It's Time...Saints v Bath Preview

For that alone, John Connolly was my pick as coach of the year. He came in, shook up a club that had almost died of embarrassment, replaced players not good enough in either talent, attitude or desire and in effect built a team in his own image; strong, steady, unspectacular, but most importantly, winners. It was ironic, in a way, that the Championship Final ended with Bath on the front foot, for that is where they were for most of the season, but whatever the perceived injustices of the play off system are, there is no doubt that the best two sides in the country last time round got there, and the best side won (just).

But that is now history. Play offs are here again this season, with six league weekends currently being directly affected by internationals, and a seventh, this weekend, being affected by the RFU’s new 11 week rest agreement put in force to ensure that the elite players are not rushed back into action too soon. Therefore, this weekend, it looks likely that a Saints side with a benched Ben Cohen take on a Bath team with Steve Borthwick and possibly Olly Barkley picking up the splinters, and Mike Tindall out of the squad altogether, “victims” of playing in the beating by Australia back on June 26. To play devil’s advocate for a second, what would the RFU do if the players, limited to a maximum of forty minutes, were to play for longer? A precedent of sorts was set by Gloucester’s shenanigans regarding Henry Paul and his release for England Sevens duty last season; with all the words and bravado of harsh penalties being inflicted if Paul played at Sale (he did - and if you saw the match on Sky, he didn’t), Gloucester were merely warned about their future conduct.

That is conjecture for Saturday afternoon. Of more direct concern, Bath’s 79 points and phenomenal 19 wins are now nothing but an indicator of how strong they were, the same as Saints’ humiliation at the Lost Causeway merely indicates how unready that side was to win a title. Fresh start, clean slate, and in Saints’ case, seven men in the starting line up that weren’t at the Gardens last season. We’re halfway towards seeing a new pack; the Reverend, Boome, Browne and Krige all feature, and of the three-quarters, only Mark Tucker called Northampton home in May (although I’m sure that Cohen will feature at some point). Wylie Human will be looking to succeed at the club where he had a short term contract; John Rudd, the revelation of pre-season, will be looking to add to his tally of four tries in two appearances, and Marc Stcherbina makes his ZP bow after swapping Biarritz for the Gardens (probably heard that Leicester were going over there to spoil the beauty). The bench is very much a case of the usual suspects, but looks a lot stronger than in the recent past for having Cohen and Lord (surely the unluckiest of those missing out) amongst them. Darren Fox, meanwhile, is having a late test on the injury that caused him to pull out of the Edinburgh team. The team:-

15 Bruce Reihana
14 John Rudd
13 Mark Tucker
12 Marc Stcherbina
11 Wylie Human
10 Paul Grayson
9 Mark Robinson
1 Tom Smith
2 Steve Thompson
3 Robbie Kempson
4 Selborne Boome
5 Damien Browne
6 Andrew Blowers
7 Corne Krige (captain)
8 Grant Seely

16 Dan Richmond
17 Robbie Morris
18 Matt Lord
19 Darren Fox or Mark Soden
20 Johnny Howard
21 Shane Drahm
22 Ben Cohen

Bath bring less surprises than last season, and it’s positively no shock whatsoever to see the awesome eight that their success was built on last time around in tact and ready to go. Jonathan Humphreys lead the side in what is supposed to be his last season in the Premiership, and will no doubt be looking to the internationals behind him - Fidler, Grewcock, Fea’unati and the newly capped Michael Lipman - to be giving the grunt forwards. In the backs, Chris Malone continues his run in the starting line up from the end of last season, and although Bath are yet to name their side, expect to see Joe Maddock’s first ZP appearance after his summer move from the Canterbury Crusaders.

It’s time. The conjecture can now stop, the speculation may become reality. Alan Solomons took Ulster to what in effect was a Celtic League championship final last season when Llanelli won the last game title decider. If Solly can take Saints to a last day title decider in May 2005, we’ll all be happy. It’s not going to start with a classic, but it should start with a home win.