Sale v Bath - A PRE-CHRISTMAS SALE - BUT........

Cam Redpath
By Bath Supporter Jack
November 22 2023

.......WILL IT BE A BARGAIN FOR BATH

Echoing Devonport Boy’s minor rant in respect of last week’s Friday night game I will repeat my dislike of these Friday night fixtures. Especially a game in northern climes at the A J Bell Stadium, just off the M60, late in November.

This game has added piquancy as of course it is number one in the league against number two. Who would have thought this three months ago? However, as we all know the league is very, very tight with a lot of bonus points for close games and points for lots of tries.

Anyone reading the papers on Sunday would have noted a big win for Sale against Newcastle on the Friday night. In the current environment a 40 – 22 is comfortable in anyone’s language, except when it isn’t! Newcastle scored first and in the last 10 minutes with the score at 26 – 22 were pressurising Sale on their own line. So not such an easy game as the scoreline might suggest.

Bath on the other hand against Bristol, were sublime for 30 minutes, but did not score the points they should have done and allowed Bristol back into the game such that Bath were behind and had to come back in the last few minutes. Did Bath deserve to win? Well, who cares, but I know they did not deserve to lose. After the loss to Leicester, I suppose I take a view that over 18 games things even out.

Alex Sanderson has turned Sale into a very tough team to beat, not unlike the Saracen’s team that he coached before moving to Salford. He has pragmatically opened up the squad so that if your name is Du Preeze or Curry you are in the squad, which when you are watching them on television seems to make up half the team! In addition, apart from the “England” Curry the players are of course very good, but not perceived to be quite good enough for South Africa or England. This is perfect for a squad as no one goes off for national service only to be returned “broken”.

So, on Friday night Bath have a really tough game on their hands. This is already an “eight-pointer” as the winner will put some clear water between themselves and the pack. In the past Bath’s record away at Sale, invariably on a Friday night is not good. However, I feel that this squad are in the words of the impressive “JVG”, doing everything to improve and be better. It is games like this that Bath has to win to establish their credentials in the Premiership.

Sale will pick much the same team as they started with against Newcastle.

Bath might well rotate some players however I would like to see the same squad, with the exception of Fergus Lee Warner who has, I believe, unfortunately left Bath and so there needs to be at least one change.

Ollie Lawrence had a wonderful first half against Bristol and it would lovely to see him combining again with Sale old-boy Cam Redpath and continue his rich vein of form. With Manu Tuilagi still injured from the World Cup there is a very real danger he will be making the England centre position his own.

Given it is now a reduced premiership with one third of the league already finished, and we haven’t even reached the end of November, I think it is imperative that we play a very strong team – I am sure JVG would argue that every team he puts out is a strong team, however there are strong teams and then there is your strongest team.

Bath by 1