Bath Boys Hammered By Bristol Men
Bristol Action
By Glen Leat
November 24 2002
If there is one game in the season Bath just have to win it's their home tie against Bristol and, despite the pre-match optimism, the home team never looked like getting anything from this game after the very early score by Andrew Higgins to set up a 19-30 away victory.
After six minutes of this match Rob Thirlby
finally confirmed that he is not up to the
standard required to play in Premiership
Rugby and we can only hope that coach Foley
puts himself and us out of our collective
miseries by not picking him again this season.
Thirlby showed no effort, technique or ability
to tackle Andrew Higgins as he ran straight
at the Bath full-back only to find his path
blocked by an amateur quality player getting
(over)paid for his efforts(sic). It was embarrassingly
easy for Bristol to score their three tries
today.
So how about some excuses, we've got to have
some excuses for this poor display. Our main
excuse has to be the lack of experienced
backs on the field; what Bath team could
afford to lose the likes of Perry, Barkley,
Tindall, Maggs, Catt and Cooper? Simon Danielli
probably had his best game in ages, one catch
of a high ball under immense pressure was
superb but by contrast Chris Malone and Tom
Voyce both chose this match to play as badly
as they probably can. Aimless kicks, sliced
kicks, kicking when a pass was required,
passing when a kick was required, running
in to a tackle instead of passing the ball
- is there much more a back can do poorly
in the modern game?
To lose Scaysebrook for 20 minutes of the
first half with a blood injury and to lose
Lyle permanently after 20 minutes did not
help the Bath continuity. Also to watch the
Bristol hooker, Paul Johnstone, throw as
crooked a ball into the line out as you will
ever see which resulted in a quick Bristol
back line move and Lee Best running, uncontested,
in to the Bath corner for a try was very
frustrating. I was sitting directly in line
with the lineout and the touch-judge was
in front of me - I could see the offence
and so could he yet it was not called.That
was the difference between a half-time score
of 6-10 opposed to 6-17; on such decisions
games are won and lost.
No blame can be placed on the shoulders of
our two "wild frontier" men, Davey
and Crockett; at just 19 and 21 years of
age one can hardly expect these "boys"
to do much more than learn from this experience.
Forget the old saying "If they're good
enough they're old enough" because try
as they might, at this stage in their careers
neither are good enough.
But this is not a day for excuses, Bath were
beaten by a better team who crossed the whitewash
three times. It wouldn't be so bad if we
were beaten by a good side but Bristol are
not a good side, like us they are an average
side which can win one week and lose the
next as consistently as Glawster are winning
every week. Gareth Archer continued to "put
himself about" and during his ten minutes
on the sidelines Bath still couldn't gain
an advantage over a seven man Bristol pack.
If we can't score against 14 men in a average
team what chance have we got when we travel
up to high flying Sale Sharks on Friday?
Not a lot I would suggest.
Malcolm Pearce, the owner of Bristol Shoguns,
sat on the players bench all afternoon, despite
the rain, clearly enjoying his involvement
with the team and this is a key issue for
all clubs these days. Those clubs with owners
who are very generous with their cash but
who possess no rugby heritage will always
be at a disadvantage as these men do not
understand what games like a Bath verses
Bristol derby clash mean to those of us who
have stood (and now sit) on the terraces
for years getting wet and cold but cheering
on our team. Supporting your club is not
just about sport it's a way of life for many
of us and I hope tonight that the players
and management at Bath Rugby are hurting
as much as I am!
Let's look at the result of your prediction
for this game:
|
80%Let's have a look at the latest league table.
So what did you think of the Bath players
in this game? Vote by clicking on to here
Bath scorers
Tries: Pen Try
Cons: Malone (1)
Pens: Malone (4)
Drop Goal:
Bath:
15. Rob Thirlby14. Simon Danielli 13. Alex Crockett 12. Spencer Davey 11. Tom Voyce 10. Chris Malone 9. Andy Williams 1. David Barnes 2. Jonathan Humphreys
3. John Mallet 4. Steve Borthwick 5. Dan Lyle 6. James Scaysbrook 7. Andy Beattie 8. Nathan Thomas