Why Bath Rugby has to stay at The Rec

Here are a few of my thoughts on just why Bath Rugby simply must be given the green light to expand on The Rec. A Keep Rugby at The Rec supplement will appear in The Bath Chronicle on May 7.

Fans mingle by the weir, The Boater pub is a sea of blue. black and white, and laughter drifts up from besides the Riverside Cafe.
It must be match day at The Rec. And what a special place at which to hold a game of rugby.
Two of the Premierships most snazzy new-build grounds are Worcester and Northampton. But as magnificent as these two teams’ facilities are, they are out-of-town affairs, dumped by the best arterial road and removed from the towns they represent.
Stroll into Bath on a match day, however, and the atmosphere is so intense you can almost touch it.
Opposition fans pop in and out of the city centre shops, while Bath Rugby flags are draped from a host of pubs.
And where else in the world can you watch a game of rugby with an abbey looking down on you and an elegant Georgian portico just a stone’s throw away over the river?
From the top of the Kronenbourg Stand, where the press box is, the setting gets even better. The southern slopes of the city give the location a rural feel, and Sham Castle reminds you that you are in a place that’s both rich in history and a little quirky.
Yet this unique aspect of Bath life - enjoyed by so many generations for so many decades - could be taken away if Bath Rugby are refused permission to develop The Rec.
This is not something that the Bath faithful want to contemplate. Yet the fans are all too aware that, if the club is to flourish, then financial imperatives - and Premiership regulations - dictate that Bath Rugby needs a greater capacity than the current 10,600.
And should the Charity Commission refuse to budge, then the only way of boosting the club’s capacity may be to move.
Twenty-six-year-old fan Joe Master embodies this attitude, torn as he is between wanting Bath Rugby to remain at The Rec and wanting his club to prosper.
“Of course it would be nice for the club to stay at The Recreation Ground,” says Joe, 20 minutes before Bath begin their final game of the regular season against Saracens. “The ideal scenario would be to develop this place.
“On a day like this it’s glorious - and on match days the club brings a lot of business into the city.
“But we need a bigger stadium. From a financial point of view we need more people coming through the gates.
“The most important thing is that Bath Rugby remains in the city. I wouldn’t want to see the club move to Swindon or somewhere like that. No way.”
After the game, I catch up with my mate Graham - a Gloucester fan.
He’s had a fair amount of misery to endure over the past couple of weeks thanks to an abysmal run of results, but at least - he says - his side has a ground it knows it’s staying at.
“I’d love to see Bath forced out to Swindon,” he says, his malice presumably fuelled by another loss for the cherry-and-whites. “Us Gloucester fans would love to see that.”
Surely, on top of everything else, the city of Bath can’t allow Gloucester supporters to be given that kind of satisfaction?

Shontayne Hape interview

Shontayne Hape has been impressive for Bath Rugby recently. Click the play button on the video clip below to see what the rugby league convert had to say to me yesterday ahead of Bath's final game of the regular season against Saracens on Saturday.

When technology lets you down - many miles from home

Being 'multi-media' is an absolute must for journalists these days. The days of calling yourself a 'print journalist' or a 'broadcast journalist' or an 'online journalist' are gone. Or at least they should be for anyone who hopes to stay in this business.
Despite my background being in newspapers, I'm pretty comfortable with all this online stuff and think I look okay in front of a camera (although my wife disagrees!)
Having begun my career as a news reporter, my shorthand is fairly reliable. But when covering rugby press conferences and doing face-to-face interviews with players, I find it easier to develop a relationship with whoever I'm interviewing if I use a digital dictaphone. That way you can retain eye contact and it all seems more relaxed.
So my trusty dictaphone was among the kit I took with me when I made the long journey up to Newcastle to cover Bath's game against the Falcons on Sunday.
But when it came to playing back my post-match interview with Michael Claassens, what do you think happened?
White noise, that's what happened. The batteries had run down - although the indicator on the screen of my dictaphone hadn't suggested there was a problem.
It would have been bad enough if it was a home game. But to have travelled all the way up to the North East...
Sorry Michael and sorry readers. But I've learnt my lesson. Rest assured, from now on those batteries will be replaced with clockwork regularity.

Billy Whizz dashes in for some greasy grub

"Sorry, fellas, do you mind if I take a few pasties?"

So spoke a suited and booted Jason Robinson as he peered round the door to the pokey press room at Edgeley Park on Friday night, an hour-and-a-half before the Sharks kicked-off against Bath Rugby.

"I'd love to stay and talk to you guys," he said to me and another surprised early arrival, "but I need to keep the management happy."

And off scampered the World Cup winner, clutching four of south Manchester's finest meat and potatoes with not a paper napkin in sight.

Billy Whizz OBE is back. And I think the Guinness Premiership is going to be a better place because of it.

Read the rest of my reflections on Jason's return to the Premiership by reading my column in The Bath Chronicle

So which former Bath Rugby star will be appearing alongside Morgan Freeman?

It appears that David Barnes is not only a big cheese in the Professional Rugby Players' Association - he also has contacts in the world of film....

From the Bath Chronicle...

"Former Bath Rugby favourite Zak Feaunati is to appear in a Hollywood film directed by Clint Eastwood.

The 34-year-old Samoan forward who spent five years at The Rec is to play rugby legend Jonah Lomu in a film about the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand-born Feaunati, who retired last season, will appear alongside Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Feaunati, now the director of rugby at a school in the Midlands, plays Jonah Lomu in The Human Factor, which centres on the relationship between then South African president Nelson Mandela and that nation's captain François Pienaar.

Freeman plays Mandela in the movie, for which Feaunati was chosen following a screen test in London after being recommended by Bath prop David Barnes, who is also chairman of the Professional Rugby Players' Association.

The test saw him demonstrate the famous haka ritual which has become the hallmark of the All Blacks ahead of international rugby games.

Feaunati told the BBC: "I had to talk about myself for the casting director, and then she asked me to do the haka.

"I might have scared one or two of the ladies, but I guess it did the trick."

The competition was staged in South Africa in 1995 and was won by the host nation.

Feaunati, who won 13 international caps for Samoa, added: "The first call I got about it was from my old team-mate David Barnes, asking me if I wanted to be in a Clint Eastwood film, so I was 99 per cent sure it was a prank.

"But when I got a further call from the PRPA offices, it dawned on me that maybe this was serious."

He made 131 appearances for Bath between 2003 and last summer."

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.

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.

When should you rest your top players?

Sale's phalanx of international stars will enjoy no pause for breath following the end of the Six Nations.

The Sharks have revealed that a host of their internationals will be thrown right back into the Guinness Premiership fray on Friday at Edgeley Park (click here for the latest on this).

Bath, meanwhile, look certain to rest a host of players. Friday's match marks the start of three games in eight days for Bath, and Steve Meehan is seeking to rest some of this first XV ahead of his side's home matches next week against Wasps and Harlequins.

But with Sale having lost their last four GP games, Bath have every chance of notching up an away win in Stockport on Friday.

They need to seize that opportunity.

Resting too many of his first-string side could backfire for Meehan and Bath.