Thanks Classy

By Ed Scott
April 18 2013

In the final home game of the campaign, Bath host their old friends Leicester this Saturday in what promises to be the toughest match that they are likely to have played at The Rec this season. Make no mistake, this is a titanic task for Bath with the odds clearly stacked in Leicester's favour. 

Once again Bath were under par last weekend, failing to score a try in the game or even a solitary point in the second half, despite going into the break 9-6 up. Missing five first choice players didn’t help, but it continues to highlight the predictability and lack of imagination when it comes to Bath’s attacking game, as well as their failure to keep down the error count.

With Exeter now two points ahead of Bath in the table and Wasps still only one behind, sixth place and Heineken Cup rugby seems to be slipping away. Those teams play each other on Sunday, meaning that defeat for Bath will result in either Wasps overtaking us or Exeter extending their advantage to an unassailable five or six point lead. We could (mathematically!) get five points from our visit to Saracens, but Exeter would still have one more win than us, so would not need to get anything from their final game in order to finish sixth.

Regardless of the machinations, Bath’s fate is no longer in their hands. No matter what Gary Gold says about the team’s targets, I cannot believe for one moment that anyone from the top to the bottom of the club will see failing to finish in the top six as anything less than a failure.

All this aside, there should be some interesting match ups on Saturday, with certain players not only vying for Premiership success, but also for Lions places. Sadly these are mainly from Leicester, but Bath’s Paul James must be in with an outside shot of the tour, so his battle with Dan Cole will be one to observe.

The likes of Tom Croft, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs will definitely be looking to assert themselves on the game, but my match up of the day is Salvi vs Louw. Flo has not been on the best form of late, but is a class operator, and although likely to be playing six, they will still come head to head at the breakdown. Salvi is probably the form openside in the Premiership and Bath will continue to rue the fact that we didn’t have the cap to re-sign him after his year back in Australia. Flo will also be looking for recompense after being falsely sent off in the Welford Road fixture, so we might see some fireworks.

Irrespective of form, I don’t expect to see anything less than full-blooded commitment and passion from both sides. Attwood was superb on the weekend so I also look forward to watching him assert himself in the presence of Geoff Parling. If Parling fails to make the Lions, they could well be partnering each other on the England tour this summer.

In the past I would say that the derby nature of the game and home advantage would make this a tight encounter, however, such is the form of both sides, Bath are going to have to improve ten fold if they hope to take anything from this game.

Victory is of course not out of the question, but Leicester are on top form and my tip for the Premiership title this year. That said, Bath have only lost three times at home all season and are still capable of producing real quality moments. We simply need those to be rather frequent this week! Bath have nothing to lose so I would love to see them throw caution to the wind and play with real expression.

I'll leave the team debates to the board this week, but I for one would love to see Michael Claassens at least lead the team out. He's given six great years to us and alongside other departing players, deserves a good send off.

As ever, I go to the game with hope in my heart and fire in the belly; let’s raise our voices and be the extra man for one last time this season, it might just make a difference.

Match Preview - Leicester Loom Large Over Bath

Discussion started by Comeonmylovers.co.uk (IP Logged), 18/04/2013 12:11

Comeonmylovers.co.uk
18/04/2013 12:11

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:05:01:13:36:44 by TCM2007.

Reply Quote Report

Bri
18/04/2013 12:39

I hope a Classens starts,Stringer is he any better?

Reply Quote Report

Clarkey3k
19/04/2013 16:13

"As ever, I go to the game with hope in my heart and fire in the belly" - don't we all, it's just some of us also have ice in our heads. Tigers by some distance, including a bonus point....

Adopted players: 24/25 J Bayliss; [24] O Lawrence; [23] J Cokanasiga; [22] M Green; [21] A Watson; [20] T Faletau; [19] M V Vuuren; [18] T Faletau; [17] D Denton; [16] H. Agulla; [15] L Houston; [14] W Spencer; [13] F. Louw

Family . Community . Nation - [sdp.org.uk]

My mind's been going places without me lately - Bushfire The B52's

Reply Quote Report

Clarkey3k
21/04/2013 06:00

Well, how wrong was I to pour cold water on the idea of a win - there is an ache in my head this morning after our lengthy celebration of a fantastic win. Well done Bath, more of the same please....

Adopted players: 24/25 J Bayliss; [24] O Lawrence; [23] J Cokanasiga; [22] M Green; [21] A Watson; [20] T Faletau; [19] M V Vuuren; [18] T Faletau; [17] D Denton; [16] H. Agulla; [15] L Houston; [14] W Spencer; [13] F. Louw

Family . Community . Nation - [sdp.org.uk]

My mind's been going places without me lately - Bushfire The B52's

Reply Quote Report

Bath Mendip
30/04/2013 23:00

Yes, more of the same - as in a win at Allianz Park on Saturday - would be just the ticket.

Unfortunately, we also need to rely on Glaws doing us a big favour away at Exeter, and as much as I'd like to believe that is likely ....................

We can only concentrate on beating Sarries, though, so is it to be Clermont or Oyonnax next season, boys?

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net