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Undercooked, or Over-Eager? Bath v Leinster ERCC


Roko -inflict pain?

By P G Tips
November 17 2015

  The tragic events in Paris on 13 November overshadowed European competition for Bath last weekend. Next the squad must face Leinster while undercooked in Europe this season. Last Sunday Leinster appeared a shadow of the team which denied Bath in Dublin on Easter weekend last year, losing at home to Wasps with not much more than a whimper. Bath can take little comfort from that result, as Leo Cullen, Leinster coach talks of a “mountain to climb”. He clearly means business in putting right what went wrong in Dublin. Bruce Craig expressed his frustration at the postponement of Bath’s showdown with Toulon, casting doubt on the wisdom and the feasibility of reschedule in an already crowded season.  His point about player welfare may have been ill timed in the context of the Paris massacres (which he stated was the overriding concern) but it is clear that for two clubs at least, the ERC “Group of Death” has just got a bit tougher.  The details of how a reschedule can be fitted into the programme must wait for now, as Bath prepare to host the three times winners from Dublin, before tough Premiership clashes with the 2 east Midland representatives in last year’s AP playoffs.

The Dubliners’ misfortunes began with an unkind bounce and were then doubled by concussion to key forwards Strauss & O’Brien. Cullen’s description of his team as “disjointed” and admission that they “misfired” certainly sounds a warning – to his squad and to Bath not to be complacent. Wounding losses though Strauss and O’Brien are, there is still plenty of strength for Leinster to call on. Devin Toner will look to play havoc with Bath’s unconvincing lineout, while Heaslip & Murphy present key threats at breakdown and carry. A front row of McGrath, Cronin and Ross is one to fear and any side orchestrated by Johnny Sexton, with the pace of Nacewa, Kirchner & Kearney is capable of tearing holes in defences.

Leinster may well chose to play an open game –especially if the weather is dry as forecast. Wasp’s power at close quarters in scrum and breakdown took the initiative on Sunday, so with reduced forward strength it would make sense for Reddan & Sexton to move the ball away from contact as much as possible. If not by ball in hand, the Rec faithful can certainly expect to see plenty of tactical kicking –to force territory advantage and offer chances for the wings.

Bath, having had an unwanted rest, will seek a fast start of their own. All their best performances of last season began with outright attack and most brought scores within the opening minutes. They will probably seek to do so again on Saturday, to seize the initiative. Once done expect George Ford to kick for territory as Sexton does, to stretch the opposition defences and give opportunities for turnovers or penalties deep in opposition ground. The press defence will need to be keen though, as dealing with the opposition kicking game is another key lesson the Leinster squad will be learning under Cullen this week.

This is the ideal match for the return of Francois Louw, who will be needed to blunt the quick ball the Dubliners thrive on and to make a few turnovers for Bath. We will hope to see his new loose forward partner make an appearance too: we can then see for ourselves if “Dentin’ Dave” is an upgrade from “Slammin’ Sam” and put the whole thing behind us. In Banahan, Rokodoguni and Watson, Bath have the weaponry out wide to inflict more pain on Leinster. They also have strength to call on from the bench plus home advantage, even more crucial in Europe than domestic competition. So will it be “Molly Malone” or “Come on my lovers” that we hear the most at 5 o’clock on Friday? Mike Ford’s men must guard, unusually, against both lack of match practice and overconfidence. I back them, though to win –in a tight contest.

Possible Bath Team:

Auterac, Webber , Wilson, Day, Attwood, Garvey, Louw (Capt), Houston. Cook, Ford. Banahan, Eastmond , Devoto, Rokodoguni. Watson Replacements:   Lahiff, Batty, Thomas, Hooper , Denton, Matawalu, Priestland, Homer

 

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Undercooked, or Over-Eager? Bath v Leinster ERCC
Discussion started by Comeonmylovers.co.uk (IP Logged), 17/11/2015 16:27
Comeonmylovers.co.uk
Comeonmylovers.co.uk
17/11/2015 16:27
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:27:12:54:29 by Stuart Anderton.

gaz59
gaz59
18/11/2015 11:17
Dentin' Dave, love it!

Remember too that it was the Wasps' shut-out defence in the first quarter that laid the foundation for a scarily impressive result

Bath too will be under cosh and discipline needs to be top drawer and a big level above one or two of recent performances

Time for TCup too

Hippo365
Hippo365
18/11/2015 18:37
Mrs Hippo and I had a great time on our last visit to Bath, so are really sorry not to be able to go this weekend. On the other hand....last Sunday's performance was so poor I'm probably happier to be watching through my fingers from behind the sofa. With our injuries I'm not expecting a huge improvement, and you guys certainly have the potential to do some real damage. Enjoy the match (though not too much, obviously), and say hello to the Salamander for me.

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