Paul James poised to sign for Bath

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http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/james-set-switch-bath/story-15890298-detail/story.html

WALES prop Paul James — who has made more appearances for the Ospreys than any other player — is believed to be poised for a switch to Bath.

The Aviva Premiership outfit are understood to be on the point of announcing the capture of a player who has featured 177 times for the Ospreys since their inception and who secured his place in the region's history by leading them to victory over Australia.

He is under contract at the Liberty Stadium until the end of next season.

But Bath are thought to have offered a better and longer deal than the Ospreys could afford in the current climate and the region decided not to stand in his way.

Tightening

James will become the latest international to depart Wales, following in the footsteps of fellow World Cup squad members Huw Bennett, Luke Charteris, Aled Brew, Gethin Jenkins and Stephen Jones, all of whom are heading away from the financially challenged regional scene this summer.

A £3.5 million salary cap is coming into Welsh rugby in the summer and the regions are all tightening the belts and shedding players.

At the Ospreys, James will join Tommy Bowe, Nikki Walker and Bennett through the exit door, while Shane Williams is retiring as a player.

A cornerstone at the region since they were founded in 2003, James has been a key figure as they have developed one of the strongest scrums in European rugby.

Perhaps his finest hour came when he skippered them to a 24-16 victory over the Australian tourists in 2006.

Were it not for the cold economic winds blowing through the game in Wales, the former Celtic champions would almost certainly have looked to retain him.

But with Duncan Jones and Ryan Bevington on their books as well, the Ospreys appear to have reasoned that the loose-head is one position where they can afford to lose someone.

Outstanding

The ultra-dependable James has been around at the region for as long as his ex-Gnoll buddy Jones, while Bevington is an outstanding prospect, maybe even the long-term successor to Gethin Jenkins at national level with his explosive tackling and dynamic all-round game.

Even so, the exit of yet another Wales international should alarm Warren Gatland, with James likely to be available only for training sessions and Tests that take place within official International Rugby Board windows.

The Welsh Rugby Union have made statements promising to "fix" the regional game and there is a financial review of the sport at the top level in Wales being undertaken by accountancy firm Price Waterhouse Coopers.

But until there is action, the drain of players away from the regions is set to continue

On another topic, what's the deal with Salvi mate? Know he was only signed as injury cover for Newby, so is outside the cap. Is he signed up for next year?

He's signed up for next season and apparently looking to extend for a year beyond that. The rise in the cap and combined with the move of either Castro or Cole to the marquee slot will free up enough cap to comfortably slot him under and upgrade the contracts we've needed to upgrade this season to keep the developing stars. Skivington, Alesana, Agulla, White, Grindal, Staunton and Twelvetrees are all leaving as well with only Mulipola (long term deal), Bowden, Thompstone and Benjamin coming in we should have a bit spare as well.

So fortunately we won't have improved him so that you can steal him back.

Centres and backrowers the name of the Wasps recruitment game then. Hmm, not sure of any really good ones coming onto the market to be honest, could be a tough summer even with Bruce's Big Bucks as the French and Japanese leagues are playing with silly money.

Does this mean Flatman is calling it a day and just making fleeting appearances in th LV ? Ospreys recruited Jarvis (as he had a granny from Merthyr) from us last season so seems a fair swap !
Still light in the back row though as any predictable injuries and a call up for Fearns will leave an empty bench. Ovens and Mercer are coming on but still callow against internationals in other sides. What price Scaysbrook to come home and Hudson too for that matter and we can then offload Caldwell who hasn't been worth the money.
I would like to see Hipkiss and Barkley establish a midfield partnership but injuries have killed us this season.
Hopefully Cook and Williams will get more game time next season too.

To be perfectly honest Bath have far to many sub standard players in their team.

Mears and Flatman are rubbish in the scrum from what I have seen. Mobility does not even come into it if your weak here. Neither are good enough in my opinion.

Caldwell is quiestionable as well. Day is a great signing for you guys. I reckon he will end up partnering Atwood in the boilerhouse. If Gats has any sense he will cap Day early at some point.

Take your pick of any of the Bath backrow. Louw is a class apart from the others just like Watson was before him. Taylor probably the biggest waste of money.

Barkley is probably the most over rated inside centre in history. Hipkiss played his best games for Leicester and is a shadow of his former self. I think he has actually lost some of his pace as well.

Banahan is just not a proper winger. His try scoring ration is way to low and its fair to say Eastmond signing has not been a good one.

The real positive is with James, Webber and Day that should shore up the front 5 for next season. There is no doubt if they really want to challenge they need a 7,8,12,13 and at least one try scoring wing as well. The half backs should be good enough for that level so thats an area of strength for bath as well.

James is more of an old school scrummaging prop. Destructive on the LH side, and can manage on the TH (he does a decent impression of a test-level TH but doesnt quite cut it, at club level he hasnt been found wanting there as cover).

