Bath Rugby 2026/27 Preview

After losing in heartbreaking and frustrating fashion in the playoffs to Exeter Chiefs trying to defend their title, Bath will come into this 2026/27 campaign looking to make sure that the loss to Chiefs was merely a fluke. Bath went 13-5 in 2025/26 with 69 points on the table. However, there seems to be a lot more questions than coming into last season. Let's take a look at this team for 2026/27.

Will The Attack Be As Good As They Can Be?

Last season, Bath had a plus-222 points differential, scored 646 points as well as 98 tries. Bath averaged 35.9 points and 5.44 tries per match in 2025/26. The club also earned 14 bonus points while using 43 players. That's a pretty lethal attack. 9-10 combo of Ben Spencer and Finn Russell arguably is the best in the league and the both of them are the driving force of the attack. However, the attack also needs both of these players for it to be effective. That being said Bath also boasts a plethora of players who can score tries as Ollie Lawrence, Max Ojomoh, Cameron Redpath, Henry Arundell, Joe Cokanasiga, Will Muir, Santiago Carreras, Austin Emens, and Tom de Glanville, plus youngsters Louie Hennessey and Ciaran Donoghue are all lethal options as they all boast speed, power, and versatility that makes this attack so hard to beat plus the forwards can push it in too. Bath did lose Sam Harris and Chris Harris, but the attack should still be lethal.

Defend At Home But Do Better On Road

Bath went 8-1 at The Rec last season. That's incredible as clearly the club knows how to win at home. Maybe it's just because the team knew all the bounces, the supporters boosted them on the pitch, or knowing how to play the elements in their own stadium, but Bath dominated at The Rec. While playing on the road is not easy, going 5-4 hurt them. It might have affected their seeding in the playoffs and possibly a chance at repeating if they won another two matches on the road. All great teams do well on the road, so a record like that is frustrating. At home, Bath outscored their opponents 363-179 (plus-184 points differential), but on the road, just plus-38. If Bath had not dominated at home, then they might not have played in the playoffs or had a lower seed.

Are The Cracks Showing With Johann van Graan's System?

When the South African took over, he gradually rebuilt this club, but van Graan has changed this team for the better. However, after starting 11-2 in the Premiership last season, Bath finished 2-3. They lost away to Northampton, Bristol, and Exeter, plus then lost at home against the Chiefs in the playoffs. That raises some eye brows, but that definitely asks some questions. Is there a flaw in van Graan's system that teams are exposing? Are opposing teams finally figuring out how to play Bath? Did their form simply just dip late in the 2025/26 campaign?

The Depth In The Pack

Ok, let's not be doom and gloom here, but the forward pack boasts a lot of power and ferocity that most teams fear. The pack here is great at scrummaging and it's so deep that even if there are some questions, all opposing clubs know how scary Bath is. In the front row there is Beno Obano, Will Stuart, Archie Griffin, Billy Sela, Jamie Bhatti, and Kieran Verden. At hooker, there's Tom Dunn, Dan Frost, Kepu Tuipulotu, and Jasper Spandler. The second row boasts Charlie Ewels, Ross Molony, Quinn Roux, Ewan Richards, and exciting prospect Epoch Opoku-Gyamfi. Then, the back row has the deepest crop of players in Josh Bayliss, Jaco Coetzee, Dan du Preez, Ted Hill, Guy Pepper, Miles Reid, Sam Underhill, and even Goerge Timmins. Bath is just going to have the scariest forward pack in the league.

How Much Of An Impact Will Some Of The Players Leaving The Club Be?

Bath might be deep and talented, but they also lost a lot of great players. Thomas du Toit is probably the hardest loss here considering how physical and powerful he was as a prop especially with his ball carrying abilities that allowed him to score a lot of tries. Alfie Barbeary is a talented back rower that can be a difference maker. Prop Francois van Wyk is a solid player coming off the bench who can start a good chunk of time is a lot to make up for. Both Harris', Harvey Cuckson, Will Butt, and Mikey Summerfield hurts the depth as well. Whether the club can handle losing players like these remains to be answered, but clearly losing Barbeary, du Toit, and van Wyk will be the three biggest names lost.

Fixing The Set Pieces

Yes, Bath can scrummage very well, but they are one of the worst in the Premiership at winning their own scrum ironically. The club also wasn't very good with lineouts. Now, did the set pieces struggles happen due to them relying on a strong defense and then when on the attack, focusing a lot on the kick and chase and the pick and go? That is hard to pinpoint, but it's definitely something the team needs to address especially if they want to win another Premiership title. Every season, opposing clubs use tape to find ways to beat whomever won the title the previous campaign, so maybe that had a lot to do with why Bath struggled towards the end of 2025/26, but the team needs to adjust and come up with other ways for their opponents cannot prepare for.

How Will The Team Do To Replace Ben Spencer In Beginning Of Season?

Spencer might be 34, but is still very fast, has great ball distribution, excellent passer, very intelligent, and makes for a great partnership with Russell. However, Spencer will be starting off the 2026/27 campaign injured after having shoulder injury and will miss some time. The timetable will be "later in the autumn" so that means a significant amount of time will be missed for Spencer. It will boil down to how Tom Carr-Smith and Bernard van der Linde do to make up for his loss. Spencer epitomizes how important a great scrumhalf can be.

Fixtures

Match 1: at Harlequins

Match 2: vs Exeter

Match 3: at Northampton

Match 4: at Gloucester

Match 5: vs Sale

Match 6: vs Bristol

Match 7: at Newcastle

Match 8: vs Leicester

Match 9: at Saracens

Match 10: vs Northampton

Match 11: vs Gloucester

Match 12: at Sale

Match 13: vs Newcastle

Match 14: at Leicester

Match 15: at Exeter

Match 16: vs Harlequins (neutral site)

Match 17: at Bristol

Match 18: vs Saracens (neutral site)

Prediction

They'll definitely make the playoffs and they have the squad to win it all, but there are some questions here that need to be answered. Bath has one of the best sides on paper, so execution will be key here. There's another big problem that is arising, but that's an issue for another day.