By Glen Leat
April 26 2002

Bath take on the Newcastle Falcons knowing that a win is essential to keep their momentum towards league safety although a loss may not be the end of the world. Nevertheless, it's winning rugby that Bath and their loyal fans need between now and the end of the season to prepare for next year.

Prior to our last match against the Falcons, Bath had a League record for the season of: Played 8, Won 2 Lost 6. In our last eight League games our record is Won 3 Lost 5 so the omens show that we are not in too dissimilar a position to last time. The big difference however is that we are playing in Newcastle this time and we don't have a particularly good winning record up there though the games are normally very close, look below to see the biggest win for Newcastle, by just seven points, so the Bath squad should approach this match with some confidence.

The players have been reporting that the approach of coach Foley is making them feel more confident and less fearful of making mistakes, this is good in the short term as our players tend to excel when the pressure is removed, however in the longer term they will have to learn to play under immense pressure week in and week out if they are to compete against the likes of Leicester next season. Iain Balshaw has yet to score a try this season and this match would be an ideal time to break his duck.

As many of you will know I have an appalling talent for predicting scores so on this occasion I will plump for a Falcons victory by ten points - that should do the trick!

Click on to the Newcastle Falcons Rivals.Net site for their perspective on things.

Click here to read about the encounter between Bath and Newcastle 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)