So how did we lose that match? Vast majority of the territory and possession for the vast majority of the match and we concede three tries to one scored and end up losers: no wonder the likes of Peasedown Exile and David Jon question our ability to win matches and trophies. So what is the problem?

A possible answer is we don't have the killer instinct to make the most of the situations we create, however I'm more inclined to the argument that we try to play too much rugby too often instead of mixing footballing skills with pragmatic management. I think we are guilty of off-loading once too often, trying one more phase than is practical and not knowing when to use the pack as a group instead of a group of individuals impersonating backs. 

But, on the other hand, the way we play makes us the most exciting team to watch in club rugby and potentially the most feared side on the days we get everything right. I'm happy to watch Bath Rugby play a style that takes my breath away, even if that means we lose some games we should win. Against Saracens, Butch James was hero and villain with his cheeky grubber kicks, breaking through the defensive line. As hero he set up Alex Crockett to score Bath's only try of the match after 22 minutes to make the score 0-8. As villain his kick, which ended tremendous pressure on the Saracen's goal line, was the wrong option and gave Rodd Penney the opportunity to run 100 metres to score with ten minutes of the game remaining.

It was a poor clearance kick from James on the stroke of half time that gave Penney a chance to score his first try. Saracen's had few opportunities in the opening half to attack the Bath line and it was poor ball retention by the visitors after they'd overturned Saracens' possession twice in as many minutes that created this score. Throughout the first half Bath had dominated every aspect of the game but didn't score as often as they should. Even when a man ahead, after Kris Chesney was sin-binned for a cheap shot on Crockett, Bath only managed to score three points despite attacking the Saracens' red zone in waves.

Saracens were a different team in the second half, which is remarkable given that the one player who frightened Bath in the first half, Kameli Ratuvou, was too injured to make the second forty minutes. Watching him run through the first line of Bath defenders before falling to two more was reminiscent of Lomu running through Catty all those years ago. That his team mates couldn't capitilise on the holes he was creating was nothing short of criminal.

Matt Banahan thought he'd score Bath's second try after catching a Butch James cross-field kick ahead of Richard Haughton but Bath's man-mountain was penalised for a nudge on Haughton just before leaping for the ball. In realtime this seemed harsh on the West Country side but the slow motion replay supported the official decision.

As the game entered the final quarter Alex Walker scored his first Premiership try and then the dreaded uncontested scrums became necessary after Saracens lost two of their props. Bath took this opportunity to replace Duncan Bell with Jonny F. On the face of it this appeared to be a good move because Bath no longer needed the scrummaging strength of Bell, however Jonny isn't as defensively tight a player as Bell and I wonder whether we lost something in defence by this exchange?

Penney scored his break-away try with ten minutes left but the final flourish fell to Don Barrell who did brilliantly to dive in at the corner to score without hitting the touchline or corner flag. Given the number of Saracens' missed place kicks, their four tries and how they didn't let their heads drop when Bath were destroying them in open play, Saracens were rightful winners of this match so fair play to them.

Unbelievably, questions are being raised about Steve Meehan on the Messageboard. Quite frankly I'm stunned by this. What our Head Coach and his colleagues have done with our squad over the past few years is nothing short of amazing. He's taken them from being a bunch of average to good players, many of whom were slaughtered by John Connolly's "grind it out" method of rugby who wouldn't have recognised innovation if it was a passenger in their car to work each day,  and has created a team so exciting even the pundits are taking notice - suddenly Bath Rugby is the team to watch. As Charlieboa says on the board, "to blame Meehan is frankly crazy".

Those of you old enough to have followed the teams of the 80s, who similarly played exciting and flowing rugby, will remember that there were bad days when we played like pigs and lost games we should have won. Long trips to Waterloo and Moseley will, no doubt, particularly stand out in your memories. The current Guinness Premiership is tighter than it's ever been and like it or not (and I don't like it) we will lose games. Every team is losing games they would expect to win: wouldn't it be great to be a neutral as opposed to supporters who hurt every time their team loses.

I don't think now is the time for knee-jerk reactions on or off the pitch. There is a fine line between winning and losing, we just have to make sure we're on the right side of that line at the end of every match and that comes from keeping a clear head when all around are panicking. I genuinely believe the man with that clear head is Steve Meehan and I'm proud he is the coach of "my" club!

Come on Bath!!

Referee: Chris White

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