BATH RUGBY - 2013/14

First topic message reminder :

New Thread for the new season - https://www.606v2.com/t54781-bath-rugby-pre-season-2014-15

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Tom Biggs adding to the murkiness:

@tombiggs11: Amazing how quickly things can change in sport. Didn't see that coming. A bolt from the blue, black and white. #prayforflouw

WT heck is going on with Louw?

Prob a joke, e.g. Nick aben being Meehan son.

I've seen a couple of journalists on twitter suggest a big replacement is on its way. There is speculation that SCW is joining...

Given how long he's been out of coaching would this be a good move?

Jake white didn't resign with Brumbies either did he? Obviously not Martin Johnson.

FFS!

He has been a very good DoR, recruitment has been excellent and the club is going in the right direction for sure. That have been rumours about him going home with his family for a while but the timing of this and the tone of the announcement is very odd. No 'thanks' as is normal. Golds twitter from a while ago didn't sound too happy either.
SCW better not be in the picture, the last thing we need is more cooks...

Bathman_in_London wrote:FFS!

He has been a very good DoR, recruitment has been excellent and the club is going in the right direction for sure. That have been rumours about him going home with his family for a while but the timing of this and the tone of the announcement is very odd. No 'thanks' as is normal. Golds twitter from a while ago didn't sound too happy either.
SCW better not be in the picture, the last thing we need is more cooks...

Misread that first time.

SCW stood down from the Tigers' board a week ago.

Did I read just recently that SCW gave up his non-executive position on the Tigers board? Something to do with not being able to dedicate enough time for the role, although Tigers 'would always be his club........'

Portnoy's Complaint wrote:SCW stood down from the Tigers' board a week ago.

Beat me to it PC   

I find Gold a bit creepy somehow.

For the record, I am getting in my excuses early for the Quins, saints and tigers games over the next few weeks (and whoever is next I can't remember). If we lose then the loss of our figurehead has disrupted squad morale, nothing to do with our telegraphed game plan   

No to scw he is a legend and a total douche at the same time. His.corporate jargon does my nut in and he's to meddlesome to.be dor he would want sole control.of picking thr team etc being about a decade out of date with all his decisions. I'd.take Meehan back in a heart beat, with his tactics and our squad we would fly but sadly Craig treated him like poopie. With booth, ford and hatley we are doing okay, we could always promote grewcock and make booth or ford top dog, or bring in Wayne smith !!

Yes give Wayne Smith the role up until after the RWC and then get him in the England set up.

The chat has all been about Steve McNamara coming in as Attack and skills coach....the league takeover continues

yappysnap wrote:Just read about this myself! Seems crazy but then for all their wins Bath aren't clicking and playing like perhaps they ought to.

Just a massive guess but could it be more of the Eastmond issues? Players not happy with the kicking approach and not getting enough ball in hand? Coach too restrictive and game plan too smothering? Bath do kick the most in the league.

Truly strange stuff.

Don't see anything wrong with that. Building a good platform with a decent pack and a good defence has been part of Bath's wins. Bath have kept their points conceded to a low level which is good too. Okay Bath fans might be frustated with the kicking (something I am used to as a Saracens fan) but building that confidence by winning is important. When you have that platform and confidence utilised than you can add the attacking pieces.

I think the defence first, big pack first is far more productive than for example the Gloucester approach where they simply don't happen to have that front five platform and strong defence at the moment.

Gold was notching up the wins. Losing him with tough games to come is inconvenient.

WTF!




I'm speechless.

What a relief!

Not sure how much of the forwards' dominance was down to Gold solely to be honest. The chat is that he hasn't coached since May in his DOR role and that it is down to Hatley and Booth. The scrum in particular being Hatley. It is inconvenient to have unrest and speculation ahead of these big games, but hopefully the impact on the players isn't a big as we thought.

The thing is you normally get a few rumblings that things aren't happy behind closed doors, apart from Eastmond and maybe Paul James non-release for the Welsh game things have been pretty good or so I thought!

Whatever the outcome is to all this I'd like to say a big thank you to GG for steering the Bath ship in right direction.

Have to say that I was not a big fan of his appointment along with Ford as I think that they have a very defensive minded approach which will only get you so far and I don't like to watch it. However, I do like winning and was coming round so this news is a pretty big surprise.

I have only managed to catch highlights of the games recently and I think that the conditions may have had a lot to do with it but unfortunately they do seem very defence and kicking for territory based. All the plaudits for Ford Jr that I keep on reading seem to be more based around his control and kicking and I was hoping that it would mean a bit of that and some more Nick Evans running and passing.

Still and odd decision and a statement where they don't even do the standard thanks and good luck suggests things were pretty bad so normally best to make a decision quickly.

.

I think you have some formatting issues there.

