Preparations already paying off in games
Todd Blackadder was delighted to see the fruits of a summer’s hard labour against Scarlets at the Rec. The hosts dominated a team which had its fair share of Wales internationals to finish their Premiership warm-up games in pretty much the best way possible. It was a sellout of 6,100 with the East Stand still under construction and the director of rugby was happy his squad put on a seven-try show. “The support has been unbelievable and it’s nice to really reward their commitment with a really strong performance tonight,” he said after the 45-12 win. “We talked about the Rec being a fortress this season, so I’m just pleased we came out with the right mindset and showed that tonight. “It’s a good reflection of the week we’ve had. Last week [against Edinburgh] was a great game. We took a lot of learnings out of it and I thought tonight we really transferred a lot of the stuff. “It was a good week in training and really nice to see the boys progress in the areas we’ve focused on.” Bath fired into the top Welsh province with a varied attack. They were doing damage with offloading one minute and powerful driving mauls another. Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, Jack Wilson, Joe Cokanasiga (2), Michael van Vuuren and Levi Davis crossed for the tries which had the home support salivating for the season ahead. “Part of our strategy is we want to be able to mix up our attack,” Blackadder said. “I just think the we were on the front foot tonight and it probably showed.” Due to injury and his loan to Toulon, it was Dave Attwood’s first game at the Rec since Bath beat Gloucester on April 30 last year. There was no rustiness or nerves as he was the standout player for the 51 minutes he was on the field. “He’s been going pretty well,” Blackadder said. “It’s nice to have him out there. “He’s such a big presence, a big man around the set-piece and the way he smashes the collisions, he just proves his worth. “I thought all the forwards got stuck into their work tonight and Dave probably led it.” Blackadder was pleased to see his wingers get plenty of ball and score four of the seven tries. “Joe [Cokanasiga] didn’t start tonight but he came off the bench and did one hell of a job,” he said. “It’s just nice to see the wingers finishing, and that’s because of all the work that’s been going on on the inside. “I thought it was a really strong team performance tonight by everyone. Structurally, we went through them and created that space out wide.” Blackadder said Tom Dunn coming off after 21 minutes “was always part of our plan” with Bristol at Ashton Gate in mind. Freddie Burns came off for an HIA in the second half. Blackadder wasn’t sure immediately after the game if he failed it but said, either way, it was enough of a knock for the coaches not to want to bring him back on. Instead of bringing Rhys Priestland back on, Chris Cook returned to the field and played ten. Priestland was not injured, but again wasn’t risked with the start of the Premiership a week away.