BATH RUGBY - 2014/15

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Please feel free to discuss all things Bath related, even crazy post 2015 RWC signings, The Rec development ongoing saga or the latest Dyson!   
 
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Pre season
Sat 16th Aug 14;15 Bath vs Scarlets
Sat 23rd Aug 14:15 Jersey vs Bath
 
Sat 6th Sep 14 14:00  Sale Sharks v Bath Rugby
Sat 13th Sep 14 15:00 Bath Rugby v London Welsh
Sat 20th Sep 14 15:15 Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers
Sat 27th Sep 14 15:15 Northampton Saints v Bath Rugby
Fri 3rd Oct 14 19:45  Bath Rugby v Saracens
Sun 12th Oct 14 14:00 Wasps v Bath Rugby
Sat 15th Nov 14 15:00 Bath Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
Sat 22nd Nov 14 15:00 London Irish v Bath Rugby
Sat 29th Nov 14 15:00 Bath Rugby v Harlequins
Sat 20th Dec 14 15:00 Gloucester Rugby v Bath Rugby
Sat 27th Dec 14 15:00 Bath Rugby v Exeter Chiefs
Sat 3rd Jan 15 15:00 Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby
Sat 10th Jan 15 15:00 Bath Rugby v Wasps
Sun 15th Feb 15 15:00 Saracens v Bath Rugby
Sat 21st Feb 15 15:00 Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints
Sat 28th Feb 15 15:00 Exeter Chiefs v Bath Rugby
Sat 7th Mar 15 15:00 Bath Rugby v Sale Sharks
Sun 29th Mar 15 14:30 London Welsh v Bath Rugby
Sun 12th Apr 15 15:00 Newcastle Falcons v Bath Rugby
Sat 25th Apr 15 15:00 Bath Rugby v London Irish
Sat 9th May 15 15:00 Harlequins v Bath Rugby
16/17 May Bath Rugby v Gloucester Rugby
 
 
http://www.bathrugby.com/

Do you guys think Paul James was a big loss? I know your quite well stocked at LH but who will fill his shoes

He still has a lot to offer but I think we have 3 younger guys who can all make the step up, Catt, Auterac and Shiels are all good players. It will be a shame to lose that experience though, our pack has dominated quite a few teams this season and James has been a big part of that. Like all good LHs, if he can get away with boring in a little he is pretty unstoppable.

I hope James gets more welsh caps, he is far better in the scrum than gethin and for me that's the main role for a prop!

He has been a big part of turning the Bath pack into a force again, he will be missed, that said its around 33 that props fade or the multiple neck/shoulder wear finally catches up so sad to see him leave but need to be looking to future. The back up guys have lots of potential for me nathan catt is in the same mould as corbisiero and should be a real scrummaging star, hes's had potential for a while now though so time to show it.

yappysnap wrote:

sirtidychris wrote:Burgess will likely get the job as prime minister at the next election, beat ISIS singlehandedly develop a universal free clean energy source and most impressive of all he  will get the rec development through the Bath planning system...all whilst doing one arm push ups...what guy.    

Get real Stefon Armitage has already done that and he round-housed Chuck Norris!

I heard he slammed a revolving door

Interesting to see on the Beeb that Lancaster is now explaining that Burgess will succeed. I guess the point is that he isnt just a RL player, he is currently one of the best around.

I am still not going to be convinced until he has played a few games, but I am getting more hopeful than I was.

Looking forward to the game.

I also notice that you have let go of Grant Shiels the LH who joined you from us.

He has gone to Edinburgh.
We had very high hopes for him...but Dean let him go...ad te fact you guys have now suggests Dean knew what he was doing.

I don't think he turned out for us at all. I think Auterac has come through to the 1st team a lot quicker than expected so I guess in reality he was going to be 4th choice for us.

This game could be interesting, quite a few missing for Bath so you guys must fancy your chances.

MATT GARVEY !!! back from the dead, the most underated backrow player in England....watch out other teams if we can get this 6ft 6, 20 stone beast back to fitness and with Louw not too far off our pack will be an absolute UNIT.

