So the warning for anyone planning to turn up at Vicarage Road at 3pm on Sunday is clear- if you don’t get there earlier you’ll miss the match! The game has been shoved forward by Sky to 1pm so that the nation can also enjoy Borthers and the lads giving the Frenchies a damn good licking! 

Down to business then; do we stand a chance against high-flying Bath? Probably not according to our Director-of-Rugby-in-waiting, as Bath are likely to outnumber us in the Saffer count by 2 to 1 unless Cobus or Bradley Barritt get a starting berth (although isn’t he one of our English qualified players...). The Bath half-back pairing have had a massive influence since their arrival, and I guess James in particular would be on most peoples shopping list, even if he has the odd off-day with the boot. Without doubt he will be looking for a more enjoyable afternoon at VR than his visit last season when he dislocated his shoulder, the only consolation being it was whilst scoring a try.  

On that occasion under the captaincy of Andy Farrell we fought back to win 26-20 thanks to two tries from Brent Russell. Doesn’t his departure now look pretty bizarre in the light of recent events? Perhaps EJ was making a stand… Sadly it isn’t just the half-backs we’ve got to worry about.

Bath are the leading try scorers in the league this season; Joe Maddock has crossed the line nine times and is the leading individual scorer, while Daniel Browne, Alex Higgins, Matthew Banahan and Alex Crockett are all pretty regular scorers as well. Coach Steve Meehan has transformed their style from a pretty turgid forwards based game to an open, running one in the last couple of seasons. However, they still possess a pretty powerful pack with our old boys David Flatman and Stuart Hooper often to the fore. 

High scoring affairs

Our games against Bath have occasionally thrown up some big scores; most regrettably our last meeting at the Rec. when the home side rattled up 66 points, a high-water mark on our wall of shame. Our season had effectively ended the week before at Coventry, and with Bath still fighting for a good play-off berth a long afternoon was always in prospect.

On the other hand, in October 2006 we saw Sarries best performance of Alan Gaffney’s first season as Bath were put to the sword in a 55-23 win, with Rodd Penney scoring twice in a five-try bonanza. Ben Johnston had one of his best (and last games), while Dave Seymour was mentioned in dispatches for an excellent try saving tackle.

Sadly Bath couldn’t take the joke, and got their own back by winning the European Challenge Cup Semi-final in Watford at the end of the season on a heart-breaking day fro the Men-In-Black. Four first-half tries appeared to put Bath in control, but the half-time oranges galvanised Sarries and a sterling fightback with two tries each from Scabs and Rodd Penney (sounds like a useful player, doesn’t he) got us back within touching distance. Sadly Glenda couldn’t convert Scabs’ last try in the dying minutes, and the game ended 30-31 with Bath just sitting on the ball for what seemed like a lifetime.

However, the most memorable encounter against Bath was undoubtedly the match in December 1997. Sarries had made a perfect start to the season with 7 straight wins, but Bath along with Leicester were still considered to be the powerhouses of English rugby. This was the team, after all that had given us none less than Stuart Barnes and Jeremy Guscott, still revered today as the nation’s favourite pundits.

Anxieties in Sarries first ever 10,000 plus crowd were almost instantly banished by one of Sarries best ever performances, with Paul Wallace in particular having an utterly outstanding game. Tries soon began to flow, and at half-time we had a lead of 28-9. Any fears that Bath would get back in the game were quickly soothed as the tries kept on coming, with Gavin Johnson and Richard Wallace scoring two each. It goes without saying that Michael Lynagh knocked over a hatful of penalties and conversions to give us a 50-23 win. And to put it into context, Bath went on to win the Heineken Cup a few months later.

 Home and away

Q.When is a home game not a home game? A. When Watford Constabulary decide they can’t find three officers to man the pelican crossing outside the ground on a Saturday afternoon the week before an England game. So it came to pass in 2004 that we had to head up to Northampton to play Bath at home, and pleasurable as it was, it didn’t help to lose a real home advantage at a time when the Rod Kafer regime was showing signs of terminal decline. Two tries from their recent South African import Frikke Welsh appeared to have put Bath out of sight, but a 63^rd minute substitute making his debut for Sarries made an instant impact and at the end we were only 7 points adrift. His name? Glen Jackson. 

Heroes and villains

As well as appearing in Large’s list of 50 all-time Saracens greats, Danny Grewcock also has the distinction of being the first player to be sent of at Vicarage Road. In the September 2002 clash Sarries made a good start and had a decent lead just before the break when Danny’s boot made violent contact with Kyran Bracken’s jaw. A lengthy ban looked imminent, but despite the incident happening right in front of the touch-judge and there being plenty of other eye-witnesses, it was ultimately decided that being close to the Autumn Internationals it must have been an accident and he got off scot-free. Danny’s career now seems to have come to an end, and what would England give right now to have such a big, aggressive second row (although preferably one who stayed on the field for 80 minutes)?

Still, you have to give Bath credit for moving decisively to replace one pantomime villain with another A-list performer. Justin  Harrison first came to our attention by clashing with Austin Healey in the 2001 Lions tour (I wonder if he voted for him in Strictly Come Dancing?), and I’m sure we all remember him and Ches locking antlers in a Heineken Cup match a few seasons back. You should do, because I also mentioned it in my last match preview! 

On a personal note...

My first ever rugby match was Saracens Pilkington Cup tie against Bath in February 1994. A mate of mine, who’s son was in the academy offered to take me and assured me we didn’t need advance tickets. We were greeted by a ‘Car Park Full’ sign so he pointed to a badge on his jacket and said to the lad on the gate saying “I’m on the committee”. The poor lad replied “sorry sir, the car park is full” which caused my mate to point out that being on the committee entitled him to a parking space for every home game, and this lad had better let him in. With a look of sheer fright the lad stuck to his guns, so at ten to three we eventually parked on the street. As we walked into the ground I said “I didn’t realise you were on the committee, Jim”. “I’m not”, he replied in a dead-pan voice!

 As for the game itself, my only memory is Stuart Barnes nearly taking out a motor-cyclist on the adjacent road with a kick to touch. Sarries never threatened to cause an upset and went down 23-6.  So for a Brucie Bonus, who can tell me who played Cleo, and what role did she become famous in many years later?‘Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!’ 

Saracens:  15: A. Goode 14: R. Haughton 13: K. Ratuvou 12: B. Barritt 11: R. Penney 10: G. Jackson 9: J. Marshall
1: M. Aguero 2: M. Cairns 3: T. Mercey 4: T. Ryder 5: K. Chesney 6: C. Jack 7: W. Van Heerden 8: B. Skirving

Replacements: 16. A. Walker 17. C. Visagie 18. J. Melck 19. D. Seymour 20. M. Wilson 21. G. Ross 22. A. Powell  

Bath Rugby: 15. Nick Abendanon 14. Joe Maddock 13. Alex Crockett (c) 12. Shaun Berne 11. Matt Banahan 10. Butch James 9. Scott Bemand
1. David Flatman 2. Rob Hawkins 3. Duncan Bell 4. Justin Harrison 5. Peter Short 6. Stuart Hooper 7. James Scaysbrook 8. Daniel Browne

16. Mark Lilley 17. Aaron Jarvis 18. Andy Beattie 19. Jonny Faamatuainu 20. Mike Baxter 21. Tom Cheeseman 22. Andrew Higgins  

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