Will get about the pitch pretty well for a prop (but hes no Gethin) but can tend to give away a fair few penalties at rucktime in fast-paced games; he should be alright in the AP then

Welshmushroom wrote:To be perfectly honest Bath have far to many sub standard players in their team.

Mears and Flatman are rubbish in the scrum from what I have seen. Mobility does not even come into it if your weak here. Neither are good enough in my opinion.

Caldwell is quiestionable as well. Day is a great signing for you guys. I reckon he will end up partnering Atwood in the boilerhouse. If Gats has any sense he will cap Day early at some point.

Take your pick of any of the Bath backrow. Louw is a class apart from the others just like Watson was before him. Taylor probably the biggest waste of money.

Barkley is probably the most over rated inside centre in history. Hipkiss played his best games for Leicester and is a shadow of his former self. I think he has actually lost some of his pace as well.

Banahan is just not a proper winger. His try scoring ration is way to low and its fair to say Eastmond signing has not been a good one.

The real positive is with James, Webber and Day that should shore up the front 5 for next season. There is no doubt if they really want to challenge they need a 7,8,12,13 and at least one try scoring wing as well. The half backs should be good enough for that level so thats an area of strength for bath as well.

Sorry buddy, but whilst some of your points are valid, you're way off the mark on others and this leads me to think you haven't watched much of Bath this year. A lot of what you have said is utter bol locks! You said that our half backs should be up to the grade....you clearly haven't seen Donald play recently!

Mears doesn't struggle in the scrum at AP level, but Flats gets pinged for not binding (which he can't help because of a shoulder injury). Flats isn't good enough at this level and has been found out, hence the move for James.

Caldwell has been our signing of the season and along with Louw and Biggs, our best player by a mile. None of the disciplinary issues that he came reputed with. He has been consistently great, adding real grunt and carrying and hardly missing a game. Heard good things about Day, but well have to wait and see, as haven't watched the Celtic league this year at all.

Taylor was great up until Christmas and a big factor to why the lineout was looking strong. He's been a good signing for us and wasn't expensive. Tailed off this calendar year, but would give him a 7/10.

Eastmond has barely played, but in 10 mins on Saturday, he showed what all the fuss was about with pace, footwork and great hands. Banahan has had a very poor season by his standards, but in terms of try scoring ratio, he has been one of the top 3 try scorers in 2 prem seasons and I think he has only played 4, so that's not that bad is it?

In terms of try scoring wings, Biggs has scored plenty and is a real livewire, whilst young Woodburn has also impressed.

Needless to say, all of this is wasted on you, because you clearly haven't watched us play at all!

Also, no-one rates Barkley, so not sure how you can say he is over rated! Hipkiss has barely played this year, so you can't comment on whether he is past his best and/or lost a yard of pace, although both are fair assumptions!

James is the Ospreys first choice loosehead and part of an outstanding scrum, so he will be missed. Niether Bevington or the seemingly out of favour Duncan Jones is as strong a scrumager as James. A great signing for Bath.

I suspect that the Ospreys will have to do a lot more squad pruning, their squad still looks a lot bigger that the other Welsh regions who are still struggling to make the cuts necesary to get down to £3.5M cap. Perhaps they are all hoping for some good news on funding from the WRU following the PWC report?

I'm going to be gutted if this James rumour turns out to be just a rumour!

Bathite wrote:

Welshmushroom wrote:To be perfectly honest Bath have far to many sub standard players in their team.

Mears and Flatman are rubbish in the scrum from what I have seen. Mobility does not even come into it if your weak here. Neither are good enough in my opinion.

Caldwell is quiestionable as well. Day is a great signing for you guys. I reckon he will end up partnering Atwood in the boilerhouse. If Gats has any sense he will cap Day early at some point.

Take your pick of any of the Bath backrow. Louw is a class apart from the others just like Watson was before him. Taylor probably the biggest waste of money.

Barkley is probably the most over rated inside centre in history. Hipkiss played his best games for Leicester and is a shadow of his former self. I think he has actually lost some of his pace as well.

Banahan is just not a proper winger. His try scoring ration is way to low and its fair to say Eastmond signing has not been a good one.

The real positive is with James, Webber and Day that should shore up the front 5 for next season. There is no doubt if they really want to challenge they need a 7,8,12,13 and at least one try scoring wing as well. The half backs should be good enough for that level so thats an area of strength for bath as well.

Sorry buddy, but whilst some of your points are valid, you're way off the mark on others and this leads me to think you haven't watched much of Bath this year. A lot of what you have said is utter bol locks! You said that our half backs should be up to the grade....you clearly haven't seen Donald play recently!

Mears doesn't struggle in the scrum at AP level, but Flats gets pinged for not binding (which he can't help because of a shoulder injury). Flats isn't good enough at this level and has been found out, hence the move for James.

