Bath Aim For Cup Run To Match Their League Success

Bath -v- Saints
By Glen Leat
November 13 2003

Bath face Northampton for the second time this season in the 6th Round of the Powergen Cup. After already giving the Saints a good beating followed by a remarkable run of wins culminating in last week's victory over the old foe Glawster, Bath have got to be favorites to win.

Northampton have had a bit of an up and down season, which is somewhat surprising as they were the favourites of many to take the league by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking. We may have come out on top in September but I can't believe we will catch the Saints as cold as we did then and the game should be quite a bit closer.

Once again John Connolly will be able to turn out his first choice pack: ten times in a row, that takes some doing, and this has got to be the key to our success all season. Jonathan Humphreys will be winding his charges in to a right old frenzy as the old war horse knows he has a great chance to play twice at Twickenham this season - not something he would have thought about this time last season.

Whilst the Cup provides a respite from the pressure of Premiership rugby, I am sure the Bath coaches would have preferred to be concentrating on maintaining their (almost perfect) winning league run. This game has to be considered a bit of a distraction and we will all be desperately hoping that we don't lose another backfield player. Mind you, we've all enjoyed our Cup Final trips to London in the past and I doubt many of us will give up the opportunity to repeat those experiences.

Mike Catt has been in the news all week with almost the whole country calling for his return to the England squad and his colleagues at Bath will be hoping the Cattmeister can make the stuttering England back-line purr with pleasure. Meanwhile, our World Cup  returnee, Simon Danielli, finds himself on the bench for the first time this season and will be stunned to see what has changed since he last donned the blue, black and white.

No doubt Simon Danielli has already found out what has changed at his club and it can be summed up in one word, "Knuckles". Although Bath have made a series of very shrewd signings over the summer there can be few Bath supporters who doubt that John Connolly has galvanized a squad in a ridiculously short period of time. The players have all said that Connolly has made all the difference but he has achieved so much so fast you have to wonder if he has made a pact with the devil or purchased a little bag of magic dust to sprinkle over his players' boots before each game. Whatever the answer John, just keep doing it.

My prediction for the game? Bath by five points.

Finally, Radio Five are running a programme over Christmas about the greatest sporting moments in history: surely for us Bath fans it has to be that sunny afternoon in Bordeaux on 31 January 1998. 19 -18, it still sends a shiver down my spine!

Bath Line Up

15 Matt Perry 14 Wylie Human 13 Robbie Kydd 12 Andrew Higgins 11 Jamie Williams 10 Olly Barkley 9  Martyn Wood 1  David Flatman 2 Jonathan Humphreys 3 Duncan Bell 4 Steve Borthwick 5 Rob Fidler 6 Andy Beattie 7 Michael Lipman 8 Zak Feaunati

Click on to the Northampton Saints site for their perspective on things and see what they have to say about the Cup History between our two great clubs.

In preparation for this clash let's have a look at a few recent statistics:

Biggest Win

Last Meetings (Bath scores first)