JC2 Leaves A Great Legacy For Ashton

By Glen Leat
November 3 2005

So Brian Ashton is being hailed as the man most likely to bring much coveted success back to The Rec. There is no doubting Ashton's pedigree and I believe we will see a very different style than we've been used to recently, however let's not forget the impact of John Connolly too readily.

Connolly joined Bath after the 2002/03 season when Bath had lost more games than they won, fought off a relegation battle and survived a dreaded merger with near neighbours and rivals, Bristol. He took over at a time when Bath Rugby was on its knees and begging for someone to do the dirty work required to get the club back to its best. It doesn't help a club in dire straits that its recent history is so glorious, even winning the European Cup when not at the top of its game. There are so many comparisons with the Barnes, Hill, Guscott, Swift, Hall, Catt et al era and this places a lot of pressure on players and club management.

But John Connolly is a grizzled rugby warrior who's not afraid of a good old fashioned battle against history, opposition, establishment and odds. He knew that if Bath were to get back to where they believed they belong he had to do it his way, and that way was by using the forwards to grind out results and not putting the sort of emphasis on backs play Bath supporters had been so used to in the past. Inevitably this led to a lot of criticism on ERE from those of us brought up on a diet of Barnes' cheeky impudence, Guscott's silky skills, Hill's rocket launching passes, Swift's finishing prowess, Catt's unorthodoxy, de Glanville's power. We were used to the forwards getting the ball so the backs could do the business, suddenly here was a bloke who told the forwards to get the ball and keep it. 

However, despite the reservations of many, Connolly proved his point as Bath lost just one game in their first 19: a truly amazing start to any season even if the World Cup stripped the top clubs of many players. Suddenly Bath fans were cheering for new heroes like Lipman, Beattie, Bell, Feaunati, all forwards who were dominating Bath matches as the legendary backs had done 15 years earlier. At the end of the 2003/04 season Connolly's Bath had won 25 of their 32 matches and topped the table. Unfortunately for the Aussie the format of the Premiership had recently changed and instead of parading the League Trophy around the Rec he had to take his charges to Twickenham to face Wasps in the Premiership Final. 

As was to happen a year later in the Powergen Cup, Bath failed to play in the most important game of the season and lost 10-6. It could be argued that had Connolly developed a more expansive game he could have introduced plans B and C, involving the backs, and this may have changed the Twickenham results in 2004 and 2005. However one could equally argue that had Connolly not stuck to his guns of using the forwards to dominate every game, Bath wouldn't have reached Twickenham in the first place. 

The 20-12 loss to Leeds in the 2005 Cup Final was perhaps harder to accept: at least Wasps were a top side who could beat anyone on their day. Leeds were perennial strugglers in the Premiership and were odds on underdogs. But once again, as soon as the game plan failed to make an impact there was no alternative plan to make a difference.

But we shouldn't focus our memories of John Connolly's reign at Bath on two failed Twickenham finals. Instead we should remember this was a man who grabbed our club by the scruff of the neck and once again gave us all something to cheer about. We won games, we saw a pack of forwards develop in to an awesome unit and we had two trips to HQ, which is always a great day out regardless of the result. He was happy to talk rugby to anyone who asked and received the accolade from the ERE community by being christened JC2.

John Connolly has provided Brian Ashton with a platform on which to build his exciting brand of rugby and he is a very lucky man to take over Bath Rugby at this time. As great a coach as he is, I don't believe Ashton could have created the current environment at Bath and if we win a trophy under Ashton we should all remember the fantastic contribution of John Connolly.

Thank you JC2, we'll never forget you.

John Connolly's Playing Record (to date)