BATH TIME
The revival of one of English rugby’s great institutions is ominous for Ireland
OMENS. They are always ays sought out in the build-up to significant sporting conteststests and there are some which ich cannot be ignored by Ireland d ahead of their seminal collisionsion with England in Dublin next weekend. ekend. There is the omen of recentent history – England are going for their heir fourth successive triumph in this fixture ixture (the last three Six Nations meetings ings plus a 2011 World Cup warm-up match atch at the Aviva) with an aggregate te points advantage of 75-24.
That gets into players’ heads ads – just as the French now dread the he sight of the Ireland jersey having ng been unable to put them away since 2011. Indeed, since being cruellyruelly denied by the All Blacks in 2013, England are the only side who have displayed the power andnd gumption to overcome the Joeoe Schmidt winning template te and, since they were outmusscled in Twickenham lastst year, Ireland have gone on a nine-match unbeaten run.
However, there is another, , more sepia-tinted omen which could carry weighty implications for all of Eng- land’s opponents in the Six x Nations and World Cup. And d it can be boiled down to o three words: Bath are back.
England’s rugby strength has, over the years, been cenntred around the power of traditional rugby heartlands ds – Northampton, Gloucester and, especially, Leicester and Bath. ath.
When those clubs are strong, ng, the national side flourish accordingly, rdingly, as was the case for their ir Five Nations dominance through ugh the 1990s, while the England side that developed into the 2003 World Cup winners benefited directlyy from the European Cup-winning exploits xploits of Bath (1998), Northampton (2000) and Leicester (2001 and 2002).
However, there was a timeime when Bath were out on their own, n, untouchable as the masters of Englishglish club rugby. With Sky and BT joiningoining terrestrial coverage, rugby games are now 10-a-(pretty)penny on television but in the 1980s and early 1990s, 90s, BBC’s
hosted by the he wonderfully pompous Nigel Starmer-Smith, mer-Smith, on Sunday afternoons was thehe only TV outlet for the club game – and Bath had top billing.
The names are easy to recall: ecall: Chilcott, Dawes, Redman, Hall and Robinson provided old-school power up front (succeeded by the e likes of Ubogu, Ojomoh and Clarke) ) while the backline dripped quality in the shape of Hill, Callard, Catt, showman man Barnes es and the player who, above all,ll, typifie typified ed Bath’s excellence – the gliding, ng, gifted d genius that was Jeremy Guscott. scott.
Between 1984 and 1996, Bath ath won their domestic leagues (which ch only began in 1987) six times, claimed 10 domestic cups, and did the double on four occasions.
HOWEVER, since that Europea Europeanan triumph in 1998, Bath haveve been struggling to live up to their storied past, with just one European Challenge Cup, in 2008, to show for their efforts. That drop-off has coincided with the national side’s relatively fallow post2003 glory period when England have generally been less than the sum of their playing parts.
No longer, it seems. After a mixed November, which saw Lancaster become the focus of some serious media heat, England have been the most impressive performers in what has been a dour Six Nations so far.
An extensive injury list made their comeback win against a crassly confident Wales in Cardiff all them more impressive and, while there was criticism of their slow start against the Italians at Twickenham last weekend, England still put 30 points and six tries on the visitors – a performance that had the double impact of swelling confidence while providing numerous areas to improve on to prevent cockiness bedding in.
At the heart of this England revival are the Bath contingent – second row Dave Attwood, wing Anthony Watson, centre Jonathan Joseph and out-half George Ford.
The call-ups may have been on the back of injuries to more established players such as Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Manu Tuilagi and Owen Farrell, but the Bath contingent have offered further evidence of the levels of confidence that are sweeping through the club after years in the doldrums.
Bruce Craig, the multi - millionairee owner who made his fortune in pharmaceuticeuti cals, has been the driving force behind the West Country revival.
Craig was demonised over here for his role in the annexing of the European Cup but, while his approach is business-driven, the lifelong Bath fan has been extremely mindful of the heritage and core values of this English institution (the club is celebrating i its 150th anniversary this year).
Bath are not a franchise, like Saracens, Wasps or London Irish who can decide to up and move to an area of greater financial prom ise.i This is a club proud to repre sentse their community with a ground situatedsitu at the heart of the rugby obsessedobses city, a place of pilgrimage for generations of supporters.
Craig has tapped back into this and after years of dubious southern hemi sphere coaches and players passing through, Bath have put their faith in English coaches Mike Ford, Toby Booth and Neil Hatley and an Anglo centric player recruitment policy.
Allied to their exciting brand of
Ford already has a relationship with Joseph and Watson, it’s pretty scary what they can do
attacking rugby,b th that t policyli h has gone down well at The Rec and the feelgood vibe has extended to an impressive string of results which have propelled Bath into second place in the Premiership and a European Cup quarter-final away to Leinster which they have genuine designs on winning.
As well as the aforementioned quartet, other Bath players such as props David Wilson (currently injured) and Henry Thomas, and increasingly impressive hooker Rob Webber are well in the World Cup mix, as are rugby league convert centres Sam Burgess and Kyle Eastmond.
But is the backline brio of Ford, Joseph and Watson that truly excites. J Josephh and dW Watsont h have shownh th themselves to be clinical finishers already in this Championship while Ford has brought an extra attacking vision than was customary with the brave but conservative Owen Farrell at 10.
They present a considerable attacking challenge for Ireland next weekend, something readily acknowledged by defence coach Les Kiss.
‘George Ford already has a relationship with Joseph and Watson and those type of combinations seem to be working nicely,’ said Kiss last week. ‘It’s pretty scary what they can do.’ It certainly is. Bath time could leave England looking very spruce indeed.