This game saw the pairing up of Michael Claassens and Butch James for the first time at the Rec and much was expected of the expensive South African half-backs. However these new stars struggled as much as the rest of the Bath team to make anything of this game. If you were unable to get to the match don't assume a 28-0 score suggests an easy afternoon for Bath, it wasn't.

But it wasn't so much a case of Overmach Parma keeping Bath on the back foot through sound attacking play, it was more to do with the visitors playing the offside laws to the limit and almost the whole of the Bath team committing a seasons worth of unforced errors in one game. If there was a ball to be dropped in this game then rest assured the Bath players took up the cudgels on behalf of the "Ball To Be Dropped Society"! The most obvious example followed a super run through the centre of the Parma defence by Alex Crockett who off-loaded to Andy Higgins who seemed destined to score. Unfortunately for Higgins, he was scragged in front of the Parma line and lost control of the ball just as he stretched out a long arm to score.

I have no doubt that there will be comments about the spoiling tactics of Parma, and they did spoil the game as a spectacle: probably creating as much frustration on the field as the spectators felt off it. However, this is professional sport and professional sportsmen have to work out what to do about an opposition determined to snuff out clean play at every opportunity. On the basis that Bath scored a try at the end of the first half and three more in the second, it took some 40 minutes to work out how to play the Italians.

However if we take this long to "work out" our opponents next week, Bristol could be too far ahead to allow us back in to the game.

Butch James started his first match at the Rec with the opening kick-off and Bath set the pattern of play for the rest of the match in the opening minutes. They dominated all aspects of the game without looking too threatening. The backs looked confused for much of the time with a stop-start approach that gave Parma hope until the second try was scored after an hour. Now, given that Bath stand 7th in the European Rankings  and Overmach Parma are in 36th place, we should have seen this tie put to bed much sooner than the 60th minute!

During the first half Bath had several penalties where they decided to either kick for touch or Claassens opted for a quick dash. I was often surprised by these tactics, at a time when they had either failed to score or were just 7-0 up. I could understand this ploy later in the game when hunting the scoring bonus point but surely you take the points on offer even when playing teams such as Parma.

Clearly it is going to take time for the new Bath backline to bed in together, what with James being new and Barkley just returning from England duties. I don't know enough about the style of play that Butch James is used to but, in this game, I felt he tried too many blind passes (not looking at the person to whom he was passing) which often caught the receiver unawares. Clearly Butch is going to have to spend a few weeks teaching his colleagues how he likes to play so they know how to cope with the unpredictable. Having said that, James was on hand to play a key part in two of the tries and when the players have worked out how to play together things could (as the Americans say) be awesome!

Olly Barkley looked as sharp, both of brain and foot as I've seen him for some time: perhaps the recent rest has helped recharge his batteries. Alex Crockett? He had a super match showing a lot of strength and speed.

Bath's first try came from Steve Borthwick who both started and finished the move. Stevie B snatched a Parma lineout close to their line and, after the ball winged its way across the field and back again, the Bath skipper was on hand to run in on the right wing to break his team's duck. Relief all round!

The second Bath try had it's origins in a Bath penalty that was kickable (remember the score was just 7-0) yet Borthwick opted for a lineout. At first it appeared this was a poor decision when the catch and drive was disrupted and Parma cleared it for a lineout on halfway. However the Bath lineout was successful ensuring quick the ball reached Butch James who fed Alex Crockett who screamed past his opponents in what is fast(sic) becoming his trademark play to run in for the score.

Joy of the game was watching Jonny F clutch the ball in one mitt as he showed it to an opponent before making ground and feeding James who in turn gave another "blind pass" to Barkley (this time successfully) who ran in for Bath's third try. I'm liking the skills of Jonny more and more every time I see him.

Bath secured the bonus point when Jonny F found himself shoved over the line as part of an accomplished catch and drive play from a lineout deep in the Parma twenty-two. As Barkley had been replaced by Shaun Berne, Butch James grabbed the final points with a simple conversion.

More pictures of this game can be found here

Bath Rugby

15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Andrew Higgins, 13 Alex Crockett, 12 Olly Barkley (Shaun Berne 67mins), 11 Michael Stephenson (Matt Banahan 51mins), 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens, 1 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears (Pieter Dixon 67mins), 3 Paulica Ion (Laurence Ovens 67mins), 4 Steve Borthwick (capt), 5 Peter Short, 6 Andy Beattie (Jonny Faamatuainu 45mins), 7 Michael Lipman, 8. Daniel Browne.

Overmach Parma

15 Ezio Galon (capt), 14 Riccardo Pavan, 13 Roger Randle, 12 Gilberto Pavan, 11 Andrea Orsi (Giulio Rubini 50mins), 10 Barry Irving, 9 Pietro Travagli, 1 German Fontana (Abraham Winter 49mins), 2 Bruno Masetti, 3 Fabio Stabaino (Alberto De Marcha 70mins), 4 Brad Taylor, 5 Pelu Taele, 6 Pablo Sciaretta (Mantvydas Tveraga 69), 7 Juan Martin Soffredini, 8 Alex Ainley.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes