Bath Out To Prove They Are The Champions


By Glen Leat
May 27 2004

Oh crikey, oh blimey it's nearly here and I'm getting edgy already: God knows what state I'll be in Saturday morning. A trip to Twickenham to play the current European Champions for the honour of being called "English Premiership Champions" is at stake and we're up for it!

Many of you will know that I hate Festival Rugby, particularly when Bath is involved. Bath playing in a Premiership Final to finally be crowned Kings of England is too important to be messed around by the Marketing Men of EPR or RFU and the thought of having to wait until 6pm before we even kick off is more than my nerves can stand. This will play havoc with my digestive system and I predict there will be more than a few dozen extra irritable bowels in South West London by the end of the day!

 

But before we start thinking about the game itself, let's remember that win, lose or draw we can be very proud of what our team has achieved this year: the turnaround has been nothing short of miraculous and we now know we have a real future back at the top of the league instead of in the basement.

 

Go Bath Go! See off those Waspies.

A lot has been said this season about the fairness of the Play-off system and we now have to put this issue behind us. The simple fact is these are the rules and we are now playing a one-off Cup Final for the biggest prize in English Club Rugby. I quite like the concept proposed by a Waspie fan who said the league should now be seen as a "qualifier for this game". However whilst I can (just about) stomach this system (through gritted teeth) I can't get my head around the advantage given to the team that finished second or third in terms of the gap between the league leaders' last game and the final. We all know that a team has to be match hardened to be at their best and however well our coaching staff will have prepared the Bath team, they cannot be as match hardened as if they had played last week-end.

 

Wasps are a top class outfit and we will do very well to beat them, but beat them we will. As coach John Connelly said earlier this week, "There is no doubt that this is Wasps’ time, they are reigning Zurich Premiership and Heineken Cup champions, so will be a fair challenge for us on Saturday. However, you will not be finding this side short of desire, belief and ability. We are fully prepared for the match. The preparation has been good and we have trained hard over the last couple of weeks and the players are all extremely motivated. It will also be great to see what will be a massive Bath Rugby support cheering us on every inch of the way."

 

It's great to see Mike Tindall returning for such an important game, he's a big match player and just thinking about him and Fleckie in the heart of the Bath back-line makes my mouth water (if you know what I mean). Having two top class internationals in the centre positions takes me back to our glory days. Molly Malone fully justifies his starting position, though I bet young Olly can't believe his (bad) luck on missing out. I'm hugely disappointed for David Flatman but similarly I'm hugely pleased for David Barnes, remember his consistently solid performances last season when we struggled?

 

 

It will be Bath's first trip to Twickenham in 15-a-side rugby since losing the Zurich Championship final 10-22 to Leicester in May 2001. That was a very disappointing day and not one we will want to experience again. We are used to winning Finals having won all 10 previous Cup Finals. A Bath win will see us claim a record 7th English League title and a first domestic trophy for 8 years.

Wasps are bidding to become only the third club to achieve a double of European Cup and Domestic Championship in the same season following
Toulouse in 1995/96 and Leicester in 2000/01 and 2001/02. The Londoners are also going for a fourth English League title, their second in succession
following last season's success, and previous triumphs in 1989/90 and 1996/97.

Bath have beaten Wasps just once in their last four clashes in all competitions: 20-19 in the Zurich Premiership at the Causeway Stadium in
October.  Both teams have "locked horns" three times before at Twickenham with Bath winning all three - the 1986 and 1987 John Player Cup finals and the 1995 Pilkington Cup Final. If you are looking for omens, that's the one!

Warren Gatland is rightfully confident leading up to this game, "Winning the Heineken Cup has given us the momentum to go into this game confident and battle hardened.  We were fortunate enough to escape without any injuries and so I have named the same side for the third week running. There is no point in being European Champions and not being champions of your country.  Therefore we are desperate to retain our title. Bath have enjoyed a remarkable season under John Connolly and will prove a stern test for us.  This season honours are even between the clubs so both sides are evenly matched. It's a winner takes all showdown."

I know we are the underdogs and this will be tight one but I'm convinced we will win - Bath by 10!

Now then, where are those lucky gloves?

Bath

15 Matt Perry
14 Andrew Higgins
13 Robbie Fleck
12 Mike Tindall
11 Alex Crockett
10 Chris Malone
9 Martyn Wood
1 David Barnes
2 Jonathan Humphreys (captain)
3 Duncan Bell
4 Steve Borthwick
5 Danny Grewcock
6 Andy Beattie
7 Michael Lipman
8 Zak Feaunati

16 Hentie Martens
17 Lee Mears
18 Matt Stevens
19 Olly Barkley
20 Mike Catt or Spencer Davey
21 James Scaysbrook
22 Rob Fidler

Wasps
15 Mark Van Gisbergen
14 Josh Lewsey
13 Fraser Waters
12 Stuart Abbott
11 Tom Voyce
10 Alex King
9 Rob Howley


1 Tim Payne
2 Trevor Leota
3 Will Green
4 Simon Shaw
5 Richard Birkett
6 Joe Worsley
7 Paul Volley
8 Lawrence Dallaglio (Capt)

16 Henry Nwume
17 Mark Lock
18 Ben Gotting
19 Martin Purdy
20 Peter Richards
21 Mark Denney
22 Ayoola Erinle

Click here to remind yourself about the last match against Wasps.

Click on to the Wasps site for their perspective on things.

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

Played 16 %
Bath Won 8 50
Wasps Won 6 37
Drawn 2 13

Biggest Win

Bath 36 - 12 17 Feb 1996
Wasps 35 - 0 7 Feb 1999

Last Meetings (Bath scores first)

7 Feb 2004 6 - 10 The Rec
5 Oct 2003 20 - 19 Adams Park
6 Apr 2003 17 - 36 Adams Park
14 Sept 2002 27 - 27 The Rec
12 May 2002 22- 24 The Rec
2 Dec 2001 10 - 23 Loftus Road
6 May 2001 36 - 31 Loftus Road
17 Mar 2001 16 - 13 The Rec
27 Aug 2000 36 - 12 Loftus Road
22 Jan 2000 27 - 16 The Rec
5 Dec 1999 21 - 23 Loftus Road
7 Feb 1999 0 - 35 Loftus Road
5 Sep 1998 36 - 27 The Rec
17 May 1998 31 - 17 Loftus Road
14 Feb 1998 43 - 27 The Rec
6 Apr 1997 25 - 25 Loftus Road
14 Sep 1996 36 - 40 The Rec

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