We have an army of players unavailable making the teams very evenly matched, my money is still on bath however with the home advantage and Garvey after finishing his steel bar, glass and kitten sandwich will appear with 20 mins to go and walk in a few tries.

A better lock IMO (it's more useful to have a lock with qualities of a 6 than a 6 with qualities of a lock).  All fit I'd say the best back 5 would be

Garvey
Attwood
Fearns/Fa'osiliva
Louw
Houston

The main issue apart from fitness that might mean we don't see that as often as we could is that Hooper is club captain.

I always thought that Garvey and Attwood at lock would be immense, but Hooper has really come into his own this season, he is the cement of the team, the leader and a real coaches player who fans undervalue. Also Garvey is probably a bit of a lump to be our main line out option whereas this is where Hooper excels. Still if hooper gets injured and fearns ever maintains some fitness your team would be very interesting, probably one the heaviest about !!

sirtidychris wrote:MATT GARVEY !!! back from the dead, the most underated backrow player in England....watch out other teams if we can get this 6ft 6, 20 stone beast back to fitness and with Louw not too far off our pack will be an absolute UNIT.

We have an army of players unavailable making the teams very evenly matched, my money is still on bath however with the home advantage and Garvey after finishing his steel bar, glass and kitten sandwich will appear with 20 mins to go and walk in a few tries.  

Garvey should be in the England squad at the VERY LEAST. Id have him at 6 personally.

Don't really understand why Shiels was released but as an Edinburgh fan, I am absolutely delighted to see him move, where he should get the game time that he deserves.

Bath Rugby team to face Montpellier

15 Anthony Watson
14 Horacio Agulla
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Matt Banahan
10 George Ford
9 Chris Cook
1 Nick Auterac
2 Ross Batty
3 Henry Thomas
4 Stuart Hooper (c)
5 Dominic Day
6 David Sisi
7 Carl Fearns
8 Leroy Houston

Replacements

16 Rob Webber
17 Paul James
18 David Wilson
19 Dave Attwood
20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva
21 Peter Stringer
22 Ollie Devoto
23 Sam Burgess


No Henson nor Garvey I see, injured?

Garvey picked up a knock and won't be risked, Henson i think is fit and dropped. Great to see Alfie back on the bench.

Seriously strong bench for us there!

That is a very strong bench, its good to see that the front 5 who did a demolition job on Quins get another shot. Lose this and the chance of progressing further is zero, even if we win it will rely on one of Toulouse/Glasgow winning both of their double header to open up the runners up spot.

Very strong forwards bench, the backs are limited by having Burgess instead of Henson, Henson has been playing really well at flyhalf and offers genuine cover across most the backline, Burgess is a massive punt, we are risking losing tight games in the short term in order to speed up his development with the chance of having a world class player sooner rather than later. My backs on the bench would have been Henson and Roko.

Was Henson originally named at FB last week, then pulled last minute?

LondonTiger wrote:Was Henson originally named at FB last week, then pulled last minute?

yes, replaced by Agulla

sirtidychris wrote:Very strong forwards bench, the backs are limited by having Burgess instead of Henson, Henson has been playing really well at flyhalf and offers genuine cover across most the backline, Burgess is a massive punt, we are risking losing tight games in the short term in order to speed up his development with the chance of having a world class player sooner rather than later. My backs on the bench would have been Henson and Roko.

Or an alternative way of looking at it. Very likely we won't progress in Europe, so giving Burgess top level experience in less important games is a great opportunity. Better than him playing in the rubbish cup or even worse, playing in the prem and making an error that costs us

I'm leaning more towards your way of looking at it Bathite. Burgess will learn more in a top level game like this rather than in some A team fixture or LV.

I thought both Henson and Roko had niggles? Not sense risking them if so.

no niggles but niggled for sure!!!!!!! bigger picture bath, bigger picture.

At last, the Bath standout player starts his first game of the season... Louw!
For some reason we seem to have 4 backrows in the starting team.

