Match Preview: A memory and an ambition

The future of European rugby has been secured & revamped last week – or so we are told. There is something to play for, giving meaning both to the remaining domestic fixtures and to the current European cup tournaments. While fans wait for confirmation of next year’s competition format, the teams will no doubt be concentrating on the here and now.

Bath v Brive is a fond memory for Bath fans: a classic cliffhanger in Bordeaux 16 years ago bringing the first English Heineken triumph and Bath’s last silverware of a decade and a half at the top of the English game. For the team, the match on Sunday is spiced with more than mere memory.

Three successive home defeats leave a reputation in need of swift repair – the latest a bitterly frustrating failure to overcome Sale’s defensive stubbornness or to persuade the referee to award the penalty try which would have ensured victory. Bath will be keen to summon a backlash and make their next opponents feel their wrath, but in truth they are likely to be equally angry with themselves for letting last Friday’s game slip.

Now lying 4th, with Sale breathing down their necks and Northampton and Harlequins yet to come, the Amlin cup offers a second route to Europe as well as a chance of redemption. Brive lie in low mid table: 9th in the Top 14. They have beaten all the sides above them at home with the exception of league leaders Clermont. Notable scalps they have taken this season are Toulouse, Toulon and Stade Francais. Their away form shows them to be scrappers, as they have lost 7 out of 10 fixtures by 7 points or less. Among their close defeats are 2 against Bordeaux Begles – by 7 & 4 points. Domestic form is a notoriously poor guide to how well French teams travel and Bath will no doubt hope that Brive travel as poorly as Begles did in January. This though, is European Cup rugby and a route to the big time for Brive next season too, so if “the right Brive team turns up” expect them to be competitive and have some tricks to show off.

It will be vital for Bath’s pack to rediscover the venom and dominance that characterised the early months of the season. Last weekend Brive showed their mettle with a sweeping 70 metre try involving forwards and backs. So the pressure continues on Bath as the season comes to it’s climax. Sunday’s game is significant in many ways: a win keeps the silverware hunt alive on 2 fronts. Equally important is the need to forge an attitude and a performance to put the frustrations of the last month firmly to bed.

Will this weekend confirm that our season has peaked too soon, or do Bath have it in them to make a last push for the summit? I expect both teams to fly out of the blocks to seek an early advantage. First mistake or first score could be crucial. Bath will be working in training to eliminate the handling errors under pressure and to sharpen decision making in the opposition 22. I think their hard work will pay off. Bath by 7.

Possible Bath team: James, Batty, Wilson, Hooper, Attwood, Garvey, Fearns, Houston, Stringer, Ford, Rokoduguni, Devoto, Eastmond, Watson, Abendanon Bench: Catt, Guinazou, Perenise, Day, Mercer, Young, Henson, Agulla,