Bath set up for Sarries point, admits supremo
Todd Blackadder obviously would have liked Bath Rugby to beat Saracens at Allianz Park, but admitted: “We came here to get a point”. The director of rugby defended making 13 changes to the side which beat Northampton Saints at the Rec, plus new faces on the bench to take on the Premiership champions and league leaders. Speaking after the 50-27 defeat at a ground where Bath have conceded more than 40 points on their last three visits, Blackadder appeared to contradict himself. What he appeared to mean was that once the squad was assembled they were expected to perform and tried their best to win, even though it was going to be unlikely. “We prepared to beat them,” he said. “You don’t prepare to lose, so we backed ourselves. “We back anybody in the jersey to get out there and do the job and when you don’t you learn some lessons from it. “At times you’ve got to do these things. We came here to get a point. We’ve got Exeter next Friday and we’ve got a massive month coming up. “I stand by the decision, absolutely stand by it. We’re doing the best thing for our team and our players, regardless of what you guys think, the team we selected was here to perform and we will prepare for another game next week. “We wanted to give guys opportunities, we wanted to rest some players for next Friday, we wanted to test our squad to see where they are and give guys opportunities and we did that. “On the back of it, we are creating more depth, we are freshening people up and we are learning about ourselves.” Bath didn’t get that bonus point, although they did score three tries through Tom Homer, twice, and Chris Cook. The hosts plundered eight tries – including a Liam Williams hat-trick – and even dropped two more with the line at their mercy. Blackadder was not happy with the Bath defence, which off scrums in particular was picked apart easily by the slick Saracens attack. The big difference between the two sides was glaring when they brought on their replacements; with the hosts showing more strength in depth. “Set-piece wise we got schooled quite easily,” Blackadder conceded. “I just thought today there were guys stepping in when they didn’t need to, not communicating when they really needed to. That’s pressure. “I think that was the first time we have put that midfield out and they were up against the best in the competition and we got found out a little bit. “I sort of half expected that might happen today. I have got to be really careful that I don’t expect too much from some pretty new guys, some green guys who have been out there for the first time, but they are good boys and they will learn from it and they will get better. “I’d rather bring these young guys to play against the best so that they know what the benchmark is.” “We played basically the same team for five or six weeks [including pre-season] and you’ve got to freshen things up at some point. “There was a lot of experience across the team. Our drivers were still there and some young guys who didn’t let the team down.” As ever, the director of rugby was keen to see the positives and pleased he could continue to blood the likes of Max Wright, Darren Atkins, Josh Bayliss and Miles Reid, all of whom made him proud. “I think there were parts of that that were fantastic,” he said. “I loved the fact that we were trying to play.” Saracens are now the only team in Premiership history to record five bonuspoint wins at the start of the season.