Bath

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hasta
Great to see Reid back and Coetzee on the bench. Bit worried about absences of Boyce and Mojo.

Mojo is a mystery, why no news?

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Tyler Offiah
Opinion is based on assumptions, whereas fact is based on observation or research.

Without Biggar and Lawes I'm giving us half a chance but still can't see it.

Hoping the experience of Cipriani and Spencer to outsmart their up and coming counterparts (stopped short of whippersnappers as I see both Mitchell and Furbank are mid 20s now).

Underhill and Spencer injured?

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Barfboy
Without Biggar and Lawes I'm giving us half a chance but still can't see it.

The bookies have 2 points in it.

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[24/25 adoptee: Francois van Wyk]

No lawes and ribbans is huge loss for us. Think this will be a very tight game

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Saint dolph
No lawes and ribbans is huge loss for us. Think this will be a very tight game

Don't worry, we have an uncanny ability to lose the high games! If it all goes to plan we will be 24 points up at half time before losing to a late try probably by Ollie Sleightholme, which will restart a family feud with his dad.

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Tyler Offiah
Opinion is based on assumptions, whereas fact is based on observation or research.

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shipwrecked

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Saint dolph
No lawes and ribbans is huge loss for us. Think this will be a very tight game

Don't worry, we have an uncanny ability to lose the high games! If it all goes to plan we will be 24 points up at half time before losing to a late try probably by Ollie Sleightholme, which will restart a family feud with his dad.

So long as dad doesn't start singing that gawd awful Bath rugby song in retribution - that would make family reconciliation impossible!

So we start with Williams at lock who so many on here say is too lightweight. Also our replacement props are considered by some to be the equivalent of 4th/5th choices so we can look forward to the pack imploding yet again.!

Surprised not to see Will Spencer in there. I think he has made a major difference in the last few games. Assume he must have another knock. Likewise Underhill. There's no argument for keeping him back for bigger games at this point. And why is Cokanasiga benched? Very odd.

Quote:

Malco
Surprised not to see Will Spencer in there. I think he has made a major difference in the last few games. Assume he must have another knock. Likewise Underhill. There's no argument for keeping him back for bigger games at this point. And why is Cokanasiga benched? Very odd.

Sam Underhill has to have some mandatory rest periods after internationals I think - is it one of them?

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[24/25 adoptee: Francois van Wyk]

Assume spencer has a knock otherwise v odd.

Appreciate it would be jolly nice to not finish last but is there any point playing faletau ahead of coetzee. Clark ahead of butt/Venter if mojo out? Morozov fair enough I guess otherwise cordwell has to play with an underpowered second row again

I would prefer to finish 13th than 12th if it sets us up better for next season.

Quote:

charlieboa
Assume spencer has a knock otherwise v odd.
Appreciate it would be jolly nice to not finish last but is there any point playing faletau ahead of coetzee. Clark ahead of butt/Venter if mojo out? Morozov fair enough I guess otherwise cordwell has to play with an underpowered second row again

I would prefer to finish 13th than 12th if it sets us up better for next season.

I'm a bit conflicted on this CB, in a way I think that the less next season's players are exposed to the current coaching message and it seems losses the better. They get rest and are not exposed to injury risk. Guys like Underhill and Baylis have nothing to prove and attritional positions like 8 benefit from not being whacked around.

What good does match fitness do with nothing to play for followed by no matches in the summer?

As for league position fighting to go one position in the table higher is only relevant on 3 occasions:

1) To avoid relegation.
2) To qualify for the Champions Cup.
3) To qualify for the playoffs.

Otherwise it's all a bit pointless.

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Tyler Offiah
Opinion is based on assumptions, whereas fact is based on observation or research.

Quote:

charlieboa
I would prefer to finish 13th than 12th if it sets us up better for next season.

On my phone screen, when i look at the league table, it only has room for the first 12 places. I have a momentary feeling of, 'oh brilliant, we must have climbed off the bottom', only to be hit by the realisation that we aren't just bottom of the table, but we are bottom of the expanded table.

Defo agree SW on taking big players who have played lots out of the firing line now. What is to be gained- bad injury and they miss ore season and start of season potentially.

Also young guys who have played a fair bit for their age and already proved everything we need to know.