Caldwell has been our signing of the season and along with Louw and Biggs, our best player by a mile. None of the disciplinary issues that he came reputed with. He has been consistently great, adding real grunt and carrying and hardly missing a game. Heard good things about Day, but well have to wait and see, as haven't watched the Celtic league this year at all.

Taylor was great up until Christmas and a big factor to why the lineout was looking strong. He's been a good signing for us and wasn't expensive. Tailed off this calendar year, but would give him a 7/10.

Eastmond has barely played, but in 10 mins on Saturday, he showed what all the fuss was about with pace, footwork and great hands. Banahan has had a very poor season by his standards, but in terms of try scoring ratio, he has been one of the top 3 try scorers in 2 prem seasons and I think he has only played 4, so that's not that bad is it?

In terms of try scoring wings, Biggs has scored plenty and is a real livewire, whilst young Woodburn has also impressed.

Needless to say, all of this is wasted on you, because you clearly haven't watched us play at all!

Ok clearly I am not a Bath fan. My user name should give that away. But just to pick up on some points.

Donald has not played well but then again it is barely his first season and has had no time to bed in properly. Hopefully the Summer break will allow him to get back to his best. I still rate him and think he will turn out to be a good signing.

Taylor is a rubbish signing. He's and 8. The fact that he is being used as a lineout option is only because he failed to cut the grade at 8 and ended up being moved into the second row. In openplay he really is a shadow of his Lion's days.

OFC Mears struggles at AP level. Maybe not against mid table teams but certanly against the powerhouses of the league. Mears has always been to light at Hooker.


I still maintain Day may well replace Caldwell but I bow to your superior knowledge on this.

I made no statement regarding Biggs. He has always scored tries when I have seen him and he was really good at Leeds as well. I still think Banahan is Poopie though. If he was that good when was the last time he scored a International try?


I think your missing my point here though. If Bath really want to be a top 4 side in the AP and become a leading European light, the fact of the matter is that a large number of your squad is not good enough to compete against the best at that level. I would argue league standing illustrates my point better than yours.

It all boils down to if you think 7/10 is good enough. Championship sides are usually littered with 9/10 performers.

Just my view though - no need to bite my head off.

I don't disagree that there are plenty of players not good enough, but a lot of the ones you mentioned aren't the issue.

Maybe next time don't comment on players you haven't seen play all season and you won't get such a reaction!

Welshmushroom wrote:

Day is a great signing for you guys. I reckon he will end up partnering Atwood in the boilerhouse. If Gats has any sense he will cap Day early at some point.

Meh. Hes a bit of a powder puf sometimes, especially in the tight. Needs to do more work around the park as well. Also don't know why you say Gats should cap him early either? he's 26 already and has't even come close to being capped.

if they really want to challenge they need a 7,8,12,13 and at least one try scoring wing as well

Not sure they need that many players. Certainly additions to the centres are required as Barkley, Vesty, Williams and Hipkiss are decent options but don't have great track records with injury and could do with an injection of something different. I'd say the wing options at Bath are a strong point (Biggs, Cuthburt, Woodburn and Banahan) and I don't see them needing an 8 when Fearns is on the books with Taylor and Skirving perfectly good injury cover. Ovens and Mercer are coming along but a replacement for Moody is badly needed as at the minute a lot of pressure is on Louw to do the breakdown work where ideally you'd want him and Fearns carrying.

An OC and 7 then are the main orders for the day with maybe additional 10/12 cover if needed. Then again I still think an experienced tighthead shouldn't be ruled out if one can be brought in on budget. A fearsome scrummager to make Wilson work for his place and offer an different bench option to Perenise.

I agree re the praise of Caldwell he has been exceptionally good this year.
From the games I have seen - the back row has been substandard, the centras aren't good enough and Donald has been the most over paid player in the Aviva.

They are the problem areas.

With James the front five will be fine and the back three are, potentially, dangerous.

Thanks Sam, a much more realistic assessment from a bloke who obviously knows his AP rugby.

Not sure that Cuthburt will be here next year to be honest, pretty sure he is out of contract and he hasn't set the world alight. Flatters to deceive a lot and if I was him, I'd thinking about trying to get a Scottish club contract and some regular gametime. Might well stay though.

Wouldn't have to be an out and out 7, as Louw is pretty much that anyways, he is quality at the breakdown. It does indeed need to be a flanker though, but I'd argue a link man / ball carrying type would be good as well. Taylor / Skirving can be a bit lightweight and Fearns isn't huge, more of a jack of all trades, with no obvious weaknesses.

Sadly I don't think we will go for another TH, with Perenise having come in. A good bit of pre-season and a scrum coach and a fresh start should be enough to get Wilson and him into shape. Hopefully the pressure of Kane will also add to their performances.

