Bath Aim To Top Table Against Glawster
By Glen Leat
May 6 2004
Oh dear oh lor, here we are, biggest game of the season to see if we end up top of the league and who's it against? Our old foes from up the A46, Glawster. You wouldn't believe this if it was part of a film about sporting heroes: well believe it, it's real! This is why we follow rugby.
Bath have to win this match to proceed directly to the Zurich Premiership Final at Twickenham in three weeks time, otherwise we will be looking anxiously at the Wasps result to see if we have to play at home in the semi-final. Who are Wasps playing? Our old foes Leicester - get's better doesn't it.
This game also takes place in the week when Bath announced the transfer of their much loved Mike Catt to London Irish - who writes this script because he's got one hell of an imagination? It's a shame Bristol aren't in the Premiership because I'm sure they would have figured in this story somehow.
Bath are attempting to do a league double over Glawster
for the first time in four seasons, having won the clash at Kingsholm 20-14 on 8
November. Glawster have never won a league match at the Rec in a dozen previous
visits with the closest they have come to victory being two draws in March 1995
and September 2002. They will be hoping to emulate their Cup form at the Rec
having won twice - October 1971 and November 2000.
A Glawster win may still not be enough to take them to the Zurich Premiership semi-final at either Bath or Wasps should Northampton also win.
Bath
have lost three in a row but those games were all played away from The Rec,
where Bath have been beaten just once in their last 18 matches: 6 -10 by Wasps
on 7 February. Glawster have lost just one Zurich
Premiership match since December: 20-38 at Sale in March, and they will need to
improve on their tally of just 19 league points on the road this season.
Last week's walking wounded hero for Bath, Duncan Bell, has made 99 Zurich
Premiership appearances (78 for Sale and 21 for Bath) so he'll be looking for a
victorious century if he starts. Unfortunatrely one or two of his mates are also
struggling to make the game once again. John Connolly told www.bathrugby.com
Rob Fidler will be desperate to get on the park but it's more than likely that the Bath coaches will stick with their top two locks, despite the great form of Fids and the fact that Danny Grewcock appears to be struggling with his form. Andrew Higgins looks to be fit again and we'll hope he's perfected the art of hanging on to the ball during his recent rest period otherwise the Glawster loose forwards will be pouncing and bouncing (with joy).
Amazingly the word is that Olly Barkley will once again be on the bench, with Chris Malone starting ay fly half. However let's face it, Molly had a really good first half last week and deserves another outing, though it is tough on Barkley who has done us proud all season. Tough call for Knuckles.
Glawster's Andy Hazell and Jake Boer are both preparing themselves for a big clash on Saturday. Commenting on www.Glawsterrugbyclub.com. Hazell said: "Of course with it being a Bath -v- Glawster derby there's always a lot of pride at stake. I think the pressure is on both sides going into the game. Bath have admitted that they haven't performed as they would have liked in recent weeks, and they'll want to make sure they finish top and put on a good show at their home ground. These games are always special. So many people say there is always more up for grabs in the rivalry stakes. I agree with that, and players from both sides enjoy the added spice that'll be in the mix on Saturday."
Glawster captain Jake Boer backed up Hazell's comments with mention of the team's vital build-up work this week.
"We've been preparing this week in the same way as the build-up to the Wasps game. Both of these matches are massive.
You can guarantee that they will be up for it, as some people have commented that they haven't performed in their last few games. As a player,
that will make them more determined to ensure they get the right result."
Don't forget it's a 3.00 kick off. I can't wait. Hope to see some of you at
The Boater. Probable Bath Line Up
15 Matt Perry 14 Wylie Human 13 Robbie Fleck 12 Spencer Davey 11 Andrew Higgins
10 Chris Malone 9 Martyn Wood 1 David Barnes 2
Jonathan Humphreys 3 Duncan Bell 4 Steve Borthwick 5 Danny Grewcock 6 Andy Beattie 7
Michael Lipman 8 Zak Feaunati
Click on to the Glawster site for their perspective on
things, though it's a bit quiet on here these days. Click here to read about the encounter between Bath
and Glawster earlier in the season. Click here
for some Bath -v- Glawster pictures. In preparation for this clash let's have
a look at a few recent statistics: Biggest Win (Bath Results First)
Played
27
%
Bath Won
19
70
Glawster
6
22
Drawn
2
8
Bath
71 - 21
30 Apr 1997
Glawster
68 - 12
04 May 2002
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||