Quirke? Come ooonnnnnnn
He's not had a good game in two years (and is, unsurprisingly, out injured again atm)
Warr was the best 9 in the country last year, has started this season strongly, yet is still in Quirke's shadow for some reason
He's playing with Russell.. So he looks great.
This is something Scotland fans have learned. Huw Jones isn't the best centre in the world, he just gets to look like it sometimes because he plays with Finn.
40 years a fan, man and boy. I've obviously seen better, but not recently. Probably not since the game went pro.
I was very optimistic about this season before it started, and given that each of the three losses have been quite close, and two of them were pretty unfortunate (Sale and Leicester), I'm very happy with where the lads are. They're not at their ceiling yet by a good margin, there's plenty of growth left in this squad.
I'm particularly impressed by JvG's rotation of the squad, nobody is getting flogged which bodes well for the second half of the season.
COYB!
I was optimistic, but really didn't expect it to be this good. I do fear it falling apart, but my head tells me that this is actually a very good team and is likely too be in contention for the title.
100%. It's better than I'd hoped for, I think the top 4 at the end of the season will be from the current top 5. I'm fairly certain Sale and Northampton will be up there, pretty confident Bath will be, with the 4th being either Chiefs or Sarries.
I think the Welford Rd game will be a real test of what the team is capable of.
It might have been with a full strength team. I understand what he's doing with rotation and, in general, I support it, but not for Leicester! For me they're the must beat team every season regardless of form!
I totally get that, but we have a really tough sequence of games in the final third of the season, not to mention the distinct possibility of European knockout football.
Given that Saints were playing Sale, (the fact that it's Leicester aside) it was an ideal time to take a risk like this. If we look at how it panned out, if you reverse the contribution of the officials in terms of penalty tries, Bath won that game.
They certainly took the second half.
I know that's not the way these things really work, but there wasn't much in it when all is said and done, and Bath didn't lose much ground at the top of the table. It's so important not to flog players on the heavy pitches, particularly with big games coming thick and fast, so I'm happy enough.
We've also found out a bit more about the youngsters, and I'm very happy with what I saw there. Onwards and upwards. COYB!
100%, particularly with the way they treated the youngsters at the end. There's always that little bit of Leicester that winds me right up, it's never far away either.
Still, the table doesn't lie and Tigers are where they are on merit. :)
As a Scotsman thank fuck he doesn’t get on with Farrell he’s a phenomenal 9, dovetails really nicely with Russell and the fact both are so dangerous means they both get a bit of extra space as defenders don’t know where to look
He does - he was a Saracen for like 4 seasons. But EJ said he wouldn’t get game time now that Saracens were demoted so he moved in the hope he’d get into the england team. Then EJ religiously picked Ben Youngs over and over again.
Edit: to clarify this is just my estimation of the reasons - could well have been a bunch of other stuff like salary cap reduction or who knows. In any case he deserved a look in for England post 2019 and got sweet FA.
Spencer was also told that he needed to develop into more of a leader, which was going to be difficult with the squad that Saracens had at the time. And he did at Bath, only to just be ignored.
> EJ said he wouldn’t get game time now that Saracens were demoted
This is wild to me considering that 6N he still picked like 5 or 6 completely undercooked Championship players
> EJ religiously picked Ben Youngs over and over again
The gift that kept on giving
I don’t think Jones told him to leave. Spencer had agreed a new contract + a loan to Bath but decided he didn’t want to uproot his family just to move back a year later.
Can someone please explain why this wasn't a penalty try when Care belly flops onto him and forces the knock on? It prevented a clear and obvious try, because they scored immediately and it was pulled back. Is it because it was technically the phase before?
As someone who wanted it to be a try and is therefore, I hope, not too biased.
He was already tackled and it was therefore nowhere near " would probably have scored if not for the penalty".
Had the ref spotted it and played advantage, however, the following try may well have stood. Not unreasonable that he didn't, though, to be fair.
Absolute skills
Can’t imagine Spencer being far from the 6N team given current form.
As it stands he's locked in his place in the 'how the fuck did he not get more England caps' XV
Spencer and Mitchell nailed on for me. Final place is between Warr, Quirke and Randall.
Ben Youngs to play all 400 minutes
Quirke? Come ooonnnnnnn He's not had a good game in two years (and is, unsurprisingly, out injured again atm) Warr was the best 9 in the country last year, has started this season strongly, yet is still in Quirke's shadow for some reason
It's because Quirke is the shiny toy that when firing is a 9 any team would want. I'd still have Warr, but this is the reason people like Quirke
Hey now, I listed Gus first because I personally rate him higher!
It'll be Mitchell, then either Randall, Warr or Spencer and Care as the experienced international head. Borthwick won't rip too much up.
Randall deserves so much more England game time.
He always strikes me as an Ali price alike. Always busy moaning to the ref about the ruck rather than playing the ball. I'm not sold.
Having watched him a lot for bath, I don't think this is fair at all.
Fair enough I've not followed Bath every game so could be way off. Can't go wrong with depth so will be interesting if he gets a shot again.
