By P G Tips
September 24 2019
Bath host Worcester Warriors on Saturday hoping to open their account in the Premiership Rugby Cup. Tenth in the Premiership last year, Worcester have languished in the relegation zone or the Championship for the past twelve seasons, though last season were capable of some potent attacking play and made the semi finals of the Cup. Last week, fielding a comparatively strong team they walloped a youthful Leicester Tigers team 57-23. So will Saturday’s visitors prove to be Wuss or Warrior?
Fielding the likes of Kitchener and new signings from the Pro 14 Carey & Montgomery up front plus Humphreys, Mills, Beck and Shillcock behind was quite a statement of intent. The reward was an 8-try triumph, which places them at the top of the pool and offers a platform of confidence. Bath on the other hand are yet to register a victory after three defeats in the Premiership Sevens and last weekend’s loss at Sandy Park.
While Stuart Hooper has described Bath’s approach to this competition as similar to pre season friendlies of previous years, he also intimated, at a recent briefing for Season Ticket holders, of stronger selections for the home ties. Fans will hope to see the likes of Aled Brew and Semesa Rokodoguni (both of whom missed large chunks of the 2019 season through injury) getting a tilt at the try line. There are new forward signings of interest too- in particular tighthead Judge and lock/loose forward McNally. This would seem the ideal match for their introduction.
Hooper was measured in his assessment of last week’s 28-14 defeat, refusing to be downbeat despite shipping four tries, but not carried away with the positives either. That is partly a reflection of his public style but I suspect he believes the faults are fixable, while quietly satisfied with some of the attacking play. The midfield defence was certainly opened up too easily by set piece moves, although a more experienced backline would probably be less vulnerable. On the plus side Bath won the second half, taking the lion’s share of possession and outscrummaging their hosts on occasion. The two tries, from counter attack, were crisply executed and showed a welcome willingness to attack from deep.
In front of a supportive home crowd, that approach should bring both entertainment and a victory. The only fly in the ointment is the weather, which looks likely to be a wet morning with the rain abating just before kick off. Handling promises to be as greasy as in the humidity of Japan.
Bath may have enjoyed some bright moments last weekend, but Warriors are the club least depleted by World Cup calls (like Wasps, only 2 missing) and have their tails up. So- come 5 0’clock will Bath be winners or still waiting?
Possible Bath Squad:
Bath: Catt, Batty, Judge, McNally, Stooke, Ellis, Bayliss, Mercer (Capt.). Green, Burns. Brew, Wright, Clark, Rokodoguni, Homer.
Replacements:Boyce, Dunn, Nixon, Ewels, Williams. Cook, Priestland, Willison.
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Quote:Bath Hammer
Sickening for Miles Reid & for the club that after the very first match he is out for the entire season after apparently being in the best shape of his life & you would have thought resilient to such an injury. I wonder how it happened. I hope we aren’t going to suffer such major injuries on a regular basis yet again.
Quote:TG KesmoQuote:Bath Hammer
Sickening for Miles Reid & for the club that after the very first match he is out for the entire season after apparently being in the best shape of his life & you would have thought resilient to such an injury. I wonder how it happened. I hope we aren’t going to suffer such major injuries on a regular basis yet again.
Resilient to such an injury?? That is like saying if you as a pedestrian get hit by a bus you should be fit enough to withstand it and if you are injured it is your or your trainers fault. The laws of physics are such that if
you are hit by a tackler at the wrong place at
the wrong time there is nothing that can be done. It as gut wrenchingly unfortunate for the poor guy don’t try and spin it into some sort of blame game.
If you are talking about non contact muscle tears and S&C then maybe you might have a point but in this case not.
Quote:B4thB4ck
Competitive line ups. Just a thought after listening to Roberts RWC commentary this week, is he injured or is there some other clause allowing him to be away? His extensive experience would be useful to the young centres preparing for the season ahead?
Quote:gaz59Quote:B4thB4ck
Competitive line ups. Just a thought after listening to Roberts RWC commentary this week, is he injured or is there some other clause allowing him to be away? His extensive experience would be useful to the young centres preparing for the season ahead?
It was an agreement between player and club and openly reported
Quote:B4thB4ckQuote:gaz59Quote:B4thB4ck
Competitive line ups. Just a thought after listening to Roberts RWC commentary this week, is he injured or is there some other clause allowing him to be away? His extensive experience would be useful to the young centres preparing for the season ahead?
It was an agreement between player and club and openly reported
OK thanks. I wonder if he is working with the Welsh team? That would be good for his fitness and handy for them to train against.
Quote:B4thB4ck
I think my wife would approve of him being on the TV more as well (no offence taken...). I assumed he would follow his medical career.
Quote:gaz59
Only heard him commentating and as a first stab at it, not a bad pundit though [like so many, to be fair] if only he could execute the game to the same standard he talks about we would have hell of a player on our books
Quote:ballsout
Not particularly nice comments about us on BT from Baxter/Austin Healey.
Quote:Bath HammerQuote:TG KesmoQuote:Bath Hammer
Sickening for Miles Reid & for the club that after the very first match he is out for the entire season after apparently being in the best shape of his life & you would have thought resilient to such an injury. I wonder how it happened. I hope we aren’t going to suffer such major injuries on a regular basis yet again.
Resilient to such an injury?? That is like saying if you as a pedestrian get hit by a bus you should be fit enough to withstand it and if you are injured it is your or your trainers fault. The laws of physics are such that if
you are hit by a tackler at the wrong place at
the wrong time there is nothing that can be done. It as gut wrenchingly unfortunate for the poor guy don’t try and spin it into some sort of blame game.
If you are talking about non contact muscle tears and S&C then maybe you might have a point but in this case not.
I certainly wasn’t trying to spin that the injury was his fault. It was just a degree of surprise. I appreciate that there’s little that can prevent such an injury in some situations but to say that nothing can be done to mitigate such injuries is not entirely correct: Is it just bad luck that certain sportsmen are more susceptible to such injuries particularly later in their career?
“The following training tips can reduce the risk of an ACL injury:
Train and condition year round.
Practice proper landing technique after jumps.
When you pivot, crouch and bend at the knees and hips. This reduces stress on the ACL.
Strengthen your hamstring and quadriceps muscles. The hamstring muscle is at the back of the thigh; the quadriceps muscle is at the front. The muscles work together to bend or straighten the leg. Strengthening both muscles can better protect the leg against knee injuries.”