BATH ON LONG ROAD BACK TO GAME’S ELITE
IT WAS a cold December night last year and Bath were gearing up for the visit of a starstudded Toulon side.
The Recreation Ground, Bath’s home turf, has seen better days with its exposed stands and cramped seating, but it is a fantastic setting and the place was rocking that night.
The French heavyweights arrived into town with the likes of Ma’a Nonu, Chris Ashton and Duane Vermeulen in their ranks and fancied their chances.
The hosts had other ideas and stunned Toulon with a sublime attacking performance, spearheaded by Anthony Watson at full-back.
Watson’s arcing, Campese-esque finish — leaving four Toulon defenders trailing in his wake — on the stroke of half-time was the highlight of a 26-21 victory.
The stadium can only hold a little over 12,000, but the noise was deafening on the final whistle.
Nights like that have been too few and far between for Bath, unfortunately.
The West Country outfit were the darlings of English rugby in the ’90s, winning six league titles between 1990 and 1996. They have failed to win a domestic trophy since.
With talented backs such as Ieuan Evans, Jeremy Guscott and Mike Catt on their books, Bath were feared across Europe in that era. They were the first English club to win the Heineken Cup in 1998, full-back Jon Callard kicking his side to a 19-18 win over Brive in the ‘Battle of Bordeaux’.
That remains Bath’s first and only triumph on Europe’s biggest stage. An 18-9 loss to Biarritz in the 2006 Heineken Cup semi-final is the nearest the club has got to emulating the heroes of Bordeaux.
They’ve endured turbulent times ever since. The club narrowly avoided relegation from the Premiership in 2002 with Callard — who succeeded Andy Robinson as head coach in 2002 — getting the sack. It was a bitter way for a stalwart of 14 years to end his association with the club.
There has been a revolving door of coaches with John Connolly, Brian Ashton and Steve Meehan all having stints in the top job, but one appearance in the Premiership final was the net result across the best part of 10 seasons.
After a decade of under-achievement, there was a major development in 2010 with the arrival of multi-millionaire backer Bruce Craig.
Craig, a local entrepreneur who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical business, had purchased 100 per cent of the club’s shares from previous owner Andrew Brownsword and the club’s trustees.
‘I hope to take this club to another level,’ he said at the time. Craig wasn’t kidding. His first order of business was to whisk the squad and staff away to Farleigh House, a luxury 17th century manor located 15 minutes outside the town. He had taken out a 99-year lease on the Gothic pile and Bath train on the 120-acre site to this very day.
The question of a new stadium has been a sticking point, however. Craig has been pushing for a new 25,000-seater stadium since his takeover eight years ago. Legal wrangling and concerns from residents have halted any development, but plans for a new £80million Roman-style arena on Bath’s idyllic waterfront are set to be made public today.
There has been major investment on the field as well. England star Jonathan Joseph and Watson were lured from London Irish in 2013, while Wales No8 Toby Faletau was recruited from the Dragons in 2015.
All three are currently injured and will not feature against Leinster this weekend.
Injuries have been a major issue at Bath and it became a national scandal last season when Craig got into a very public spat with England head coach Eddie Jones.
When prop Beno Obano became the fifth Bath player to sustain a serious injury during an England training camp, Craig took aim at Jones, branding his training methods ‘totally unacceptable’.
Jones, in his own inimitable way, issued a caustic retort.
‘Bruce Craig sounds like the Donald Trump of rugby, he has the same hairstyle,’ he said. Jones would later apologise for his remarks.
There has rarely been a dull moment under Craig’s ownership. The club’s hunt for a top-class head coach has been ongoing for some time. Gary Gold and Mike Ford — Ireland’s first defence coach under Eddie O’Sullivan — have been and gone.
Former All Black Todd Blackadder was hailed as the great redeemer when he arrived at Bath in 2016, but the club has struggled for consistency. Last weekend’s dour 7-7 draw with Sale Sharks was the latest poor showing.
Blackadder will move on in 2020 with former captain Stuart Hooper set to assume control, while Stuart Lancaster has been heavily linked with a role in that new regime in recent weeks.
He could very well be the man to bring the glory days back to Bath. No doubt Bruce has been in touch.