They think it's all over!


By Ed Scott
November 12 2010

This week we enter the second round of our LV Cup campaign, away on Sunday against High Wycombe Wasps, or 'Wasps' as I will affectionately call them.

Firstly, apologies for the tardiness of this preview. Work, a pregnant wife's birthday (yes, that does mean it takes up more time!), and internet issues, all combined to thwart my creative juices this week! Very annoying as I was going to predict Vesty's return to 10 and the resting of Olly - honestly I was! Anyway, here we go:

Putting the varying feelings of this competition aside, a trip to play one of our arch rivals is never trivial. Wasps were handed a free lesson by a second string Exeter last weekend which must have hurt considerably. I would be surprised if anyone is actually taking victories against Exeter for granted anymore, but I do not expect them to approach a home game against us with anything but 100% focus and determination.
  
As we are yet to meet in the Premiership this season, Wasps will surely still have the beating handed to them at Twickenham last season in the back of their minds. I'm not sure who this will motivate more, but I would certainly welcome a similar performance and result! They didn't put out a first choice team last weekend so it will be interesting to see whether they change their line up for this weekends clash. One name certain to be off their team sheet is our old 'friend' David Lemi, who is turning out for Samoa this weekend. Shame, I was hoping Banners was going to use him as some sort of crash test dummy.
banahan.jpg
  
We got the team mix just right last weekend and have probably done so again this. The likes of Ovens, Mercer and Williams definitely need to be playing in these matches and all impressed me last week. We need to know that our bench and fringe players are not only pushing for the first choice shirt, but also staying sharp. Batty, Cuthbert and 'Nacho' Lobbe really stepped up to the mark last weekend. Lobbe just nicked the man of the match award for a gritty and controlling display up front, but Cuthbert put in an almost flawless performance, which is great for our full back options moving forward. I can only assume that Ben Williams is injured as he is not in the squad, his absence makes our backline reserves look a little sparse. Carraro at 12 will be an interesting one to see; big hits and 'route one' may be on the cards from our centres this week!
  
Smee is clearly rotating to keep players fresh but fit without exhausting anyone. He is also using this as valuable time to get the likes of Jarvis, Short and Mears back to full fitness. Two weeks without any action is just too long in my book so putting the likes of Grewy and Class on the bench is the right move if we want to hit the ground running against Saracens next weekend. Bar our Internationals (and Luke Watson), I can only think of Simon Taylor, Andy Beattie and Stuart Hooper who will not have played a part in the LV.
  
Results last weekend didn't really go in our favour. The format of the competition means that we are third in our group, even though we won on Friday! We could feasibly win all our games and yet not qualify for the semi finals because someone else in our group managed a bonus point win and also went undefeated. Another team could make the semis by winning only one game but the rest of the group losing all of theirs. Saying that, in reality, a loss would probably mean the end of the competition for most teams.
  
I expect a fiery encounter, with the dominant pack taking it in what is likely to be blustery conditions. After last Friday though, anything else will probably feel like a sunny day in May, both to the supporters and the players!
  
Do Wasps think it's already all over for them? I bet they don't. For us however, I think this journey could just be beginning.

Bath Rugby
15. Jack Cuthbert 
14. Jacques Boussuge
13. Matt Banahan (C) 
12. Matt Carraro 
11. Tom Biggs 
10. Sam Vesty 
9. Mark McMillan 
1. David Flatman 
2. Lee Mears 
3. Aaron Jarvis 
4. Ignacio Fernandez-Lobbe 
5. Peter Short 
6. Josh Ovens 
7. Guy Mercer 
8. Ben Skirving 

Replacements 

16. Ross Batty
17. David Barnes 
18. Duncan Bell 
19. Danny Grewcock 
20. Will Skuse 
21. Michael Claassens 
22. Paul Roberts 
23. Nick Scott
Wasps
15 Jack Wallace 
14 Richard Haughton 
13 Dominic Waldouck 
12 Steve Kefu 
11 Tom Varndell 
10 Mark Van Gisbergen 
9 Nic Berry 
1 Tim Payne 
2 Rob Webber 
3 Ben Broster 
4 Marty Veale 
5 James Cannon 
6 Joe Worsley 
7 Tom Rees (c) 
8 Dan Ward-Smith 
Replacements

16 Joe Ward 
17 Shaun Ruwers 
18 Bob Baker 
19 Joe Burton 
20 Serge Betsen 
21 Charlie Davies 
22 Seb Jewell 
23 Elliot Daly

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