Totally right on the centres, sick notes and over the hills fill that at the moment. Letting Carraro leave is a travesty and a huge loss.

Can't think of any immediately obvious targets for us though. Maybe Regan King fancies some 1st team action, now he is 2/3rd choice at ASM? Mazime Mermoz was another that was bandied about for a long time, but think he's now signed for another french club - why would he leave france anyways?

Donald has been poor, but injury ravaged and no pre-season. The huge plus point of this is Heathcote, who is a genuine challenger for the 10 shirt now, so not hugely concerned about that area.

Back rower and centre please, plus one more in each area should be the minimum

Rumour has it Barkley is off to Japan...but we shall see. Essentially next season i think we will be a much more competitive team as for all off SIM crazy selection policies he has brought alot of youngsters through (for the first time in a long while) and i think next season we will really see them blossom.

This year we have also missed Donald, Fearns and Hipkiss through injury and Eastmond (injury /being developed in the background) so I expect these big names to be like new signings for us.

TBH its all doom and gloom at the moment but we are still mid table after having a shocking season, i don't think it will take much for us really to push on next year, all we need is the right man in charge and 2/3 shrewd signings and I can see us top 4.

Barkley to Japan? Where's that come from? Still in contract, but I guess money is no problem for the JP sides.

But yes Chris, I agree, Webber, Day and James all seem very sensible signings, so with 2 more and a fresh start and a new coach, I'm feeling positive. We should also be competitive during 6Ns, as won't lose many players compared to other teams.

James / Catt
Webber / Mears
Wilson / Perenise
Attwood / Day
Caldwell / Hooper
Louw / Oven
?? / Mercer
Fearns / Skirving or Taylor

Class / Cook
Donald / Heathcote
Biggs / Banahan
Barkley / Williams
Hipkiss / ??
Woodburn / Eastmond
Bendy / Vesty

Pretty happy with that squad to be honest. Let's hope for a full pre season from Hipkiss, Donald and Fearns and they could make a huge difference to the squad

Can't think of any immediately obvious targets for us though. Maybe Regan King fancies some 1st team action, now he is 2/3rd choice at ASM?

Canale is out of contract at the end of the season and out of favour at Clermont, might have headed back to Italty but with Arioni going under there may be a chance to bring him in. Similarly Masi has been playing 13 for Arioni and could be a good option if he was available with the added bonus of offering international standard cover at 15.

Wouldn't have to be an out and out 7, as Louw is pretty much that anyways, he is quality at the breakdown.

Louw is good in the breakdown but he is also a very good ball carrier so if you could get hold of a breakdown/tackling work horse then Louw could be freed up to do more carrying and push further out to support the backs.

Canale, good shout, very classy player, always liked watching him play and you're right about Louw. Just need to get the right balance alongside Fearns. I'd still prefer a bulky lad, as only Louw really offers a large carrying option in the back row so far. Taylor and Skirving are a bit lightweight, as are Ovens and Mercer

Read that Barkley was weighing up a Japan move in the rugby Paper...nothing certain yet though. One thing i think we also need to sort out is the captain... Hoops is a good lad but he isn't a nailed on starter i think we need someone who is guareented a place week in and week out, its a bit soon for Webber so maybe Fearns ?

Louw would be captain wouldn't he?

Louw's been captain for much of the season and taken the challenge really well. Would be a no brainer to keep him in the role.

Few comments on here about Mercer as well. Before injury he was playing well and rightly lauded by commentators and pundits alike. He's a proper 7, may not be the biggest ball carrier in the world, but his workrate over the ball is exceptional and wins a lot of turnovers and defensive penalties. When Moody was fit, I'd have picked Mercer above him anyway.
Ideal Bath backrow would be 6 Louw 7 Mercer 8 Fearns, but all have been injured at various points this year. Along with Beattie retiring, one of Taylor, Skirving, or Ovens needs to be shown the door.

No need to show any of those players the door, you need at least 6 back rowers to compete all season, one of the most injury prone positions.

Mercer had been playing really well, but tends to be a bit over zealous and can commit a lot of penalties at the breakdown. Ovens was on loan to Bristol for much of the season as well don't forget

Personally I'd say you need those 6 plus another one. Most of the big teams keep good backrower stocks in case of injuries and call ups, normally 7 available for the first team.
For example:
Tigers - Croft, Mafi, Salvi, Newby, Woods, Waldrom, Crane.
Quins - Robshaw, Mo (can't spell his name), Guest, Wallace, Skinner, Easter, York.
Sarries - Brown, Melck, Burger, Saull, Fraiser, Joubert, Wray.
Gloucester - Strockosh, Cox, Buxton, Quera, Narraway, Deacon, Savage.

Three big teams and Glos!

Ospreys confirmed on their site today that Paul James has signed a two year contract with Bath, but now it seems to have been removed....odd.