Honest assessments needed after defeat
Rhys Priestland has called for some “awkward conversations” at Farleigh House if Bath Rugby are to bridge the gap to the best teams in the Premiership and Europe. The Welsh fly-half gave his usual, honest appraisal when asked for his reaction to the 39-24 defeat to Exeter Chiefs. It was a game which Bath led 10-0, competed well for an hour but had more than a hand in three of the visitors’ five tries and blew some very good chances themselves. Even on an off night Chiefs showed more composure and accuracy in the opposition 22m and ended up 5-2 up on the try count to remain unbeaten after six rounds of league action. Priestland, who chased a Semesa Rokoduguni chip to score the first try of the night, said: “It’s probably been the tale of our season that when the pressure comes on we just let ourselves down in terms of accuracy. “Ultimately, there was a lot of effort but we can’t pat ourselves on the back for effort – that should be a given. “The frustrating thing is is that I think we’re a team that can compete with these kinds of teams, but I was listening to [Chiefs’ director of rugby] Rob Baxter just then and he was talking about it being a stepping stone going into Europe. “It’s hard to argue with that, it’s probably where we are at the moment. It kills me to say that, but as an outsider looking in that’s probably what it looks like. “We’re trying our hardest up at Farleigh and doing everything we can. “We’re going to have to look at it this Monday because this last two weeks have been huge tests for us and it’s probably going to be a good time to reflect and maybe learn a couple of things from the last two teams and how efficient they are at capitalising on the opposition’s defence.” The most frustrating thing for Priestland, the coaching team and the supporters is that no-one has come up with an answer to the problem. Why can’t Bath play with the composure of the top teams in the Premiership? “It might be a self-belief thing,” Priestland said after a pensive pause. “Against Saracens I saw a couple of people do things I’ve never seen them do before. “Are we doing that because we’re playing Saracens away, or jumping out of the line against Exeter because we think we have to do something special? I don’t know. “We’re going to have to have a real hard look at ourselves. There are going to have to be a few awkward conversations. “If we want to do anything in Europe we’re going to have to up our game. We’ve got a huge challenge over the next two weeks.” Toulouse visit the Rec next Saturday before Bath travel to Wasps on October 20 to open their Champions Cup campaign. Priestland added: “Everyone’s pulling in the same direction here, so I think we could be quite close to cracking it, but we just don’t know yet how close we are.”