Bath Rugby team to face Montpellier

15. Anthony Watson
14. Semesa Rokoduguni
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Sam Burgess
11. Matt Banahan
10. George Ford
9. Chris Cook
1. Paul James ( c )
2. Ross Batty
3. David Wilson
4. Dominic Day
5. Dave Attwood
6. Alafoti Fa'osiliva
7. Francois Louw
8. Leroy Houston

Replacements

16. Rob Webber
17. Nick Auterac
18. Henry Thomas
19. Stuart Hooper
20. David Sisi
21. Micky Young
22. Ollie Devoto
23. Horacio Agulla

Bathman_in_London wrote:At last, the Bath's standout player starts his first game of the season... Louw!
For some reason we seem to have 4 backrows in the starting team.

Bath Rugby team to face Montpellier

15. Anthony Watson
14. Semesa Rokoduguni
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Sam Burgess
11. Matt Banahan
10. George Ford
9. Chris Cook
1. Paul James ( c )
2. Ross Batty
3. David Wilson
4. Dominic Day
5. Dave Attwood
6. Alafoti Fa'osiliva
7. Francois Louw
8. Leroy Houston

Replacements

16. Rob Webber
17. Nick Auterac
18. Henry Thomas
19. Stuart Hooper
20. David Sisi
21. Micky Young
22. Ollie Devoto
23. Horacio Agulla

Not forgetting the lock on the wing!

Ford will certainly be spoilt for choice on who to give a crash ball to!

Looking like a good evening for Bath so far. Banahan has 3 tries

How did burgess play?

As expected. He is a big lump who is hard to stop and stops others with ease, but he has no finesse to his game. He kicked a couple of grubbers, one worked out to gain territory - the other was ridiculous as he had an overlap outside. He got an early hit that aggravated the nerve in his face so maybe he wasn't fully focused on the game?

The Great Aukster wrote:...He got an early hit that aggravated the nerve in his face...

You do wonder how much that will continue to cause him trouble. If he was still in league, with no need to learn a new code, I suspect he might have given it more time to heal.

I know he sucks in defenders, but so far I haven't really seen him make a lot of metres over the gain-line. Certainly no more than someone like Brad Barritt. I know that Burgess is new to the game, but you would have thought that his carrying would have been one of the most translatable elements, and yet he doesn't look all that special so far in that aspect. He looks better suited to 6 to me.

Its still very early days to judge. However, I thought for a first start it was pretty good.
He will only get better & has a lot of learning to do before his physical & rugby attributes come to fruition.

I'd say his physicality was a bit hit and miss, if that statement makes sense. When he has time to line someone up front slightly side on he's lethal. He walloped Tolou with one and he is a very very big guy. Head on with Tolou on another occasion I'd say he came off second best, slightly, but did almost stop him on the gain-line. And then he got bundled backwards by Ranger after running too upright.

I think there are two issues. One is I think he's just up against bigger blokes. In league there can't be that many people heavier than 18.5 stonne. But some of the pacific islanders playing in France are closer to 20, 21 stonne. And some are props with a very low centre of gravity. He's a powerful guy but he's not gong to knock all these people over when they've got a run-up. The other with his carrying is he wasn't quite timing his runs right, but that may come. He wasn't hitting the line at top speed and he was normally hitting two guys.

I still think he'd be better playing as a 6 and given at least a year to get up to speed there, but I guess he'll miss the WC on that basis.

I do worry that Bath's immense squad means some players won't develop as they might. Devoto is a concern for me, he looks great but how much game time is he getting as a 12 now?

Devoto should come to London Irish

Would be nice to return the favour, but I thought Geraghty was the messiah?

You haven't just bought Niko Matawalu from us (Glasgow), have you, you feckers?
I mean, you wouldn't do that? Am I right?

George Carlin wrote:You haven't just bought Niko Matawalu from us (Glasgow), have you, you feckers?
I mean, you wouldn't do that? Am I right?

Rhys Preistland is supposedly a 'done deal' according to the chatter down here too.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

George Carlin wrote:You haven't just bought Niko Matawalu from us (Glasgow), have you, you feckers?
I mean, you wouldn't do that? Am I right?

Rhys Preistland is supposedly a 'done deal' according to the chatter down here too.

 what would Scarlets do if Rhys leaves and Williams Stays at Leicester?

