By Chris Chaplin
January 29 2003

Saturday 1 February sees the latest meeting between two of the "Big Beasts" of the Union game over the past few decades. With both teams not at their best this season I've been thinking about what might happen. After scraping through in the Parker Pen, Bath, last weekend, went on to get dumped out of the National Cup in somewhat controversial circumstances and they will be feeling hard done to when Tigers meet them on Saturday, as the Bath pack gave a good account of themselves against the much vaunted Saints eight, even with Blowers and Pountney restored.

Although Bath have managed to claw their way out of the relegation spot they are by no means safe and Saturday's match will be as much a must win for them as it is for Tigers, who desperately need to get into the top three and put some clear water between them and the dangerously competitive mid table. A five point win would place Tigers in third place, assuming neither Leeds nor Sale win

With bottom club Newcastle at home to Quins, who's away record is not good, any slip up by Bath against Tigers will see the erstwhile aristocrats of the game drop to within a point or two of bottom spot and them once again become embroiled in the relegation dogfight and the none too attractive prospect of a visit to Kingsholm next week.

From Tigers perspective, with Leeds and Sale both away from home at Bristol and Irish respectively, perhaps less likely to get anything other than a losing bonus point apiece, this is a perfect opportunity to get into the play-off reckoning. Wasps and Sarries are at home to Saints and Glaws and if they pick up wins and Tigers don't then we're back in the trenches of the mid table with Wasps or Northampton leapfrogging over us, although after their humiliation at Kingsholm on Saturday it's hard to see Sarries turning things round, if they do it'll be an interesting indicator as to Glaws mental strength when away from home.

The last time I saw Bath play a full game was their meeting with Leeds just after Christmas when frankly they were outplayed by the Tykes, who as usual pursued their limited gameplan to stunning effect. The Bath scrum was a bit of mess that day although they did well in the line out with Grewcock and Borthwick getting the better of their opposite numbers. Once again against Montauban a fortnight ago their pack was under severe pressure but thanks to a Mike Catt try and four penalties from Barkley they scraped through.

I expect Bath will retain much the same pack as started against Saints as it looks, in the enforced absence of Dan Lyle, to be their strongest grouping. I suppose they may bring back Mallet if fit, although to my mind he subtracts more than he adds, although the Recreation Ground faithful will, I am sure, demur.

It was certainly nice to see David Barnes get over the line on Saturday. He's the type of player who will see Bath through their troubles, especially when you consider that he played every ZP match last term and shored up their pack during that awful season. Joined by 33 times capped Welsh hooker Jonathan Humphries and new signing French International prop Alessio Galasso these three look much more of a cohesive unit than when Mallett is in residence. Galasso also gives the bench more flexibility as he can play on either side of the front row.

In the second row we have the sometimes impressive and other times seemingly disinterested Danny Grewcock. The England and British Lion is a player that frustrates me as he can be wonderful on his day but on others resort to being petty and marginalised as a consequence. Fortunately for Bath and England he is usually the former, even though he has been dislodged from his England place of late by Ben Kay. I rather suspect that on Saturday he'll be looking to prove a point to Clive Woodward by seeking to show BK as an impertinent usurper. The other member of the Bath second row, Borthwick, will also be casting a malevolent eye toward the young Tiger lock who has overtaken him after he failed to impress the England coach. These two will have a point to prove so watch out for fireworks and Grewcock in the bin if he's in that kind of mood.

In the back row I hope Adam Vander keeps his place. After an ill starred spell at Richmond and a detour via Bristol he's back at his spiritual home and for my money is an underrated player and a real danger man. Welsh International Nathan Thomas is a fine number 8 and another player who gives an extra dimension by his ability to play equally well on the blindside. An expert in picking up from the base of the scrum and provided he can keep himself out of trouble will, with the injury prone England U21 Andy Beattie who missed most of last season, make up a mobile unit who will be after Tigers' half backs if the service is not crisp and decisive.

From what I saw Gareth Cooper had a good match against the referee's assistant in the Cup loss and this lad, so unlucky to be up against Rob Howley for International honours, has a good eye for a gap and is very quick around the park.

Rather like our own Harry Ellis and Jamie Hamilton I have seen him fiddle about at the base of rucks puttting already won ball under pressure as the opponents mount their second drive, but his pass is good and he generally gives his half back partner good ball.

