By Glen Leat
April 9 2003

Bath walk the tightrope of relegation on Thursday evening as they face fellow relegation candidates London Irish at the Rec in this basement battle which could decide who stays up and who goes down. This is the first of three "Cup Finals" from which Bath cannot afford to be second best.

The word on the streets of Bath, otherwise known as the ERE Poll, show Bath fans expecting an away victory with only 34% supporting the concept of a Bath win. Skipper Danny Grewcock does not share this opinion, believing his team can get through this crisis, “The preparation for the game has been excellent, the coaching team has worked extremely hard and it is now down to the individual players to take to the field and prove what we are capable of. We fully understand the challenge that lies in front of us over the remaining three Zurich Premiership games, and we are all confident that we have the character, fight, determination and desire to meet that challenge head on and get job done.”

Bath announce a squad rather than a team, as has been normal of recent weeks; does this indicate indecisiveness or a coaching team wanting to keep their opponents on the back foot? It looks as though Matt Perry will be fit to start the game but Mike Tindall is still doubtful and Chris Malone did enough in the last game to find himself out of the reckoning.

We have a fantastic record at the Rec and this is not the time to lose it but let's not kid ourselves, this will be a tough game against a team who have as much to lose as we have. London Irish will come at us with all guns blazing and we cannot rely on their kicker, Barry Everitt, having as bad a day as he did on the opening game of the season.

Right Bath fans, on with your replica shirts, forget whether the coaches are right for the team and if the owner can manage a rugby club and get shouting:

"Come on Bath!!!!!!"

Bath Squad
Backs: Olly Barkley, Ross Blake, Mike Catt, Gareth Cooper, Simon Danielli, Spencer Davey, Kevin Maggs, Matt Perry, Elvis Seveali’i, Mike Tindall, Andy Williams, Tom Voyce.

Forwards: Dave Barnes, Andy Beattie, Steve Borthwick, Gareth Delve, Alessio Galasso, Danny Grewcock, Jonathan Humphreys, John Mallett, Lee Mears, James Scaysbrook, Gavin Thomas, Nathan Thomas.

Click on to the London Irish site for their perspective on things.

Click here to read about the encounter between Bath and London Irish earlier in the year.

In preparation for this clash let's have a look at a few recent statistics.

Biggest Win

Player Greats

Last Meetings (Bath scores first)