Thursday 26 March 2009

Bath face a devilish trip up north

The Bath Rugby squad that's travelling north to face Sale Sharks will be making their trip to Edgeley Park via Old Trafford on Friday.

In order to put a bit of variety into the players' day, head coach Steve Meehan has decided that a trip to the home of Manchester United is in order.

This doesn't necessarily augur well. Like Bath, United are in the hunt for both domestic and European glory. But their last two results have been utterly disastrous – a stuffing from arch-rivals Liverpool and a red card fiesta against Fulham.

Let's hope United's dip in form – and ill-discipline – doesn't rub off on their West Country visitors as they enjoy a couple of days in the North West.

But having said all that, there is something apt about Bath visiting the home of the Red Devils – and that's because Bath themselves have a devilishly tricky fortnight coming up.

Click here!

As I explained in this column last week, squad management is going to be absolutely crucial as Bath face three Guinness Premiership matches in eight days followed by a Heineken Cup quarter-final in Leicester.

Knowing who to rest and when is the conundrum that Meehan is having to wrestle with on a daily basis.

Looking at the hints coming out of the Bath camp, it looks as though Meehan will rest many of his big guns against Sale, in the hope that a young, enthusiastic team will still be able to defeat a Sharks side that has lost four matches on the bounce in the Premiership.

The big guns will then be rolled out for Bath's home matches against Wasps on Wednesday and Harlequins a week on Saturday.

These are two games that Meehan will be targeting as must-wins – and for different reasons.

Wasps may not be threatening for a play-off berth but they are a team that have mucked around with Bath's Premiership schedule.

A game that was initially postponed at the last moment because of concerns from Wasps coach Shaun Edwards over the hardness of the pitch has been put off and put off.

It now falls on a date that, from Meehan's and Bath's perspective, couldn't be worse.

Meehan is still irked by the way this game has been rearranged, and he will be wanting to win it – not only because it is at home but to get one over on his Wasps counterpart and the officials who settled on such a silly rescheduled date.

Unlike Wasps, Harlequins are very much in the frame for a play-off spot and are therefore a key target for Bath.

To lose against the London-based club at home at such a crucial stage of the season could mortally wound Bath's play-off ambitions, and Meehan will therefore be aiming to field his strongest possible side for that encounter on April 4.

Meehan's selection policy is also being influenced by the terms of the English clubs' agreement with the RFU.

Under that agreement, players in the England Elite Playing Squad face restrictions over how many club games they can play over a certain period. One consequence of this is that Lee Mears will only be able to play in two out of the next three Premiership matches.

But with the way Hurricane Hawkins is playing at the moment, that probably won't cause too many restless hours for Meehan.

No comments:

Post a Comment