By ChrisC
October 20 2010

I refer not to The Most Honourable Order of the Bath founded by George 1st for the creation of knights, the ceremony for which involved bathing as a symbol of purification, but to the instructions given by Bath Rugby’s coach, Steve Meehan, for his own knights to mount up and sally forth to Welford Road next Saturday for the traditional seasonal joust between the heavyweight battalions of two of the sport’s most successful clubs.

Seemingly there is some friction in the Bath coaching set up with the insertion of Ian McGeechan, who didn’t travel to Viadana, not working out too well with Steve Meehan and new owner Bruce Craig reportedly considering bringing Andy Robinson back to The Rec., after the 2011 World Cup – surely someone as astute as Mr Craig wouldn’t do such a thing – or would he and is it the early days of Nigel Wray all over again?

Personally I have always thought Meehan to have done a good job with Bath given the previously straightened circumstances in which he found himself so I hope things go well for him, although obviously not when Tigers are involved with his charges.

Last week both this weekend’s combatants secured five point wins in their respective Heineken Cup campaigns, the West Country side heading off to Italy to meet up with the newly created Aironi, while Tigers crouched in their Welford Road lair waiting for the arrival of the newly emboldened Scarlets.

I watched both matches and the contrast was stark between the performances of the two English teams.

In Italy Bath stuttered and struggled against the Magners League new boys, who have yet to secure a win in that competition and for whom tries are as rare as a dairy free pizza.

Bath went to Viadana (Aironi was formed from the town’s eponymous local rugby club) having succumbed to a home defeat by Biarritz the previous week and prior to that to another home calamity, this time in the Premiership at the hands of arch West country rivals Gloucester.

Aironi has some well known and star names in their line up; Bortolami, Ongaro, Penney, Demas, Erasmus, Perugini and Ludovic Mercier  amongst them but they still look very much a side recently formed and looking for an identity and cohesion of their own.

But in spite of this lack of familiarity in the Italian club’s ranks the Bath pack laboured mightily, and on this occasion statistics do not lie and their ranking as the team losing the most possession on their own scrums (along with Gloucester) and on their own line out throw was evidenced, particularly in the second half.

Nick Abendanon though should get a knighthood from the Bath management for his diamond bright display, albeit against weak opposition and a disorganised defence.

Up at Welford Road, Tigers were in, well, a Tigerish mood, with their pack demolishing Scarlets and with Toby Flood, Ben Youngs and the sinuous Tony Allen reunited they made full use of the sumptuous possession afforded them by their pack and the service of their back row where Waldrom single handedly kept the opposition fully occupied, permitting Tom Croft and Craig Newby to canter around the field as if they were auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing (by the bye how’s that all going Gavin!!??).

Added to this the Tigers’ lineout at last functioned at something approaching perfection against opposition who are no mugs in that department.

Having watched the Bath pack against Aironi it was stable for much of the time but I felt that once the excellent young Catt, who is a real prospect, was replaced by Flatman it deteriorated, as Flatman persisted with his strange delayed bind which only serves to either see him lose the hit or lose his late bind and collapse the scrum.  Catt was also better around the park.  David Wilson was fortunate not to be penalised by the wide eyed Mr Lacey, who seemed not to have the vaguest idea of what was going on, when the England prop hinged on occasion.  When Bell replaced him the whole scrum seemed more stable on his side. 

Given the performance of Tigers’ front row combinations, which can enviably now be from Ayerza/Castrogiovanni/Stanokvitch/Cole/Chuter/Hawkins and Duffey and of course not forgetting Julian White, remember him?  I can’t honestly see the Bath front row getting any traction at the set piece and with Ayerza back mobility in the loose has been improved as well.

The Bath line out in the first half against Aironi was also fairly stable but seemed to deteriorate in the second half when Dixon’s throws started to go off beam and Grewcock had taken his leave.

 Tigers’ finally seem to have got their act together here with young Ed Slater having a good match and Skivington showing what all the fuss was about down High Wycombe way and of course in Tom Croft Tigers are blessed with one of the best line out forwards around.  

So given the ongoing frailty of the Bath set piece I think there will be some advantage here for the home team, especially if Grewcock doesn’t recover from the rib injury that saw him replaced on the half hour mark by Lobbe, who had a great impact in the loose and has been a good signing by Meehan to replace the still sidelined Peter Short, who is usually very much Bath’s go-to man at line out time.

The Tigers pack seemed to have decided that the way to neutralise the effects of Leagunion at the breakdown is to drive straight through and over the attackers which was effective against Scarlets and left referee Clancy looking increasingly bemused.

Aironi’s #8 Nick Williams repeatedly punched holes in the Bath defence around the fringes and I’m sure Thomas Waldrom will be watching the video with great interest.

Without a Julian Salvi or a Lewis Moody the Bath back row doesn’t quite have that dogged defence at open side that’s needed and while Luke Watson is a superb footballer he is at his best going forward and provided he doesn’t push on that move too far, as he sometimes does, is incredibly potent and wonderful to watch.  But in defence the South African doesn’t look as comfortable and Simon Taylor can’t be everywhere, good a player as he is, while the evergreen Beattie is starting to show his venerability so maybe Skirving will get a start.

As I see the Tigers’ pack having a degree of control here the Bath breakaway unit may find itself under pressure and if that’s the case and Waldrom, Croft and Newby or Woods again get on the front foot it could be a long afternoon for the Bath backs.

