By Glen Leat
May 30 2004

Bath Rugby can hold its head high despite the disappointment of losing out to Wasps,6-10, at Twickenham. This time last year Bath was struggling for breath after fighting for Premiership survival so a loss in the Premiership Final against the best team in Europe is hardly the end of the world.

The atmosphere was electric as the two teams made their way on to the pitch, tantalisingly past the Premiership trophy, with the hordes of Bath supporters proving once and for all that we can make a lot of noise at a rugby match. Seeing the swathes of blue, black and white across the terraces(sic) of the home of rugby brought a lump to the throat and reminded one of just what Jack Rowell, John Connelly and the rest of the Bath Rugby crew have done this season. This wasn't just about trying to win a game of rugby but also to show the rest of the country that Bath Rugby is back. After years of under-achieving, the club that set the standards for professionalism in the amateur era was finally standing up to be counted.

After making its name as a club which enjoyed the services of some of the best backs in the country Bath Rugby has the best set of forwards in the Premiership and their display in this Final was once again awesome. From the very start of the game they piled on the pressure, making the Wasps normally outstanding pack look ordinary: if only the Bath backs had been able to capitalise on the amount of possession their forwards won for them then the result may have been very different.

A lot will be made about the wayward throwing of Trevor Leota but we should instead give credit to Steve Borthwick and Danny Grewcock. They played the game of their lives in the lineout and the way in which they disrupted the Wasps throw-ins should be used as a training video by all clubs looking to dominate this area of play. This season has been the making of Steve Borthwick and one has to seriously question  how he lost out to Simon Shaw in the recent Zurich Player Awards. In my view Borthwick eclipsed Shaw this year and the Wasps lock played brilliantly throughout the season, which says so much about Stevie B.

Wasps are a great side, and nobody can deny this, however this game was there for the taking. Maybe this is not the time for recriminations but I can't write up this report without making mention of the appalling performance of Martyn Wood. He has learnt nothing this season and placed so much pressure on the backs with his wayward passing, slow paced play and general tardiness that he should be truly embarrassed by his performance. There was one instance in the first half that sticks in my mind, when Bath were pummeling the Wasps line after another line-out steal, and all he had to do was flip the ball to Malone to set up an attack yet his pass was so wayward it reminded me of the time Geoff Thomas shot at goal for England and hit the corner flag.

We had countless possession at set scrums yet I can't remember a time when Wood got the ball in first time: on every occasion he turned to referee, Chris White, once, twice, three times before attempting to re-start the game. All this did was slow the game down in our attacking phases and play right in to the hands of Lawrence Dallaglio et al. Similarly he wasn't able to work out that the back of the scrum darts by himself and Zak Feaunati were not working yet they both persisted with this ploy.

Bath will not win a trophy with this bloke at scrum half unless he can re-invent himself and from what I have seen this season I don't believe he has it within his personality to make the necessary changes. I was quite calm starting this report as I thought the Bath players acquitted themselves with courage and commitment throughout the game but reminding myself of Wood's contribution has really wound me up! My message to Martyn Wood is "shape up or ship out", we don't need gobby scrum-halves not able to match their words with quality play.

Bath dominated the first half but, despite enjoying the lion's share of possession, left the field at half-time leading by a solitary Chris Malone penalty. Malone had missed another easy penalty and all Bath hearts were in their mouths as Wasps scrum-half, Rob Howley, intercepted a Mike Tindall pass to slide in under the posts. Fortunately referee Chris White was playing advantage to Bath after a Wasps knock-on, and the break-away try was disallowed. Phew!

Mike Catt played his last game for Bath, as a surprise late replacement for the injured Matt Perry, and will not be overly pleased with his performance: he looked less than assured at full-back with his clearance kicking not reaching the high standards we have come to expect. Losing Perry at the last moment was a real loss for Bath as his steady approach to full-back play gives the players in front of him the confidence to push forward and make more of their opportunities when in possession of the ball.

Wasps started the second half as Bath started the first and it was clear they had been told by the coaches that another 40 minutes of insipid rugby would see them lose the game and within a few moments of the re-start Alex King levelled the score with a drop goal. Bath re-took the lead through a Chris Malone drop goal but then Tom Voyce made a couple of his trademark dazzling runs to break through the Bath defence and this, together with the Wasps forwards upping the pace, meant that Bath were suddenly on the back foot far more than in the first half. 

However the Bath lineout was continuing to make a monkey out of Leota and his comrades so there was still hope. Unfortunately Warren Gatland finally made the move all Wasps fans were shouting for and Leota was replaced by Ben Gotting at hooker. In one fell swoop Wasps had tipped the game to their advantage and Bath knew it and started to snatch at opportunities. On one occasion Bath were attacking the Wasps line with a nice series of phases when Mike Catt, not renowned for his drop kicks, had a go at goal from a ludicrous angle whilst falling to his right: not surprisingly he missed and took the pressure off the European Champions.

There was nothing between the sides throughout the game and victory was available to the team able to make one breach of two excellent defences. Unfortunately for Bath it was Wasps who made the breakthrough when, under pressure from Paul Volley, Chris Malone spun a loose pass to his right on the half-way line and when Voyce scooped up the bobbling ball he had Stuart Abbott on the outside to run home his second try at Twickenham in six days. Mark van Gisbergen converted from the touch line and Wasps had a winning 10-6 lead.

Bath came back with wave after wave of attacking play but we always knew that if Wasps got in front it would be very tough for Bath to regain the lead and so it was.

This game wasn't a great spectacle for the neutral to watch but for all of us proudly wearing our blue, black and white colours it was a great day. The result is important but not the be-all and end-all of our season. This has been a marvellous season and one of which everyone involved in Bath Rugby can be rightly proud.

Oh and by the way, the lucky gloves have now been officially retired!

Bath: 15 Matt Perry, 14 Andrew Higgins, 13 Robbie Fleck, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Alex Crockett, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Martyn Wood, 8 Zak Feaunati, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Jonathan Humphreys (captain), 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 Hentie Martens, 17 Lee Mears, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 Olly Barkley, 20 Mike Catt or Spencer Davey, 21 James Scaysbrook, 22 Rob Fidler.

London Wasps: 15 Mark van Gisbergen, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Fraser Waters, 12 Stuart Abbott, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Alex King, 9 Rob Howley, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (captain), 7 Paul Volley, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Richard Birkett, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Will Green, 2 Trevor Leota, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 Henry Nwume, 17 Mark Lock, 18 Ben Gotting, 19 Martin Purdy, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Mark Denney, 22 Ayoola Erinle.

Referee: Chris White