Return to Dragons Den: Toulon v Bath

Bath return this Sunday to the Stade Felix Mayol in the hope that rugby, not terrorism will claim the headlines. The original Pool 5 European Cup match had to be postponed due to the horrors of Friday 13 November in Paris. Those events cast a pall over Europe for the remainder of the year and, in hindsight, may have robbed Bath of a rare chance to beat the triple European Champions. If they travelled more in hope than expectation in November, how much more trepidation must Bath feel now? Toulon stand a healthy 4th in the Top 14, while Bath languish at 8th in the Premiership. Should the smart money therefore be on a heavy defeat for the visitors?  

At first glance a pasting would seem the likely outcome. Bath have struggled in their last two matches against Worcester and Newcastle, defeat to the latter suggesting a crisis of confidence.  A squad of star names and highly promising youngsters is scoring below the sum of it’s feted parts.  A growing injury crisis among the forwards has just become worse with the loss of Dave Attwood for most of the season –leaving the lock resources looking threadbare. Stuart Barnes in yesterdays, Times, has suggested that the attacking strategy which worked so well last year has been found out, that player motivation and squad morale are not what they ought to be. If he is to be believed, can Bath have a hope against the combined firepower of Cooper, Bastareaud, O’Connor, Habana, Mitchell and co, feeding off the possession supplied by a bruising pack containing Mafu, Stevens, Guirado, Gorgodze, Juan Smith, Fernadez Lobbe and Armitage? Can there be a worse time for a visit to Toulon?

This though, is cup rugby. No squad likes to be written off and this one is capable of plenty of fight. In European tournaments Bath have a habit of fronting up on visits to France as we saw in both Toulouse and Montpellier last year.  If the westcountrymen are to turn their season round they will need to start soon. They can welcome and make use of their underdog status, while Toulon have squad issues of their own- still integrating new arrivals and managing post World Cup fatigue and injury. Last weekend’s close home win against Pau may have showcased the talent of James O’Connor, but it also revealed indiscipline, an inability to kick goals and defensive frailty, causing a nervous final quarter.

Bath must travel with plans to pressure all those ills, not just in hope that they will recur. So far, in a fitful season, the wings have been among the few points to cheer. All are potent threats on their day and must be given their head. As showers are expected in Toulon on Sunday afternoon, a Saracens style game of pressure tackling and kick chase may harvest more chances for the wings than constant passing. If Bath can find the sharpness which undid Toulouse last year, they could worry their opponents. To do that will take an almighty effort from a pack which needs to rediscover it’s snarl. It will also need more togetherness and fluency to exploit the few chances a game like this will offer. Most of all, the whole squad will need to summon up the fire to out scorch their opponents –whatever that takes. Win, lose or draw there is more than pride at stake-it could be make or break for the season. 

Possible Bath Team:

Auterac, Batty, Thomas, Garvey, Ewels, Houston, Louw (Capt),Denton. Cook, Ford. Banahan, Devoto,  Joseph, Rokodoguni. Watson Replacements:  Lahiff, Webber, Wilson, Day, Mercer. Matawalu, Priestland, Agulla