Hood83 wrote:I'd say his physicality was a bit hit and miss, if that statement makes sense.

I thought he had a really good game and agree with most of your points.

I think in terms of his carrying effectiveness, that's down to his timing, running angles and ability to read the game - which will come with time. Same with kicking the ball away when he made the break, he's just a bit unsure of himself and looks a bit nervous. He looks more focused on not making mistakes than anything, which is obviously holding him back a bit.

Defensewise he's looked very strong obviously and has really been getting stuck into the rucks.

I'm really surprised though that Ford is starting him at 6 in the A game though - I think he needs to just stick to one position and learn it.

The long term aim seems to be 6 - its just the technical aspects for that position take time and they (and he ), I am sure, want him playing as soon as possible. The easiest place to put him is at 12.

The thing is that at 12 he is sandwiched between players who can guide him, whereas in the backrow he's on his own a bit and has to understand where to track around the field in open play.

Physically he may be suited to the backrow but I don't think this is something he can learn in a couple of seasons.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

George Carlin wrote:You haven't just bought Niko Matawalu from us (Glasgow), have you, you feckers?
I mean, you wouldn't do that? Am I right?

Rhys Preistland is supposedly a 'done deal' according to the chatter down here too.

Please no! Also why on earth would he want to come and be second choice?

Matawalu on the other hand would be a good signing, much rather him than a big name signing to blow a chunk of cap.

Chat on the forums points towards Matawalu being almost confirmed and Priestland not far behind.

Not particularly happy about either.

Bathite wrote:Chat on the forums points towards Matawalu being almost confirmed and Priestland not far behind.

Not particularly happy about either.

I think it is good news for the Scarlets as Preistland has not been offered a central contract it should get their wage bill down, Scarlets gain with Bath's loss taking on a worse than average flyhalf. I can't understand Bath's logic, I would use Henson more at 10 as he is no fullback unless Preistland plays 15?

Must have had a good look at Matawalu when they got stuffed up in Scotland, big loss for Glasgow though. Can't see why you'd want RP? Saying that, I think his international days are numbered and he can be a very good club player so long as he has a few people in the team baby-sitting him; guess that'll be Burgess.

Is Henson off? A Welsh Region (Dragons) could do with his services.

rodders wrote:The thing is that at 12 he is sandwiched between players who can guide him, whereas in the backrow he's on his own a bit and has to understand where to track around the field in open play.

Physically he may be suited to the backrow but I don't think this is something he can learn in a couple of seasons.

Personally i'd like him to be developed slowly as a 6, I think ultimately he'd be a better bet there than 12. But I think consistency is right as you say. Personally i'd prefer a distributor at 12 like Eastmond, or even Devoto. I think Burgess' crash, bang, wallop could make a very good 6...i'm just not sure anyone has the patience to see it happen, especially with the WC looming.

Big win for Bath, gloucester were dreadful.

It wasn't the best game all around but I would have taken a 1 point win, let alone a record league victory!

Allez!

Confirmed - Matawalu off to Bath

http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/14/12/22/matawalu-join-bath-rugby-next-season

He's never going to run a game for you in a structured manner, but if you need that 4th try or someone to change a game for you, there's not many better you'd want to come off your bench!

Word of warning though - he has won Glasgow many a game over the last few years but has his negative sides too.  Luckily Glasgow have generally had more positives than negatives from him.

Bathite wrote:Chat on the forums points towards Matawalu being almost confirmed and Priestland not far behind.

Not particularly happy about either.

Seriously?? Matawalu is a match winner. Slightly headless at times but searing pace from the base of the scrum. With your pack he'll do very well at the Rec.

Matawalu is a great signing, he is only 25 and whilst he is still developing he probably has the best speed and footwork for a scrum half, with 21 caps already and behind a monster pack and expansive backline he will improve on our current number 9's. Hopefully we can keep Stringer on in some form to guide him as he develops his passing and kicking.

Niko scored 22 tries in less than 60 games for us.
What more do Bath fans need to know?

You're stark staring crackers if you don't think that this is a signing coup.