NINE NEW NAMES. BATH’S RECRUITS FOR 22-3.

Attwood: weclome.
By PG Tips
July 19 2022

Bath’s squad for the coming season has now been confirmed. Nine signings have been announced, as well as several Academy promotions from within. Not all the incomers are household names and some fans will be disappointed that there are no “galacticos” among them. The constraints of a reduced salary cap, ambitions of players hoping for a World Cup callup and the need for squad depth and balance will have made for a tough juggling act in this year’s recruitment. Here are the results.

Niall Annett
The former Ireland U20 Captain is highly experienced, with 20 appearances for Ulster and 132 for Worcester Warriors. He is strong, physical and no nonsense and has decent pace for a hooker, notching 12 tries for Worcester. At 30 he seems unlikely to get an Ireland call up, so should vie with Tom Dunn for the starting No2 shirt. Known for his leadership, he also has coaching experience. Should be a good role model for Doughty & Stewart.

Dave Attwood
Dave is well known in Bath for his previous stint, making 156 Blue, Black and White appearances from 2011-19, scoring 11 tries. He overlapped with Joe Maddock and will probably welcome the latter’s attacking strategy having flourished under the Ford regime. He has 24 England caps, most of them gained while at The Rec. An all -round lock, strong in the clear-out, at the lineout, on the charge and in the tackle. Perhaps his finest moment in Bath colours came in the Semi Final in 2015, as Bath beat Leicester 47-10. making 17 tackles on hot day. A natural leader (whether officially skipper or not) he led England Saxons to a 2-0 series win in South Africa in 2016. The extent of his impact will depend on how often he can play – due to his age and issues with his knees. Even if his game time needs managing, he should prove a good signing and will be welcome back, for his attributes and attitude.

JJ Tonks
JJ comes to Bath from Northampton where he made 23 appearances. He is described as a lock/flanker but was mostly used as a flanker at Saints (mainly 6, occasionally 7). At 6’4” and 16st 12lbs. he could fill in at lock if needed. His rugby pedigree is West Country- educated at Millfield, Cheltenham & Hartpury (where he was Captain) before Saints. He has junior representative experience at U17 & U20 levels for England and was in England’s Commonwealth Youth Games 7s squad. To broaden his rugby horizons he played half a season semi-pro with Otago in New Zealand, working for a butcher when not playing or training. Expect him to continue his rugby education under Bath’s new regime and be on standby to deputise for the first -choice loose forwards if needed.

Chris Cloete
At age 31 Chris has been around the block, playing for 3 different South African provinces, in Argentina and at the Kandy club in Sri Lanka. That CV suggests a “journeyman” but there is more to him. Short and stockily built, like Steffon Armitage, he is a powerful carrier with aggressive defence who established himself as a Munster regular for 5 years. In the 2020/21 season he was named Pro 14 “Turnover King”. Should enhance Bath’s back row options as a turnover specialist.

Wesley White
The son of Jake White, South Africa’s World Cup winning coach of 2007, Wesley is another wandering South African. He comes to the Rec from Jersey Reds after stints in South Africa, France and USA. He learned his rugby at famous Cape Town nursery Bishop’s and started his senior career at Sharks as a hooker. His pace won him a place in the SA Sevens squad. Most recently he has been used as a number 8, rather in the Sam Simmonds mode: he scores lots of tries. It will be interesting to see if he figures mostly at 8, where he could understudy Jaco Coetzee and Josh Bayliss, or on a flank, where he could rotate with Bath’s existing front runners Underhill and Reid.

Louis Schreuder
Yet another South African, brought up in the Western Cape, Schreuder is an alumnus of another notable academy for Springboks - Paarl Gymnasium. In his homeland he played for Stormers, Southern Kings and Sharks. He has also spent time at Toulon and comes to Bath from Newcastle Falcons, playing for them 33 times. Once Vice Captain of South Africa U20, he has 1 full Springbok cap. A strong, rangy runner who makes tries for others, he looks a useful deputy to Ben Spencer, with similar style. His discipline record is excellent -a single Yellow Card in 9 seasons

Piers Francis
An Englishman, raised in New Zealand, Piers has 9 England caps, gained while at Northampton where he played principally at centre, although it seems Bath have earmarked him to play mostly at 10. He has Super Rugby experience with Auckland, Waikato and Counties Manukau. A dependable goal kicker, the coaches may be hoping he can be a playmaking option from either 10 or 12 as Shaun Berne was 20 years ago. His game time could be limited though, as he has a recent history of repeated concussions.

Louis Hennessy
Younger and less experienced than most named above, he has been described as an “exciting academy addition” at centre. From Cardiff via Hartpury and Wales U18, he is a strong runner with a good outside break, who frequently breaks or wriggles out of tackles. Looks like one for A team fixtures, Premiership Cup ties and the future.

Matt Gallagher
A full back or wing, Matt’s experience is with Saracens and Munster. He played 50 times for Saracens, being a regular in their Premiership Rugby Shield winning squad of 2019. Since then he has been at Munster. His father John Gallagher, frustrated as a 3^rd XV centre at Blackheath emigrated to NZ in the 1980s, where he played for Wellington. Switched to Full Back, he won 18 test caps for the All Blacks including as a winner of the inaugural World Cup. If Matt has half his father’s dedication and talent he will be a useful acquisition.

Ones that got away?

It would be unusual for Bath not to be connected by rumour with a raft of players thought to be about to join. Often this is fans wishful thinking but some rumours this past season have had substance. Let’s take a look.

Curwin Bosch?
Repeated rumours of Bath’s interest in Curwin Bosch seemed logical in light of Danny Cipriani’s injury struggles and Bath’s lack of strength in depth. However, nothing has come of it and Bath have announced a squad containing 5 fly halves, 3 usually considered to be centres and one an 18-year-old Academy player. The number named suggests Bath’s recruiting for the position this season (barring injury crisis) is done, and that the rumours were just agent talk.

Ed Scragg
At 6’7”, close to 19 stones and only 22 years old, Ed Scragg appeared a possible long term answer to Bath’s pressing need for a large and physical lock. Scragg is a local boy, brought up in Somerset and Wiltshire and Bath were in talks to sign him, but a proposed 2-year initial contract was downgraded unilaterally to 1 by Ed Griffiths so the young Cornish Pirate opted for London Irish instead.

Pablo Matera
Bath’s target to replace Taulupe Faletau as a back row carrier was another casualty of the power struggle between Ed Griffiths and other members of Bath’s management. A 70+ cap Puma and former national Captain, he is certainly a dynamic carrier and abrasive presence at the breakdown, a role that seems vacant at present but will need to be filled to enable Johann van Graan playing style. It will be interesting to see how the Head of Rugby deploys his ample loose forward resources in search of a balanced back row.

A mix of experience and youth, with a largely cosmopolitan flavour, these 9 should help round out Bath’s squad to address some of the needs visible last season. There are leaders, grafters, pragmatic veterans and promising youngsters, even if there are no “stellar” signings. In a salary cap world, those were always unlikely for the Premiership stragglers. The trick for this year’s coaching team, especially in the absence of obvious answers at No8 and 10, is to make this squad greater than the apparent sum of its parts.

NINE NEW NAMES. BATH’S RECRUITS FOR 22-3.

Posted by: Comeonmylovers.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 19/07/2022 09:13

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:01:08:40:25 by CoochieCoo.