Huxster Has A Dream Come True!!

By Glen Leat
November 1 2005

There will be much rejoicing in the Huxster house this evening on hearing that Brian Ashton is returning to Bath, replacing John Connolly who leaves at the end of November. This is an early Christmas present for Bath supporters who were resigned to disappointment over the coaching situation.

The arrival of Brian Ashton will help Bath Rugby move on a level by having a coach in place who can develop the backs to the (sometimes astonishing) levels of skill and ability that Mike Foley and John Connolly have achieved with the forwards. We know we have the players from 9-15 who can recreate the great days of old, they just need someone with the key to unlock all the potential that has been hidden away in the vaults at The Rec: we believe Brian Ashton has that key currently attached to his belt, it just needs unclipping and inserting in the lock.

The thought of having someone capable of unleashing the likes of Barkley, Cheeseman, Welsh, Stephenson, Bory, Best, Higgins, Perry, Crockett, Davis, Davey, Williams, Wood and Walshe is mouth watering. I think he'll be able to draw skills out of Chris Malone that will round off his game and make him an important player in the soap opera we know as Bath Rugby.

But before we all get too carried away with Brian Ashton let's not forget the role of two men, John Connolly and Mike Foley. Without these Aussies we wouldn't be where we are today. What Foles has done with our pack is wonderful and I consider him to be one of the most important people at our club and we should do everything we can to hang on to this bloke, despite the draw of his homeland when his contract runs out. Make your life in Bath Mike, you'll love it.

John Connolly has been the glue to stick everything together these past couple of years and we should be eternally grateful for what he's achieved at our club: it's a great shame that he came so close to silverware without actually touching it.

Finally, well done to Bob Calleja. Bob takes a lot of stick in his role but he's struck gold this time, well done mate!

We're onward, we're upward, we're Bath Rugby!