasonably be expected and I hope that he doesn’t feel obliged to put on a virtuoso performance during his forthcoming visit to Welford Road.

On current form I don’t think the probable Tindall and Fleck combination will overawe the Tigers pairing whether it be Gibson/Smith or Smith/Rabeni both combining plenty of pace and strength and of course each now imbued with the flair and tactics of Pat Howard.

Out wide last week for Bath was another ex Bristolian, converted centre Andrew Higgins, who’s start at Bath last term was initially dogged with injury but with six tries last season, including one at Welford Road, he is a tricky and pacey player who with his background in centre play shows a good eye for a break.

On the other flank was Brendon Daniel, yet another ex Bristol player, who has already crossed the whitewash on three occasions from his four starts, bagging a brace against Newcastle and he is joined with Lee Best in forming an all ex Bristol back three.

Daniel is strong and direct while Best, who continues to deputise for the injured Matt Perry, was, I always thought, rather underestimated during his time at Bristol for when I saw him play I thought he looked assured under the high ball and capable of some good first strike running and it is he who should again combine to make a useful back three.

However Best, having just returned to fitness after undergoing a knee reconstruction, is now suffering from a hernia, so if new signing Joe Maddock is available after the back strain that saw his late withdrawal from the game against Quins, then I’ve no doubt he should make an appearance as Bath will surely want to deploy the free scoring New Zealand Maori without delay and see him add to his solitary appearance for his new club as well as avoiding the taking of any unnecessary risk with the health and well being of young Best. The club line is currently that the hernia can be operated on at a “convenient time” however I would not have thought playing rugby at any level, let alone in the premiership, was an entirely sensible option.

The revitalised Healey was absent injured last weekend but if his hamstring is in good order then he’ll be back, otherwise I hope we see some more of Rabeni, before he puts his feet up and if his deadleg is cleared, about which the coaching staff sound more pessimistic than does our Fijian try scoring machine, perhaps he’d then partner John Holtby with Geordan at #15 who is showing some stunning form this term and to my biased eye at least is the standout fullback in the premiership at the moment.

When I first thought about this preview it was before the Gloucester game when Bath had lost badly at home to Falcons, had a close shave against new boys Worcester and taken part in another dull game with Quins and while the game at The Rec last Saturday was apparently not one that could be termed anything approaching a classic they did, when all is said and done, turn over one of the form teams thus far and did so with forward power.

Of course Tigers will not have the gremlins in their brains as did Gloucester when they travelled to their least favourite away venue and the Tigers pack has been going exceptionally well, so in spite of the probable equality at lock I think that Tigers will, once again, be able to create a firm platform from which the backs can perform AND it’s against Bath AND against the side who made the most of Tigers’ shortcomings last season AND it’s at Welford Road, so I’m going for a Tigers’ win but my expectations are limited to this and of course a spelling and grammar critique from the Bath message board but not another five points!