Bath

Quote:

Ali1969
[ there was a period at the end of his penultimate season with the club where he was dropped from the squad - not injured, just dropped at a time when we had huge injury issues in the back row with a lot of discussion around a huge falling out with Hooper - .

Ali, I have checked the match reports and in the last half of that season the back row match selection was 4 from: Faletau, Underhill, Reid, Ellis, Bayliss, Mercer, Williams, Louw. So there were always 4 backrowers available.

Bath won the majority of those 12 matches, having lost the majority of their first half fixtures - in which Mercer started in 6 of 11. I would have preferred to play him, but maybe the coaches felt he was not playing to the right standard in the second half of that season? His mysterious disappearance from the squad was in the middle part of the season - rounds 5-9.

From the match selections I have seen I do not think the "injury issues" can have been that "huge" and I don't think they support a claim of Mercer being sidelined for his character.

In the following season -20/21 he started 10 of the 11 opening fixtures (round 4 was a Covid cancellation). Of the second half fixtures (after his intended departure had been announced) he started 7 and was a replacement for 1 (again there was a missed match due to Covid cancellation).

Who knows exactly what the relationship between DOR and player was like? 18 selections out of a possible 20 (all but 1 as a starter) suggest it did not prejudice his chances of playing.

PG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 28/04/2022 09:29 by P G Tips.