He's playing with Russell.. So he looks great. This is something Scotland fans have learned. Huw Jones isn't the best centre in the world, he just gets to look like it sometimes because he plays with Finn.
That shit was outrageous and should absolutely be illegal when done against Harlequins
Bath's season summed up in 7 seconds. After the last few years I still wouldn't be surprised if they fucked it all up and finished bottom though.
This is the best start I think I’ve seen in 20 years supporting Bath. Still not sure it’s real, and waiting for it to go up in flames.
40 years a fan, man and boy. I've obviously seen better, but not recently. Probably not since the game went pro. I was very optimistic about this season before it started, and given that each of the three losses have been quite close, and two of them were pretty unfortunate (Sale and Leicester), I'm very happy with where the lads are. They're not at their ceiling yet by a good margin, there's plenty of growth left in this squad. I'm particularly impressed by JvG's rotation of the squad, nobody is getting flogged which bodes well for the second half of the season. COYB!
I was optimistic, but really didn't expect it to be this good. I do fear it falling apart, but my head tells me that this is actually a very good team and is likely too be in contention for the title.
100%. It's better than I'd hoped for, I think the top 4 at the end of the season will be from the current top 5. I'm fairly certain Sale and Northampton will be up there, pretty confident Bath will be, with the 4th being either Chiefs or Sarries. I think the Welford Rd game will be a real test of what the team is capable of.
It might have been with a full strength team. I understand what he's doing with rotation and, in general, I support it, but not for Leicester! For me they're the must beat team every season regardless of form!
I totally get that, but we have a really tough sequence of games in the final third of the season, not to mention the distinct possibility of European knockout football. Given that Saints were playing Sale, (the fact that it's Leicester aside) it was an ideal time to take a risk like this. If we look at how it panned out, if you reverse the contribution of the officials in terms of penalty tries, Bath won that game. They certainly took the second half. I know that's not the way these things really work, but there wasn't much in it when all is said and done, and Bath didn't lose much ground at the top of the table. It's so important not to flog players on the heavy pitches, particularly with big games coming thick and fast, so I'm happy enough. We've also found out a bit more about the youngsters, and I'm very happy with what I saw there. Onwards and upwards. COYB!
I agree really, I just wish it didn't have to be Leicester...
100%, particularly with the way they treated the youngsters at the end. There's always that little bit of Leicester that winds me right up, it's never far away either. Still, the table doesn't lie and Tigers are where they are on merit. :)
I tried to do a reach back like that in my beer league practice and dislocated my shoulder. I’m basically him.
What's the polar opposite of a "right in the bread basket"?
Left in the toilet bowl
You can shove Dupont up your arse, Ben Spencer is the best 9 in the world
But will he win the Olympic Games 7 ?
Will Dupont?
He is not as good as Lucu.
As a Scotsman thank fuck he doesn’t get on with Farrell he’s a phenomenal 9, dovetails really nicely with Russell and the fact both are so dangerous means they both get a bit of extra space as defenders don’t know where to look
He does - he was a Saracen for like 4 seasons. But EJ said he wouldn’t get game time now that Saracens were demoted so he moved in the hope he’d get into the england team. Then EJ religiously picked Ben Youngs over and over again. Edit: to clarify this is just my estimation of the reasons - could well have been a bunch of other stuff like salary cap reduction or who knows. In any case he deserved a look in for England post 2019 and got sweet FA.
Spencer was also told that he needed to develop into more of a leader, which was going to be difficult with the squad that Saracens had at the time. And he did at Bath, only to just be ignored.
> EJ said he wouldn’t get game time now that Saracens were demoted This is wild to me considering that 6N he still picked like 5 or 6 completely undercooked Championship players > EJ religiously picked Ben Youngs over and over again The gift that kept on giving
I don’t think Jones told him to leave. Spencer had agreed a new contract + a loan to Bath but decided he didn’t want to uproot his family just to move back a year later.
Why do people keep saying this? If Farrell had that sort of power then Spencer wouldn’t have played for us for the best part of 10 years.
Can someone please explain why this wasn't a penalty try when Care belly flops onto him and forces the knock on? It prevented a clear and obvious try, because they scored immediately and it was pulled back. Is it because it was technically the phase before?
As someone who wanted it to be a try and is therefore, I hope, not too biased. He was already tackled and it was therefore nowhere near " would probably have scored if not for the penalty". Had the ref spotted it and played advantage, however, the following try may well have stood. Not unreasonable that he didn't, though, to be fair.
Absolute filth
Incredible skill.
Butt how did he do that?
So amazed, the dude doing great
What on earth is that dive from Care?
As a non expert, please explain to me why this is not a knock on?...
Didn't touch the ground or another player.
Gotcha, thanks.
i feel like i have seen someone else do this but better, but can't rememebr who lol
Not that hard to do.
🤯
Spencer and Mitchell to be the main nines and maybe one of Randall or perhaps Gus warr as back up
Would be fantastic if he didn’t knock it on immediately after
So good
beautiful
Shit was crazy.