Would have thought the coaches would be keen to get more sight of some guys going into next season given hoops/hats/charteris still about. Seems a perfect opp to give someone like a staddon a go in the 23 in amongst some good experienced players, or venter a run between cips and jj.

I have long given up trying to second guess what they are trying to achieve....roll on next season.

We may be at the wrong end of the league but tomorrow’s match will be a part of the history of our club. We’re playing one of the historically great teams in English rugby. No other incentive to do everything we can to win should be necessary.

What I don't get is our reluctance to name unavailable or rested players. Saints and many other teams clealry list who is unavailable but for some reason we do not - we started to mainly due to pressure from the fans but we have fallen back into our poor old media way's unless their is a cunning plan from the Blackadder school of cunningness behind it.

The upshot is as is shiown on here we a get annoyed with players who are not named in the match day XXIii second guessing the reason. Very frustrating.

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Optimist

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charlieboa
I would prefer to finish 13th than 12th if it sets us up better for next season.

On my phone screen, when i look at the league table, it only has room for the first 12 places. I have a momentary feeling of, 'oh brilliant, we must have climbed off the bottom', only to be hit by the realisation that we aren't just bottom of the table, but we are bottom of the expanded table.

Arent we at the top of the second page? That's something to be proud of!

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Ali1969
What I don't get is our reluctance to name unavailable or rested players. Saints and many other teams clealry list who is unavailable but for some reason we do not - we started to mainly due to pressure from the fans but we have fallen back into our poor old media way's unless their is a cunning plan from the Blackadder school of cunningness behind it.
The upshot is as is shiown on here we a get annoyed with players who are not named in the match day XXIii second guessing the reason. Very frustrating.

Ali, surely you must realise that's extremely valuable info or the opposing team. They will suddenly realise that one of our key players isn't available and between 12:00 and 3:00 tomorrow completely overhaul their gameplan and tactics, which they have been working on all week, to take advantage of that chink in our armour.
In reality we are a team that's not that difficult to beat and there job just got even easier!

Would it really be that difficult for the club to start engaging with fans and state if a player is either unavailable or not selected?

We don’t need to know the specific reason for a player being unavailable, it would just be nice to know why they aren’t in the match day 23.

There might be a number of reasons why a player's not selected that shouldn't necessarily be public knowledge. Perhaps a player didn't train that well/lacked focus, or another player in the position just looked livelier/sharper in training. Maybe a player is distracted one week by family issues for example. Some weeks the management team might just feel a player looks jaded and would benefit from a rest. Long term injuries and expected return dates are usually well publicised. I guess we want to be reassured that players like Mojo aren't being sidelined and seek explanations for selections we don't agree with, but I can also see that sometimes management make decisions/judgements that we just have to accept.

I know that historically some of the players didn't like it being announced. But I agree it's ridiculous. US sports handle this much better.

I just dont get the 'some weeks we will do it, some we wont' approach.

Agree that specifics shouldn't be gone into always but just say if they are unavailable.....can be for any reason....jaded, given a holiday, injured, family reasons...anything....

The NFL certainly had strict rules - if someone wasn't reported as injured after a game and missed the next one, there were repercussions. No idea if it's still as strict.
Mind you, that was basically because of gambling, got to have accurate info to set the spread - which is ironic given how anti-gambling everything used to be. In public at least, it was hugely influential behind the scenes!

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hasta
I know that historically some of the players didn't like it being announced. But I agree it's ridiculous. US sports handle this much better.

+1

All we need is "not selected" or "unavailable for selection", it really isn't that difficult. However for some reason Bath prefer to not to fully engage with fans on team selection matters.

Football has no problem with this issue at all either.

Saints use "not considered for selection". I'm not really sure what value there is in that to be honest

Quote:

OutsideBath
Would it really be that difficult for the club to start engaging with fans and state if a player is either unavailable or not selected?
We don’t need to know the specific reason for a player being unavailable, it would just be nice to know why they aren’t in the match day 23.

On the members' podcast Hats stated "Sam's got a tight muscle, Spence took a knock against Edinburgh."

He also made a slightly cryptic comment - "Max will be with us as a sort of travelling reserve. it's good to have him back."

Not sure if that implies an injury or if he was omitted previously for other reasons.

PG