Ive seen the team though and it looks very strong considering the opposition. I would guess the idea is to get the 1st team back into gear for the tough Christmas schedule by giving them a half. Either that or a worrying sign of what happens with no DoR...!

Haha! What the hell happened there? The team is quite strong, but that reflects that they want as many of the regular A team guys rested and ready for their final on Monday night.

Bath Rugby team to face Rugby Mogliano

15. Anthony Watson

14. Richard Lane

13. Ollie Devoto

12. Kyle Eastmond

11. Matt Banahan

10. George Ford

9. Martin Roberts

1. Paul James

2. Eusebio Guinazu

3. Juan Pablo Orlandi

4. Stuart Hooper ( c )

5. Dominic Day

6. Matt Garvey

7. Carl Fearns

8. Leroy Houston

Replacements

16. Rob Webber

17. Nathan Catt

18. David Wilson

19. Ryan Caldwell

20. Will Skuse

21. Peter Stringer

22. Tom Heathcote

23. Olly Woodburn

So statement made about Gary Gold, basically they disagreed on the role of a DOR, gold thought it was to have oversight of the bath rugby team using years of experience in union, being well liked by the players, having a great track record and generally having a vision for recruitment and winning that the team buys into. Bath thought a DOR role should be a marginalised role ideally held by a rugby league coach with absolutly no experience or track record in rugby union and with questionable media skills.....love my club but fed up right now.

That about sums it up.   

That sucks balls

I think you forgot to mention having his kids working for him...

I will support Bath no matter who the coach is but Mike Ford does have a history of falling out with players and other coaches alike. He certainly is a far worse frontman for the club than GG.

I see Banahan had a field day at the weekend...and Garvey got 2 aswell.

Thats a huge back row...

I actually don't rate Gold that highly. He was good for us Falcons but Tait was dire. With the squad he now has I'd expect a top four as an absolute minimum. The pack is huge but what has really improved under him other than player recruitment?

The set-piece is certainly a lot better, but is that mainly about the players brought in rather than the coaching? Defence is probably better than under Meehan as well, but for off-loading, running lines, handling skills, set-plays etc. has Gold and his coaches done much. You seem to have gone backwards in lots of areas but been compensated by a huge pack.

Would be good to hear Bath fans thoughts as Gold seemed popular. Either way seems an odd dismissal given your form.

May I, please, interrupt all the discussion about Gold's departure and say Thank You to Bath Rugby coaches for letting Peter Stringer play at the weekend and thus join a very illustrious club of players who have played 100 times in European Club matrches.

I believe the only others in this club are John Hayes and Ronan O'Gara.

Really looking forward to the clash this week, a real litmus test to see how much we have improved from the start of the season and how our pack actually is and whether Bath are genuine challengers for the top 4 places. Good luck, may the best team win

GeordieFalcon wrote:I see Banahan had a field day at the weekend...and Garvey got 2 aswell.

Thats a huge back row...

Garvey got 1, Fearns got 2 though.

Fearns stats are great for that game, topping almost every criteria across the whole team. 114 metres carried, 3 clean breaks, 8 defenders beaten, 2 offloads, 9 tackles (none missed). He's really impressed me since his return from injury in the Bath games I've seen. If he continues in that sort of form I think he'd make a good addition to the EPS as a player that can cover the whole backrow (in the vein of previous selections like Johnson or Haskell; I'd be happier with him at 8 than them), his bulky aggression would make for good impact from the bench.

Hood83 wrote:I actually don't rate Gold that highly. He was good for us Falcons but Tait was dire. With the squad he now has I'd expect a top four as an absolute minimum. The pack is huge but what has really improved under him other than player recruitment?

The set-piece is certainly a lot better, but is that mainly about the players brought in rather than the coaching? Defence is probably better than under Meehan as well, but for off-loading, running lines, handling skills, set-plays etc. has Gold and his coaches done much. You seem to have gone backwards in lots of areas but been compensated by a huge pack.

Would be good to hear Bath fans thoughts as Gold seemed popular. Either way seems an odd dismissal given your form.

For the past few years bath have been average at best, we had a powderpuff aging pack and the backs had stagnated since the meehan peak years, and rumours from the dressing room was a few guys who's only real motivation was the paycheck. Bruce Craig and his millions bring with him all the promise of success however the route we were going down was brainless, buying in big name players with knackered bodies and questionable skills. Gold comes in and cause of his reputation he attracts rafts of big name players at the start/middle of their careers and the old boys are let lose, finally we start winning, the team is happy, the fans are happy and we are moving forward. Now Gold is reknowned for building big monstrous packs and forward style of play (he is a saffa !), so Craig and co need to hire in a backs guru to work under him, what they do is hire 2 more forward coaches and a international defense coach. Now we have forced out the guy that has masterminded our come back and to replace him we are talking about a rugby league national coach with no union experience at all. the bath management board are like the RFU, all the money and no sense, we had a world class coach in Meehan, we force him out by bringing in SIM, we hire in SIM but then change his role to what he signed up to and leave him a coach down for a whole season then boot him out. We bring in gold, he starts winning, we change his role against his wishes, then we force him out !!!

