Bath Must Not Stoop Too Low!

By Glen Leat
September 24 2004

So it's played 3, won 1 as Bath head for The Stoop to play Harlequins on Saturday. After three disappointing performances the visitors will hope to make amends against a club that has generally failed to live up to expectations for many seasons but who (unfortunately) have a good record against Bath

John Connolly has made a few changes, most enforced, with Olly Barkley switching to centre to replace the injured Mike Tindall, Chris Malone replacing Barkley at fly half and Rob Fidler in for the 7 day suspended Steve Borthwick. The biggest surprise is the inclusion of new scrum half, Nick Walshe, to replace the erratic Martyn Wood.

“Malone is fully fit and will start,” explained Connolly. “He will play at ten and Olly will move to the centre. He has played well for us there in that position in the past and also for England during the summer. I am sure that it could be a good combination.”

This game will be a massive test for Nick Walshe as he has to prove that he should be the number one starter behind the scrum. Martyn Wood has disappointed many since his move from Wasps, especially me, as we have been searching for consistency in this position since the departure of Andy Nicol. However to be fair to Wood, which I'm not prone to being, he has suffered from a mish-mash of partners in the half-backs since his arrival and the Bath coaches really need to decide who fits in to their Number One pairing. Given the amount of money we paid to keep Olly Barkley at The Rec, I cannot see why John Connolly is persevering with Chris Malone as his preferred choice. I could understand this if Malone was playing out of his boots, but in truth he is showing true journeyman credentials at present.

Matt Stevens still hasn't persuaded the coaching staff that he is worth a start, though we can expect to see him trotting on the the field to replace either Barnes or Bell after half and hour. Your guess is as good as mine on who he will replace. Assuming neither get injured it seems the decision will rest on whether Bell looks (once again) totally knackered or Barnes is considered ineffective.

Harlequins have started this campaign in  worse state than Bath, judging by their results, which is saying something. Both teams have great strength on paper all they have to do is convert their anticipated form into a performance.

This game is live on Sky so we're bound to play poorly, but I have no choice but to say Bath by 5.

Click here to read about the encounter between Bath and Harlequins earlier in the year.

Click on to the Harlequins site for their perspective on things.

Click here to see the latest league table.

Bath Line Up

Bath Rugby

15 Joe Maddock, 14 Alex Crockett, 13 Robbie Fleck, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Brendon Daniel, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Nick Walshe, 1 David Barnes, 2 Jonathan Humphreys, 3 Duncan Bell, 4 Rob Fidler, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Andy Beattie, 7 Michael Lipman, 8 Zak Feaunati.

16 Martyn Wood, 17 Lee Mears, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 Spencer Davey, 20 Lee Best, 21 Gareth Delve, 22 James Hudson.

Harlequins' Team

Not Yet Announced

Bath -v- Harlequins Stats

Biggest Win

Last Meetings (Bath scores first)