Bath Rugby deal with Dyson is far from hot air

Unlike overseas sides, it's rare for top-flight English rugby clubs to have a recognised global brand as a sponsor. For example, while Toulon have Volkswagen, Gloucester have ADEY MagnaClean.

So Bath Rugby's deal with Dyson is notable. I explain here why this partnership is not your ordinary, common-or-garden commercial deal, and why it could change the face of rugby in the West Country.

Stuart Lancaster's class as coach shown through Freddie Burns' performance

If a coach’s report card is determined by how well he gets the best out of previously misfiring players, then Stuart Lancaster is currently edging towards an A+.

Eyebrows were raised when the England head coach announced he would start Freddie Burns ahead of the in-form Danny Cipriani at fly-half for the first Test against the All Blacks in Auckland.

To say that Burns had an out of sorts season at Gloucester would be an understatement. Low on confidence and high on mistakes, Burns’ dip in form personified the Cherry and Whites’ more general malaise.

There were predictions from some quarters that the All Blacks would be licking their lips at the prospect of targeting England’s midfield, not least because Burns would be partnered by Bath Rugby’s Kyle Eastmond, another player who struggled to win selection for his club towards the end of the season.

What piffle that turned out to be.

Burns and Eastmond were superb, playing with assurance and guile in equal measure. Rather than being the weak link in a weakened England team, they were a potent attacking fulcrum and also solidly controlled the defensive line.

In had been forgotten by many that, only a year ago, Burns and Eastmond wreaked mayhem on England’s tour of Argentina, tearing the Pumas’ backline to pieces. (For proof of Eastmond's potency on that tour, see the video below.) Neither had won a further England cap since that 2013 trip to South America, but when they took to the field at Eden Park on Saturday they carried on from where they had left off in Buenos Aires.

Kyle Eastmond in action in Argentina

Lancaster’s capacity to get the very best out of Burns and Eastmond speaks volumes not only about his on-field training methods but also his psychological preparation of players.

In sport, you are only ever one heavy defeat away from having your bubble burst. But at the moment, England are gaining altitude ahead of the World Cup at a decent rate.

Give Gavin Henson another shot with Wales, says club-mate Paul James

Gavin Henson may not be playing in tomorrow's Probables versus Possibles trial match for Wales due to player release issues emanating from the English club game's governing body, Premiership Rugby.

But Wales and Bath prop Paul James says his club-mate still deserves another shot at playing for his country.

Along with Henson, James has been told by Bath that he won’t be released for the trial match because it falls outside the IRB Test window that starts two days later.

But irrespective of that restriction, 53-cap prop James believes Henson should figure in Warren Gatland’s plans for the summer tour of South Africa.

“I don’t see why Gavin doesn’t deserve a chance,” says James. “He’s getting back to the player of old who can win games for you.

“His leadership this season and his performances when he’s come on have been great for Bath.”

What a shame, then, that the rules relating to player release can't be relaxed in this instance - especially given that Bath don't have another game until September, and given that the club has made great play of its desire to see its players representing their countries.

Nick Abendanon: the Top 14's gain, the Premiership's loss

Barring some implausible results over the final couple of Premiership weekends, Nick Abendanon will play his final match at The Recreation Ground tonight.

The full-back will bring down the curtain on eight seasons at Bath. Over the summer, he will head to French heavyweights Clermont Auvergne, where the Top 14 will no doubt be hoping for moments such as this:

So the time is ripe for evaluation.

The received wisdom doing the rounds at the moment is that Abendanon is in the form of his life, and that Bath will miss him deeply next season.

Perhaps paradoxically, I agree with the second half of that statement but not the first. Yes, Abendanon will be sorely missed next campaign - Bath currently look thin on the ground at full-back next season (one of their few squad weaknesses for 2014-15) - but I dispute the notion that The Rec has never previously seen Abedanon in such form.

He was named Bath's Players' Player of the Season for three years on the spin during the Steve Meehan and Ian McGeechan eras at The Rec. Within the club, he was venerated. Outside the club (particularly where it mattered: around the table of the England selectors), he was regarded with some wariness - a player who could conjure something out of thin air, but who could then negate the act of genius with an act of daftness.

By his own admission, Abendanon did mar his game with the odd howler during the early years of his career. But for too long, Abendanon has been penalised in the present for the sins of the past. The stigma has hung around, which accounts for why he has never built on the two England caps he received at the start of his career.

Having watched Abendanon most weekends for the past six years, it makes me laugh - or despair - when his defensive qualities or 'physicality' are questioned. For a man of a naturally modest frame, Abendanon has made it something of a trademark to break the first tackle of burly forwards. And his character is encapsulated by the way he soldiered on through this often illegal onslaught by the Tuilagi brothers during one compelling encounter with Leicester:

That's not to say that Abendanon isn't in some respects a more polished player now. Nowadays, he's more pragmatic than pyrotechnic, although he's still capable of setting off more than a few rockets.