What has improved under Gold?

Firstly, recruitment. He assembled a pretty good set of coaches, which has helped to attract some young exciting players, as well as some more experienced smaller names like Leroy Houston, who was plucked from the French D2 and has emerged as the 1st choice number 8.

More importantly in many ways, he has managed to sort out the squad ethos (also due to the new coaches) and it seems like there is a really good team spirit there at the moment. GG used to come to all the A games for example and rather than just throwing academy trialists to the wolves, it has been used as an actual A team, to help build a winning squad mentality.

Personally, I liked GG, he presented well to the media and was a good organiser, arguably just what you want from a DoR when there is a coaching team below to take care of day to day matters. Whatever the back story behind him leaving is, I don't think it reflects well on the club to have had so many staff leave in the last 3 years or so.

In better news, winning the A league last night was a good result for the club, I hope it can be built on and not be the last bit of silverware this season!

Who is Leroy Houston?

I was very surprised to see Gold leave - I thought that things were peachy there and Bath are winning at the moment! But, when you are bankrolled by a sugar daddy then what they say goes!
Craig will have been the one to pull the plug.

I am always suspicious of father son combos - Ford and Ford at bath, Farrell and Farrell at Sarries and now England. I heard that Nigel Davies at Glouces. might be looking at his kid from Ospreys too.

Also, interesting to see Eastmond back straight after Gold has left. Does anyone know how he got on?

Who is Leroy Houston???? Only our starting number 8 most of the season

Sorry Bathite, haven't seen too many Bath games this season - didn't recognise the name from last season.

Leroy Houston is one of the best names out there. FACT

Billy Twelvetrees - 36
and
Fitz Hall - One size

are two of my favourite nicknames

never mind nicknames -
I always enjoyed Marcello BOSH - especially when he was running into contact

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10, George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James

Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19. Dominic Day, 20 Leroy Houston, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Ollie Devoto

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Luke Wallace, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Nick Kennedy, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague

Full strength bath minus Davey Wilson, will be a close game, pitch will be wet but shouldn't be raining so may see some rugby played. Some great match ups across the pitch for me the most telling ones are:
Robshaw vs Louw - Englands best 7 against one of the worlds best
Evans vs Ford- Real bench mark of how good ford is
Brown vs Watson- The incumbent vs the future ?

At the REC so Bath by 5 !!!!!

Should have known OP was a Bath fan….it's probably Gavin Henson.

Shame to see gold left. I'm Scottish - glasgow - but ap wise a bath man due to university ties , can't help who you end up supporting sometimes! Felt like a curse sometimes as at the rec I NEVER saw bath win :-/

However really glad to see things looking up a bit but gold leaving is a blow. Felt like he was a big catalyst in this mini comeback; hopefully bath can maintain without him.

What are people thinking regards this year? Think an away sf is realistic now? Finally on the Scottish threads

Oops.

Finally on theScottish threads we've (esp Edinburgh) have been banking on heathcote coming north to kick start his carjeer. If Edinburgh continue to improve under new coach Solomoms would be a smart move as he would likely get a starting berth. They're so low on fh quality they are trying to convert their fb!

Anyway how has he been for you guys?

Cannot imagine Heathcote will stay if the current pattern continues. I am not suggesting for a second that he is better than Ford - merely that he is too good a player sit on the bench. Heathcote will know that the Scotland 10 shirt is up for grabs as neither Rhubarb nor Weir have claimed it and the lack of regular time in the shop window will continue to kill his chances.
 
Would be amazed if Tom does not come to Edinburgh in the close season.

Heathcote is a very good player and last season he eclipsed donald and his goal kicking is far better than fords at the moment, if mike ford wasn't coach then heathcote would have had more chances to push George for the starting spot, at the moment he only gets a run out in dead rubber games and on the weekend he was the only sub not to play. He has the skills to be starting 10 so will almost definately go, leaving bath probably with Henson and devoto as back up.

The Telegraph:

"A frustrated Conor O’Shea may also have pinpointed the reason why Bath are likely to remain among the front-runners – their vociferous and influential supporters. “I thought the fans refereed the game well,” O’Shea said."


  

Haha! Not sure he can have too many complaints really, but then I am as biased as the crowd!

I thinks his only real complaint can be the clear try that deprived us of the bonus point. Bath certainly deserved to win

Bath management, coaches, players and Captain please note - when you have a penalty within range at Welford Rd you take the points!!!!

Gutted with the draw