Bath
PRE-SEASON ROUND 3: A GLASGOW KISS?
By Devonport Lad
September 15 2026
Many years ago my then boss was, amongst other things, a grizzled veteran of many seasons of rugby played at a reasonably high level. I mentioned a game that he was due to play on Sunday of that weekend and naively suggested that it should be a fairly easy recreational run out. Quick as a flash he snarled that "there's no such thing as expletive deleted "Sunday rugby"! His meaning was clear; every game requires the same positive mindset and to a certain extent the term "friendly" as applied to pre-season games is a similar misnomer. It'll be played in great spirit, but "friendly" is not necessarily the first term that comes to mind as we go head-to-head (hopefully not literally despite my opening title) against Glasgow Warriors this Friday at Old Anniesland.
I'm never quite sure whether pre-season games are designed to ask questions of the coaches and the squad as the new season approaches or to answer them. To be fair it's probably a bit of both, but as supporters we tend to look at these games for indications of how well we've prepared during the summer, to spot clues as to how the game strategy may have evolved and speculate on what we can expect to see from the team in the new season. Probably at the forefront of a lot of supporters' minds will have been concerns about how JvG and his coaching team will adapt to the departure of the likes of Thomas du Toit, Francois van Wyk and Alfie Barbeary which, on the face of it, removed a considerable amount of try scoring firepower from a team which seemed at times to rely on forward dominance rather than exploiting an incredibly talented backline.
Glasgow will be formidable opponents on Friday; arguably just what we need before the game against Harlequins who will be coming off the back of two PRC matches, so how do we look? At times, especially towards the end of last season, there was an uneasy feeling that other teams had worked us out and that we needed to make a change to the gameplan which had become our DNA over recent seasons and a lot of fingers were crossed that the addition of Mike Prendergast might be a catalyst for that. But, going into the toughest of our pre-season games have we seen the signs? I think we have. A loss is a loss, but JvG would probably argue that we learned a great deal from the defeat at Perpignan where a pack which didn't contain many of those that we would expect to see in the Prem went solidly toe to toe with a Top 14 side who were further into their pre-season than we were. The performance of the "young guns" against a much more experienced Sale was equally creditable in its own way and reinforced our strength in depth. And that brings me to the Bedford game.
For the first 30-odd minutes it wasn't a pleasant watch for the BB&W supporters. The gameplan looked jaded, the execution was poor and defence at times optional. And then somehow a switch was flicked. between minutes 46 and 66 we saw the Bath that we hope will be the hallmark of our strategy for 26/27. Lightning-fast transition, speedy, accurate passing and relentless all-court attack backed up by resilient, dominant defence. That's more like it but, and it's a big but, we've yet to see a consistent performance over 80 minutes.
Perhaps Glasgow will be where it all comes together. The Warriors have so far played only one pre-season game, fielding a blend of senior professionals with young talent from their academy graduates against a much-changed Newcastle Red Bulls team who ran out 47-31 winners. Amongst the new signings for Glasgow was hooker Ottavio Tuipolotu, which raises an intriguing possibility if Kepu is selected at 2 for Bath in this game! Both teams have testing competitive fixtures on the following weekend, so you would imagine that at some point during the game we will see something like their first choice 23 playing together.
For Bath, we know that Ben Spencer won't be available for a while yet, so it will be interesting to see whether Tom Carr-Smith or the increasingly impressive Bernard van der Linde get the starting nod at 9. It was a relief to see Will Stuart back in action last Friday and most of our key players seem to be available although we haven’t yet seen the likes of Charlie Ewels, Will Muir, Finn, Jaco Coetzee, Guy Pepper and of course Jamie Bhattie who, you would think, would love to get a run out against Glasgow.
There were hints of something special in the way that Bath played during the "purple patch" against Bedford. I'd like to think that we'll see more of the same against Glasgow with less reliance on the kick-chase game and forwards although we've already seen that the rolling maul is alive and well and available in the back pocket if we need it!
You get the impression that JvG selected these pre-season games with a view to building up the intensity before the start of the Prem. If we kiss Glasgow goodbye with a convincing performance, then the signs will be good.