All in all then I reckon that the exchanges in the loose and the set piece should favour the home side.

Behind the pack Ben Youngs was at his best and looked like the cat that had the double cream with the joint blessings of a dominant pack in front of him and the comfort of a rejuvenated and repaired Toby Flood and Tony Allen outside him.  As usual Flood played dead flat and greedily gobbled up the possession that he had handed to him and made a good comeback from injury.

Michael Claassens I thought looked irritable and fractious but in the end did admirably with great support from one Sam Vesty who provided a very good controlled performance and instead of his usual 45 degree approach work inviting his centres to come in on the reverse angle he instead straightened the line far more, permitting Ollie Barkley to come onto some lovely ball and on one occasion ghosting through the defence as if invisible, leaving the defenders asking “where’d he come from?”  and Tony Allen and Flood will have to be keenly aware of this threat for if Barkley gets in behind the defence then these days he has Matt Banahan with him at outside centre.

Against Aironi Barkley got the worm of doubt in his head about his kicking and had the yips which against a better team could have been pivotal so he’ll be doing some serious work on this aspect of his game in the week ahead whereas Tigers had the comfort blanket of Toby Flood back at the kicking tee.

Banahan has been a revelation in the centre smashing great holes in the opposition defence like a tattooed wrecking ball and when defending he is no longer so readily exposed by the ball being kicked behind him as he was when in the back three, this has been a brilliant change of tack for the big man by Meehan.

I can see Matt Smith having his own defensive hands full here with what is a great blend of skills in the Bath centres.  However Banahan does sometimes drift too far toward his previous domicile on the wing and there may be opportunities for Tony Allen and Matt Smith to wriggle through the gap.

A tight call here for me between the opposing pairings, so similar are they in their potential to cause trouble but maybe Hape will start which would maybe  be better for Tigers

In the back three Tigers have their very own wrecking ball in Alex Tuilagi who has hit form and still puts the fear of God into defenders.  The ever present Scott Hamilton is no longer underestimated by oppositions and Geordan Murphy is again playing well and although not yet at his very best invariably beats the first defender.

I expect that there will be little change in the Bath back three but if there is it will be rotational as Tom Biggs is showing some of those wonderful footballing skills we became used to seeing when he was at Leeds but which he didn’t get much chance to display while at Newcastle as he rarely got the ball, he’s also beefed up his defence no end and was very impressive against a committed Aironi attack, not subtle, not effective but committed.

Both he and Nick Abendanon are beautifully balanced runners with Abendanon a player who, when he has the ball, it is possible to feel anticipation in the air, although he can go to ground a touch ambitiously when challenged for my liking and were he to stand up in the tackle instead of looking for penalties to get support around him he would be even more effective and more likely to challenge for the England #15 shirt.

 I was impressed with Aussie Matt Carraro who has already scored twice in the Premiership this term whereas last season he scored just three from 14 starts and 2 appearances from the bench and added to this season’s overall tally by again crossing the line against Aironi, although he may not find Tigers’ defence quite as accommodating as that of the Italian side which looked in need of some SatNav.

The most dangerous aspect of the Bath back three is that they have sufficient pace and skill to score from inside their own 22 whereas Tigers need to be somewhat closer in to be at maximum effectiveness, so Tigers will need to keep the Bath trio firmly in their collective box and certainly resist the temptation of aimless kicking to any of the Bath back line as if they get sufficient possession they’re capable of meting out grievous punishment and I suspect that  to get their possession they may need to largely rely on thoughtless kicking from Tigers .

I think Tigers can again score four tries the question is can they stop Bath scoring more?

Well returning to the statistics for a moment; in the first five rounds of this year’s Premiership Tigers have scored 21 tries and conceded 11 whereas Bath have scored 10 and conceded 9. So it looks possible and  I reckon the Mercian legion will manage a bonus point win and that the Wessex cohort will head back to their fortress with a bonus point of their own.

Order of The Bath

Discussion started by TheLeicesterTigers.co.uk , 20/10/2010 22:28

TheLeicesterTigers.co.uk
20/10/2010 22:28

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:10:25:09:02:16 by inkworm.

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Temujin
20/10/2010 23:11

So you've revived the old Mercia / Wessex derby then? ... eee, those were t'days

Astute as ever, but have you reckoned without Monsieur Petit?

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Johns
20/10/2010 23:54

Thanks Chris, wonderful as usual.

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Stopsy
21/10/2010 08:04

Grazie Mille

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IDLETIMES
21/10/2010 12:41

Nice piece Chris. Like you I wish all the very best to Meehan and Bath, starting from Sunday.

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Rich W
21/10/2010 12:51

Thanks Chris. Excellent as always.

I'm getting excited. There is always something in the air when we play Bath!

...

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Tiggs
21/10/2010 12:57

Yes, but what is it in the air ?

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Johns
21/10/2010 13:19

From the forecast it is cold and rain with plenty of it.

Sounds like an ideal 9 - 6 to Tigers with the front rows having a party.

A proper game.

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Tricky=Legend
21/10/2010 13:32

Enjoyed that Chris.

Here is the preview from the Bath side of the fence!

[www.rugbynetwork.net]

Nick Abendanon - My 2012-13 Adoptee - Run it Bendy!





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:10:21:13:33:42 by Tricky=Legend.

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IDLETIMES
22/10/2010 11:47

As I went to bed last night he weather forcast said the rain should clear by k.o. then high winds.

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