His lines of running show increasing maturity as he reads the game better and better with age. His work popping up at first and second-receiver has also been hugely assured this season.

So, sure, Nick Abendanon has been in cracking form during his Bath swansong. But the truth is he's been in cracking form for years and years.

The Top 14's gain, the Premiership - and England's - loss.

Saints above! Bath Rugby get into habit of holy day triumphs

Why prayers to St Venturino of Bergamo could have a bearing on tonight's game between Bath and Sale Sharks.

Not your standard piece of sports journalism, granted. But something for the weekend.

Gavin Henson faces wait over future at Bath Rugby

Bath boss Mike Ford admits he has “contingency plans all over the place” as he weighs up further signings for next season.

Head coach Ford has told a number of out-of-contract players, including Gavin Henson, that they will need to be patient before learning whether they have a deal for the 2014-15 campaign.

Bath have already made two major signings by securing League star Sam Burgess and England tighthead Henry Thomas from Sale, and are understood to be searching for a full-back to replace Clermont Auvergne-bound Nick Abendanon. The club is also mulling over options at scrum-half.

With Ford being in no hurry to pin down his final squad, the futures of utility back Henson and 36-year-old No. 9 Peter Stringer remain undecided.

Henson, who was signed for Bath by Ford’s predecessor Gary Gold, has been linked with a move to Newport Gwent Dragons. But the former Wales international is understood to be happy at the Recreation Ground and could yet remain at Bath if he impresses during the final months of the current campaign.

Referring to his negotiations with out-of-contract players, Ford tells me: “We’re still talking. There’s no rush.

“The players understand that we might take a bit longer on this particular occasion to give them more time and more opportunities.

“It also gives me more thinking time regarding the make-up of the squad.

“The recruitment is pretty fluid. Sometimes someone’s in, then they’re not, so you have to think again.

“We’ve contingency plans all over the place. It’s still ongoing.”

BOO, HISS. What's acceptable behaviour from rugby supporters?

The sporting arena has long been regarded as a furnace in which moral virtue can be knocked into shape. The ancient Greeks feted their Olympic heroes as ideals of human fortitude, while the 20th century French philosopher Albert Camus put it in a somewhat different way. “All that I know most surely about morality and obligations I owe to football,” he said, in between deep inhalations on filthily strong Gallic cigarettes.

Rugby is a sport that prides itself on values – traditional values of respect for the opposition, fair play and respect for the ref. Amid the value-free atmosphere that seems to pervade much of football, rugby is often celebrated as a healthy tonic.

Admirably, many professional clubs run their own community departments which seek to spread the word about the inclusive, friendly nature of rugby. But such acts of rugby evangelism have been undermined by recent events – some of them perpetrated by fans rather than players.

Rugby has long lost the moral high ground. We might not have had a top-flight manager head-butting an opposition player who was trying to retrieve the ball, but we’ve recently had gouging and spitting incidents aplenty, not to mention Manu Tuilagi’s series of full-blooded punches on Chris Ashton.

In recent weeks, we’ve had France number eight Louis Picamoles’ derisory gestures to referee Alain Rolland following his yellow-carding against Wales. (What would Camus have said?). Picamoles gave Rolland a sarcastic round of applause and thumbs-up when he was sin-binned.

It’s to the huge credit of France coach Phillipe Saint-Andre that he axed Picamoles from the French Six Nations squad as a result. Defending his decision, Saint-Andre said that he would not accept dissent to the referee.

Quite right too, but when I suggested such a thing on Twitter before Saint-Andre handed down his ban, you would have thought I’d called for Picamoles’ beheading. It was alleged that I was over-reacting.

I was surprised at the reaction. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been.

Last Friday at The Rec, a not inconsiderable number of Bath fans booed the Saracens players as the visitors applauded their travelling supporters.

Okay, Saracens were defensively abrasive and had played the entire match – particularly the second half – on the very edge of what the laws allow. and gone beyond them on occasion. But this response from a chunk of the home crowd was pathetic, boorish and eye-rollingly one-eyed.

Having established a first-half lead, Sarries killed the game off by smothering Bath with the equivalent of one long chokehold. It wasn’t what the home side wanted to see and it wasn’t superficially attractive, but it was extremely effective.

Saracens were aggressive and streetwise, and the way they clinically extracted the away win had its own beauty about it.

To boo them was embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as publicly undermining your own fly-half, which was what happened to Stephen Donald last season, who was subjected to various ironic cheers and jeers.

If Camus had seen Friday night’s activities, I’m sure he would have taken another thoughtful drag on his ciggie.