COYB
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15/09/2026 07:49
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Hopefully we will see a few of those who have yet to start. Maybe not Finn Russell but it would be good to know if Charlie Ewels, Will Muir, Jaco Coetzee and Guy Pepper are fit and ready for season proper.
Hopefully too the defensive disarray of last week's first half has been addressed and the fluency in attack of that third quarter evolved a step further.
PG
The national motto of Scotland is Nemo me impune lacessit and I suggest we adopt it. It has more fancy translations, but I think we take it as [said in a strong Glaswegian accent] Don't you mess wi' me pal!
He still found time for an excellent preview. Many thanks.
And of course- many congratulations!
PG
Quote:P G Tips
"Wha daur meddle wi'me?" Susanne? Agreed.
PG
I'd not come across that one - I shall remember that!
Quote:P G Tips
I hope Devonport Lad won't mind me sharing the fact that it is his 50th wedding anniversary this week
Many congratulations DL! Hope you have a fantastic day celebrating.
[24/25 adoptee: Francois van Wyk]
Watched Ben Youngs and Dan Cole reviewing the PREM for the coming season and they both had Quins in the Bottom 2 and Bath and Saints in the Top 2. An away win at Quins would be a good start!
I feel rather inadequate as Devonport Lad and Mrs Devonport Lad celebrate a 50th anniversary.....whereas my wife and I are only celebrating 37 years tomorrow (Alabaster in case any one is interested)
1 Beno Obano
2 Kepueli Tuipulotu
3 Will Stuart
4 Quinn Roux
5 Charlie Ewells
6 Jaco Coetzee
7 Miles Reid
8 Dan du Preez
9 Bernard Van De Linde
10 Ciaran Donoghue
11 Henry Arundell
12 Cam Redpath
13 Ollie Lawrence
14 Will Muir
15 Tom De Glanville
16 Dan Frost
17 Jamie Bhatti
18 Vilikesa Sela
19 Ewan Richards
20 Ted Hill
21 Max Ojomoh
22 Jack Woods
23 Tom Carr Smith
Not expecting to see Beno yet based on the injury update
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:09:16:12:26:18 by theredseat.
Quote:Bath Supporter Jack
How about this as a selection.....probably got porps mixed up!
1 Beno Obano
2 Kepueli Tuipulotu
3 Will Stuart
4 Quinn Roux
5 Charlie Ewells
6 Jaco Coetzee
7 Miles Reid
8 Dan du Preez
9 Bernard Van De Linde
10 Ciaran Donoghue
11 Henry Arundell
12 Cam Redpath
13 Ollie Lawrence
14 Will Muir
15 Tom De Glanville
16 Dan Frost
17 Jamie Bhatti
18 Vilikesa Sela
19 Ewan Richards
20 Ted Hill
21 Max Ojomoh
22 Jack Woods
23 Tom Carr Smith
Something like that BSJ, but without Beno as trs suggests. Also-we have not seen Guy Pepper yet, or Louis Henessey so I would hope they will get a runout.
PG
Quote:Devonport Lad
PG, Louis Hennessey got some game time against Bedford. It looked as if he pulled up whilst following Henry Arundell; hopefully nothing serious.
I pulled a hammy watching Henry Arundell from my sofa, so I can't say I'm surprised.
[24/25 adoptee: Francois van Wyk]
Hopefully it will be an entertaining match befitting of two of the more entertaining teams out there. Don’t really know what to expect from the Glasgow line up - the official blurb says that the team will be stronger than against Newcastle, but to be honest we couldn't really be much weaker. I don't expect many, if any, of the 20 or so players we had away on the crazy summer world tour to play, though Franco has sometimes integrated some early and allowed them to rest later, so you never know.
As you say, I bet Jamie Bhatti will be well up for this one. He was liked here, but I think most people recognise it was the right decision to let him move on - he had slipped to 4th in the pecking order at loosehead, but probably still had the salary (and salary expectations) of a front-liner. And aged 33, and out of the Scotland picture, there was no SRU drive to keep him. We'll all hope he has a good year or two with Bath.
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