Bath vs Saracens

[Puja]

Bath Rugby: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer ©; 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Josh McNally, 5 GJ van Velze, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Chris Cloete, 8 Miles Reid

Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Jonathan Joseph.


1 Eroni Mawi
2 Ethan Lewis (cc)
3 Christian Judge
4 Alex Wardell
5 Callum Hunter-Hill
6 Nathan Michelow
7 Toby Knight
8 Ollie Stonham
9 Ruben de Haas
10 Manu Vunipola
11 Ben Harris
12 Olly Hartley
13 Josh Hallett
14 Rotimi Segun
15 Elliot Daly (cc)

Replacements:
16 Samson Adejimi
17 Robin Hislop
18 Harvey Beaton
19 Kaden Pearce-Paul
20 Max Eke
21 Charlie Bracken
22 Dom Morris
23 Tobias Elliott

[Puja]

I suppose they have earned the right to do it by being comfortably home and dry before the last few rounds, but this kind of lineup does leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. They effectively got to decide who they faced in the semi-final by playing the reserves against Saints and the 1st XV against Irish (not that I think they actually made a decision - Saints was away, Irish was at home, all there was to it, but the optics aren't good), and now they're giving Bath a free pass to Europe next season at Briz and Gloucester's expense. Feels like it's bringing the competition into disrepute, to so flagrantly sack off games that you're not interested in, although I don't really know what can be done about it.

Puja

[Danno]

Absolutely shocked that Sarries would be unsporting

[fivepointer]

This is is more like a PRC side from Saracens. Lots of 20/21 year olds set to be blooded. They should get a battering.

Hard to moan as Saracens are clearly the best team in the league and sewed up a top 4 place ages ago.

[Which Tyler]

I suppose they have earned the right to do it by being comfortably home and dry before the last few rounds, but this kind of lineup does leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. They effectively got to decide who they faced in the semi-final by playing the reserves against Saints and the 1st XV against Irish (not that I think they actually made a decision - Saints was away, Irish was at home, all there was to it, but the optics aren't good), and now they're giving Bath a free pass to Europe next season at Briz and Gloucester's expense. Feels like it's bringing the competition into disrepute, to so flagrantly sack off games that you're not interested in, although I don't really know what can be done about it.

Puja

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
Ditch the semi finals; and go straight to the top 2 at Twickenham.
Convert league points difference into points on the board at kick-off.

So with the current standings, the final would kick-off Saracens 9 - 0 Sale

[Epaminondas Pules]

This is is more like a PRC side from Saracens. Lots of 20/21 year olds set to be blooded. They should get a battering.

Hard to moan as Saracens are clearly the best team in the league and sewed up a top 4 place ages ago.

And of course their main players get another week of front line rest. I don’t have an issue with this.

[Puja]

This is is more like a PRC side from Saracens. Lots of 20/21 year olds set to be blooded. They should get a battering.

Hard to moan as Saracens are clearly the best team in the league and sewed up a top 4 place ages ago.

And of course their main players get another week of front line rest. I don’t have an issue with this.

You'd have to worry they're in danger of being undercooked at this rate - two weeks of no game-time as part of 1 game in nearly 5 weeks might take some of the edge off. Mind, maybe they're just confident enough to use Northampton as a warmup for the big game.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

I’m sure McCall knows what he’s doing. It’s not exactly his first playoff rodeo.

[FKAS]

Perhaps McCall is a bit concerned about the fitness of his squad. Billy V is out injured, MacFarland has missed a large part of the season. Jamie George and Mako have picked up knocks recently.

Why bother with games that don't matter, get the squad as fit as you can and trust them to do the job.

[Puja]

I’m sure McCall knows what he’s doing. It’s not exactly his first playoff rodeo.

Fair point - he's forgotten more about this than I will ever know.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Defence is very much optional today.

I guess these Sarries are playing for some highlights moments, whilst for Bath, anything short of a win with 4 tried is useless, and can look at the points difference once that's in the bag.

2 tries a piece in 16 minutes.

[Puja]

Bath doing their absolute best to throw away 8th place, from the sound of things.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Pretty tight at one stage but Bath eased away and won by enough points to take 8th place. They've improved a lot over recent weeks.

[Puja]

Just watched the highlights - looked like Bath got a talking to at half-time. Good to see Daly back, fit and firing. Hartley picked a gorgeous line for his first try as well - can anyone who watched the whole game tell me if we're allowed to get excited about a new messiah?

Puja

[Mellsblue]

#justice4sebatkinson

[Which Tyler]

Just watched the highlights - looked like Bath got a talking to at half-time. Good to see Daly back, fit and firing. Hartley picked a gorgeous line for his first try as well - can anyone who watched the whole game tell me if we're allowed to get excited about a new messiah?

Puja

I did watch the whole game, and Hartley was very good; but no to messiahood (on principal).

IMO it wasn't so much that Bath had a talking to at half time, as the necessities of the match were constantly changing; and the realities of putting away a bunch of talented, well coached youngsters with their tails up and an eye on their highlight reel.

First half, Bath had 2 priorities -
1. batter them up front to exhaust them for later in the game.
2. a win without a bonus point is useless, so ensure the TBP ASAP, even if that means letting them score, rather than "wasting" 10 minutes defending the line.

2nd half was about exploiting the weaknesses found, and exploiting the tired legs (which largely consisted of continuing to batter them up front); securing the win and expanding the points difference - so actually defending now rather than concentrating on getting back to the other end of the pitch; and making sure every opportunity to score results in a try.

For Sarries, several players will have added minutes to their highlights reel (Hartley and Vunipola especially), they'll have boosted their confidence massively, and they'll take from the game that they can live with a Premiership 1st XV, but need to add match-fitness and some power in the tight 5, and work REALLY hard on maul defence.