Bath Need Winter Sale Bargain Up North

Bath v Sale
By Glen Leat
November 27 2002

Bath travel up to Manchester to face Sale on Friday night still (hopefully) suffering the hangover of despair having been beaten by Bristol last Sunday. Can the Bath players recover and "do the double" over Sale? Well I believe there are fairies at the bottom of my garden!

I hate Friday matches and I hate Sunday matches and what have we had for a month now? Anything but Saturday matches! Rugby is a Saturday sport and this change to my routine does not add to my general state of happiness, particularly as we are all still licking our wounds from our mauling by Bristol.At least the internationals are over now and we will get some of our better players back, however it is our injury crisis that is still causing concerns as many of our stars struggle to regain fitness.

Injury updates have just come out from the club via their website with Mike Foley confirming that "Mike Catt looks a lot better, we are hoping to play him against the Sharks, but are obviously keeping a close eye on him and will monitor the situation on a weekly basis."

Dan Lyle is definitely out, Gareth Cooper is fit again as is Olly Barkley. Unfortunately both Ian Balshaw and Adam Vander are still a week away from starting a game so will have no impact on this important away trip.

The thought of travelling to the team which are second in the league with Rob Thirlby at full-back fills me with dread and we can only hope that with Mike Tindall and Kevin Maggs restored to the centres, Chris Malone will feel less exposed and perform to his ability rather than way below it as he did against the Brisslers.Sale have been on the up for some time now and I can remember losing to them a couple of years ago when the radio commentator said “Well someone has scored but I can’t see who because everyone in front of me just stood up!” We may have lost that match but that incident alone made the game worthwhile in my view.

The reports on the Messageboard of supporters and players actions fill me with far more dread than losing a match. Winning is important, though not as important as Bill Shankley once claimed, but enjoying our rugby is essential. Yes I feel upset and passionate when Bath play poorly but let's keep this in some perspective. Bad things happen in life; the loss of a loved one, pain or serious illness, the break up of a relationship, even the upset at losing a job or being the victim of crime - this is rugby, just rugby and we will all survive the loss of a match or ten!

We must be allowed to criticise our team if we wish to, that goes with the territory, but abusing them is totally different. I think that everyone who use this site for their own pleasure, and with their views and witty comments add to the pleasure of others, are decent people and will be as appalled by the actions of a very small minority as I am. As long time and passionate supporters of Bath Rugby I am sure you will all join me in apologising to the players who have been abused both physically and verbally by so-called Bath fans (not supporters). Hopefully the club will publish something similar from their perspective so we can move away from this unsavoury issue and concentrate on what we need to - winning rugby matches!

Come on Bath, prove me wrong and win at Sale!

Click on to the Sale Sharks site for their perspective on things.

Click here to read about the encounter between Bath and Sale earlier in the year.

Click here to see the latest league table.

In preparation for this clash let's have a look at a few recent statistics:

Biggest Win

Player Greats

Last Meetings (Bath scores first)