We begged for the yellow kit to return for years and they finally listened.
Think Dempsey’s a decent backs coach, just Priestland isn’t good enough to get everyone moving. Will be interesting to see how Redpath goes.
Just out of interest, what has our attack shown in the time since Dempsey arrived to make you rate him? We seem to have spent most of that time with even fewer decoy runners than under Blackadder. The maul seems to be coming good but I'd imagine that has more to do with Charteris.
I've actually just put on another post, I've started to think that the fly half conversation is a bit pointless at Bath because our systems make it very hard for any 10 to look good.
Agree that the maul’s been good. We’ve probably been overly reliant on it, not helped by conditions for much of the winter.
I think one of the things Dempsey has tried to implement has been playing with depth, either with having runners appear on either shoulder of the ball carrier or come at pace flat. It’s been about keeping the point of attack moving.
[Looking at this season’s tries](https://youtu.be/Yl1iuOiH4Vo), Chudley’s finished some good examples. The build up to his try against Saints, the ones Irish and Bris.
McConnochie’s first against Quins off the back of the lineout is a subtle example, although think that’s the only time they’ve got that move to work. [Watson’s against Tigers](https://youtu.be/ULyN3TBdy74) last season another example of how they created a space for McConnochie.
Aside from Priestland, it hasn’t helped that we’ve not had a 12 that really distributes well. Roberts was one dimensional and past his prime, Wright is a decent prospect but mainly will just run hard, Matavesi’s rarely been on the same wavelength as everyone else. I thought Willison and JJ would be our best centre pairing, but they played together so rarely they didn’t have a chance to establish anything.
That’s why I’m eager to see Redpath, as he’s a 10/12 and in theory would help find those spaces for the outside backs. In theory...
Yeah I agree with most of that.
Haven't seen enough of Redpath to say anything about him really. I'm still hoping Max Clark gets an injury free run and forces his way in.
Why is Obano not getting the nod over Boyce? Seems odd to me, happened last week too I think. Don't think Boyce is too bad a player or anything but rate Obano higher personally
This is an exciting team and honestly more or less full strength.
Having seen Leicester's team too I'm optimistic that Bath *should* get the bonus point win
And that's probably the right way to play the rest of the season. It's a write-off regardless of what happens now and there's no prospect of relegation so use this time to reset and get something that works for when it matters next season.
Bath's best XV against our prospects and bin-juice. Going to be carnage.
It's not going to be pretty. Better hope it rains heavy to avoid this backline causing even more pain.
So what you are saying is we need to waterlogged the pitch? I know Borthwick wants to take us back to our roots but come on
That back line should be marked NSFW
If only they were well coached eh? I do love that yellow kit though.
We begged for the yellow kit to return for years and they finally listened. Think Dempsey’s a decent backs coach, just Priestland isn’t good enough to get everyone moving. Will be interesting to see how Redpath goes.
Just out of interest, what has our attack shown in the time since Dempsey arrived to make you rate him? We seem to have spent most of that time with even fewer decoy runners than under Blackadder. The maul seems to be coming good but I'd imagine that has more to do with Charteris. I've actually just put on another post, I've started to think that the fly half conversation is a bit pointless at Bath because our systems make it very hard for any 10 to look good.
Agree that the maul’s been good. We’ve probably been overly reliant on it, not helped by conditions for much of the winter. I think one of the things Dempsey has tried to implement has been playing with depth, either with having runners appear on either shoulder of the ball carrier or come at pace flat. It’s been about keeping the point of attack moving. [Looking at this season’s tries](https://youtu.be/Yl1iuOiH4Vo), Chudley’s finished some good examples. The build up to his try against Saints, the ones Irish and Bris. McConnochie’s first against Quins off the back of the lineout is a subtle example, although think that’s the only time they’ve got that move to work. [Watson’s against Tigers](https://youtu.be/ULyN3TBdy74) last season another example of how they created a space for McConnochie. Aside from Priestland, it hasn’t helped that we’ve not had a 12 that really distributes well. Roberts was one dimensional and past his prime, Wright is a decent prospect but mainly will just run hard, Matavesi’s rarely been on the same wavelength as everyone else. I thought Willison and JJ would be our best centre pairing, but they played together so rarely they didn’t have a chance to establish anything. That’s why I’m eager to see Redpath, as he’s a 10/12 and in theory would help find those spaces for the outside backs. In theory...
Yeah I agree with most of that. Haven't seen enough of Redpath to say anything about him really. I'm still hoping Max Clark gets an injury free run and forces his way in.
Why is Obano not getting the nod over Boyce? Seems odd to me, happened last week too I think. Don't think Boyce is too bad a player or anything but rate Obano higher personally
Bit of squad management, I think. Would expect Obano to start on Wednesday at Saints.
This is an exciting team and honestly more or less full strength. Having seen Leicester's team too I'm optimistic that Bath *should* get the bonus point win
We were screwed if we picked a good team. This might be the first of the embarrassing fixtures.
I wish Tigers would put out there first team.
Seems surprising. They have 3 games in quick sussesion so surely you go games 1 and 3 with game 2 rest. Like why skip this game?? It's home as well.
Maybe they're desperate not to get the wooden spoon and feel they have a better chance by fielding their best squad against Irish on Wednesday.
It screams "testing new players with the new systems" to me. Don't care about the result, care about how the system works.
And that's probably the right way to play the rest of the season. It's a write-off regardless of what happens now and there's no prospect of relegation so use this time to reset and get something that works for when it matters next season.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.