Another Test of Character: Bath V Gloucester

  After a close call at the Stoop, Bath’s home derby against Gloucester will be another test of character. Relative positions have widened since Bath won at Kingsholm in December: Gloucester have slumped to 9th, while Bath are restored at 2nd. This, though is a derby – against a team on a winning streak and scoring tries. The fixture is not the knife –edge it might have been as Exeter’s heroics last weekend at Allianz Park have handed Bath a home semi- final whatever the result. Gloucester’s season will have one more fixture to run: a European Champions Cup playoff against a Pro 12 side. Will that be a distraction, or will the Cherry & Whites use the Rec visit as preparation? Whatever side the Kingsholm club select will come prepared for a battle. For the Gloucester club and fans a victory over Bath is sweeter than any other. This match does not need an incentive to be spicy.  

Director of Rugby David Humphries has vowed to restore Gloucester’s tradition of strong forward play, to complement the relatively new brand of exciting back play which has been their hallmark for the last 3 seasons. He has recruited for that and next season sees more reinforcement arriving – five of the seven new signings are in the front five. Gloucester certainly have players of pedigree: Wood, Hibbard, Palmer and Kvesic are doughty warriors up front. Behind them the flair and wiles of Laidlaw and Hook can lay on plenty of chances for a backline boasting pace, power and skill in the likes of May, Sharples and Twelvetrees. The club’s lowly league position is not due to lack of talent, more to the time it takes to gel the squad together and transform the playing style. For most of this season, Gloucester have seemed to be less than the sum of their parts. On this occasion though, they will be missing Moriarty & Meakes who are banned and could well lose Kvesic also.

Bath will want to continue winning ways for momentum and morale, but the pressure for bonus points is off. Mike Ford has nailed his colours to the mast: the “Bath way” will be the preferred playing style until the end of the season. That approach was almost Bath’s undoing against Quins last Friday evening, the open game an invitation to counter attack which the Stoop men seized with glee. Ford will want to iron out some of the errors of that encounter: forced passes under pressure, lapses of concentration at attacking scrums wasting carefully built pressure positions, failure to guard at the ruck. The important positive from 8^th May though, was that Bath found a way to win. Resilience, pressure, good handling and determination brought tries to respond to each Quins touchdown and eventually the field position to force a winning penalty. He will look for a win secured earlier in the match this Saturday.

Unlike The Cherry & Whites, Bath have few missing and their secure playoff status allows a rest for any carrying niggling injuries. Departure from recent selections looks unlikely, unless it is to rest those carrying knocks, or the return of Henry Thomas to the squad if ready. Ford may want to give starts to players who have benched recently, but there seems little to gain from risking anybody who is not fully fit.

Last seasons Bath: Gloucester encounters were both edgy affairs. At the Rec Bath prevailed in pouring rain despite conceding the only try to a rampant Freddie Burns. Then at Kingsholm they sneaked a last minute win in a match marked by more cards than a Paul Daniels TV show. This season’s Christmas derby at Gloucester saw better rugby – Bath winning comfortably with a 23 point, 3 tries to one margin.

There will be plenty of passion, but victory in a derby usually goes to the team that keeps it’s head. Expect the braying at the end to be Bath’s trumpet of triumph, rather than the donkey calls of the Shedheads, but it will probably be a tasty encounter.

Possible teams:

James, Webber, Wilson, Garvey, Attwood, Burgess, Louw (Capt), Houston. Stringer, Ford, Rokoduguni,  Eastmond, Joseph, Banahan, Watson Bench: Auterac, Batty, Lahiff, Day, Fearns. Cook, Devoto, Homer

Gloucester: Wood, Hibbard, Afoa, Savage, Palmer , Kalamafoni, Kvesic, B. Morgan. Laidlaw,Hook, May, Twelvetrees, Trinder, Sharples, McColl Bench: Thomas, Edmonds, Puafisi, Savage, Evans, Robson, Burns, Atkinson.