Bath Time Again

By BrianC
November 24 2004

This Sunday we travel down the M4 to the historic city of Bath and to the most undersized and overcrowded ground in the country, the Recreation Ground.

The news this week that Leicester are moving to the Walker Stadium must have caused ripples in amongst those Bath supporters who are devoted to their current home ground. Leicester, who they vied with to be the kings of English rugby in the eighties and nineties, will next season be regularly playing in front of crowds in excess of twenty thousand. With the addition of temporary seating Bath have managed to increase the size of the Rec. to 10.5k this season, they have had a capacity crowd at every game.

The last four meetings between our two teams have all been incredibly close and have all been won by Bath. Of this series of heart breaking games perhaps the one that sticks most in the mind is the encounter on the 10th April 2003 at the Rec. It was almost the end of what had been a poor season for both teams. Both were in the relegation zone. Had Bath lost this match they would definitely have ended bottom of the ZP, had we won we would have been pretty well clear of  relegation worries. Four minutes into second half injury time Barry dropped a goal to put us 15 - 13 ahead, it looked like the game was ours. The TV coverage showed some Bath supporters in tears, others with their head in their hands. Elvis Seveali’i then caught our defence asleep and danced into the corner. The final whistle went with the score 18 - 15 to Bath.

For that game alone, let alone the other games which have come down to the wire, we owe ourselves a victory over Bath. In the professional era we have not yet managed a premiership victory at the Rec. We've won there in the cup and have drawn once in the league. This London Irish team, in their current form, look the most likely one in years to do the business but it will not be easy.

After their great escape in the 02-03 season Bath surprised everyone last season and won the league. This year they have not been quite as dominant, of the four games they have played at the Rec this far they have lost two against Newcastle and Wasps. In total they have won six of their ten games, the same as us. They drew at Leicester last month, no mean feat the way the Tigers are playing this year, and are currently fourth in the table on twenty eight points, one place and two points ahead of us.

Victory in this game would put us fourth and, as we head towards our big Christmas game, in the driving seat as far as securing one of the much valued Heineken Cup places next year. Defeat would see us, if not dropping a place, falling back into the pack we have done so well to rise above in recent weeks. This is yet another crunch match.

I liked what I saw, particularly in the second half, against Newcastle last week. This team have a very ´In your face´ approach to the game. The speed and the ferocity of the rush defence was impressive. In general the ball handling and retention was as good as I've seen in years. The midfield boys seem to be mixing and matching play much better than in previous seasons and out lineout which has been outstanding all season continues to impress. I would expect to see pretty well the same line-up start this Sunday as last. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

One of the more interesting aspects of this weekends game is that it will be Mike Catt's first return to the club he played with for twelve years. There are bound to be some mixed emotions amongst the home supporters as they watch one of their long term stalwarts playing against them. Somehow I don't think Catty will need any extra motivation for this game. The location and the opposition should do the trick. For both his sake and ours I hope he shines.

Can we win this and lay the Rec. bogey to rest? The simple answer is yes, this team have the beating of any on their day. Will we? The best I will go is perhaps, despite depletion due to international call ups this is a class outfit we are up against.