We then come to the man who makes Bath tick; Mr. Catt. Rarely have I seen a player capable of such sublime play, making wonderful breaks through gaps that are not there for ordinary mortals. Who can forget his exploits in the 2000/1 season before he so cruelly embarked on a string of injuries. The sight of him breaking through the centre with either Voyce or Balshaw on his shoulder are enduring memories of that season. Now that he's back again and hopefully free of injury we should at last see the Bath backs begin to play, all they need is good ball from their pack! Mind you for his own good perhaps Catty should take a break on Saturday - he doesn't want to do too much too soon and doubtless he'll receive none too respectful attention from Mr. Kronfeld and Co.

In the centre we first find Kevin Maggs, who in spite of two injury prone years found time to cause mayhem when he played against England in the "Foot and Mouth" Six Nations match at Lansdowne Road in perhaps the finest display of his 45 capped appearances for Ireland. Maggs with Catt will target the 10/12 and 12/13 channels where missed tackles occurred during the first half of Tigers' win over Quins last Saturday. With Mike Tindall in close proximity any lapses will not go unpunished as were those last weekend. Tindall is an honest, hard running, hard tackling centre. As regulars will know from my England Player ratings articles I do worry about his lack of creativity but assuming that Bath do not revert to Barkley at 10 with Catt partnering Maggs in the centre, which is a much more creative set up, Tindall will earn his corn in defence alone.

I suppose that it's not a question of if Ollie Barkley will play but where he'll play. He's not yet in the category of "Golden Boot" but he's getting pretty close, especially after his faultless display against Saints in the Cup. Personally I think the backs look far more dangerous with him at 10 and Catt/Maggs in the centre linking with the more powerful Danelli and Voyce on the wings, but hey, what do I know?

On the subject of wingers. This may just be Simon Danelli's year. At 6'4" and 16 stone he's one of the new breed of Ben Cohen type wingers and looks destined to play a part in this years' Six Nations, which is no mean feat given that his club side are not doing well. Tremendously strong and quick he's not a player to kick the ball to when on the hoof and heading your way. On the other wing may well be that Enfant Terrible Ollie Barkley. Together with Bath Hooker Andy Long he is another youngster ill used by Woodward, both being pitched into the International spotlight before being discarded just as quickly. It is of immense credit to the lad that neither the premature limelight or it's inevitable consequences has affected him as badly as it did Long, who is only now becoming fully rehabilitated after that traumatic experience. I've no doubt Barkley is a star of the future and I hope that he'll be allowed to persevere at 10 where he has showed some nice touches of maturity as well as some understandable callowness from time to time.

Finally at 15 - Matt Perry. England's most capped fullback. A British Lion and full back of the most superior kind, usually pretty much faultless how he must wonder (with Stimmo) what he's doing on the sidelines while Robinson plays out of position for England, but even worse, in his position, one of the most technical on the field. Back in action and playing well he's sound in defence and a real threat in attack as we all know.

Tigers will be buoyed by their having laid the ghost of Quins in the Cup and if the same pack is played on Saturday I really can't see Bath besting it. I just think that Tigers will dominate the set pieces in spite of the talent within the Bath eight, although obviously the coaching team will need to have a word with BK and Franck, who by their silly punching antics could have cost us the Quins game. The Tigers backrow is frankly a class apart from the Bath setup and as Josh will clearly have to retain his place Moody and Corry should again join him, with this unit being the decisive factor.

I hope that either Ellis or Tierney get to start at 9 for although Hamilton was better at the set pieces against Quins and lively in the loose he was often late to the breakdown and as a consequence of this and his hesitancy and inaccuracy when clearing the ball the opposition were able to mount a second drive with ball already won becoming slow, spoilt or even worse turned over. Vesty continues to look nervous but was generally OK and while Kafer was much more dynamic in attack his first up tackling in the first half was poor. Ollie was quiet but if fit surely retains his place. On the wing we will need a big tackler to contain Danelli, so that task has to go to Fred, for while Leon made some good strong runs on Saturday I remain dubious over his defensive qualities. Presumably Stimmo and Geordan will continue their double act of wing and full back. Another combination of backs looks likely and if so it will be the twenty-first this season!

The real danger is that if as many tackles are missed in the centre as was the case on Saturday Barkley, Catt and Maggs will run riot, so it's the tackle bags for you my lads.

The result? I think we'll win. Well actually we've got to!