THE LION, THE HITCH AND THE WARPATH

JJ vows to turn regrets from Lions tour and England snub into European glory for Bath

Bath v Benetton Tomorrow, 5.30pm JONATHAN JOSEPH has vowed to run hot for Bath after the ‘missed opportunity’ of his Lions tour.

The midfield ace, 26, returns to international competition tomorrow for the first time since the New Zealand trip when Bath host Italian outfit Benetton in the Champions Cup.

Joseph is fit and firing, and Bath are fifth in the Premiership and confident of marking in some style the 20th anniversary of becoming England’s first European champions.

But all is not quite as it seems for Joseph, who was dropped from England’s training squad last month and is less than satisfied with his contribution to the Lions tour.

“To draw the series was an incredible achievement and I was proud of the squad,” said Joseph. “But personally I felt I’d slipped off my game towards the end of last season and I think that may have hindered me slightly.”

Joseph failed to make the Test team despite letting nobody down in three midweek starts (above, after the Highlanders defeat). “It’s an opportunity I let slip and that drove a lot of self-reflection on my part over the summer,” he added. “I’ve come back to Bath raring to go.”

Between returning from New Zealand and clocking back on at The Rec, Joseph focused hard on what had won him his 33 caps.

“In this game you can’t rest on your laurels,” he said. “You’ve got to look to improve the whole time or you miss out on selection.

“To get back to my best I knew what I had to do. I wasn’t provoked into it by being dropped. I rolled my sleeves up and I’m excited for what’s coming up now.“

Since his England omission Joseph has scored two tries in three games and put in a suffocating defensive display at Wasps.

“There has been a massive change in JJ,” said Bath boss Todd Blackadder.

“We know he is really good defensively, but he’s added a real attacking threat. Eddie Jones will be encouraged by that.”