Bath absolutely handled Northampton last week 38-16 making them looking like the clear favorite to win the Premiership title. Obviously it's too early to crown them champions, but if matches like that keep occurring then it should be a fun campaign for the club and their fans. Next up is another difficult match as they take on the Leicester Tigers who are also loaded with talent and have championship pedigree written all over them considering they won the title only a couple of years ago. Plus, they will feature a familiar face as this team also looks destined to make the playoffs and hope to make a run.
Key Players For Leicester
Julian Montoya-Hooker
Dan Cole-Prop
James Cronin-Hooker
Joe Heyes-Prop
Ollie Chessum-Lock
George Martin-Lock
Harry Wells-Lock
Hanro Liebenberg-Back Row
Jack van Poortvliet-Scrumhalf
Ben Youngs-Scrumhalf
Handre Pollard-Flyhalf
Jamie Shillcock-Flyhalf
Solomone Kata-Center
Dan Kelly-Center
Izaia Perese-Center
Josh Bassett-Wing
Ollie Hassell-Collins-Wing
Anthony Watson-Wing/Fullback
Mike Brown-Fullback
Freddie Steward-Fullback
Keys To The Match
Disrupt Ball Distribution
Jack van Poortvliet is an up and coming scrumhalf that will eventually be the main guy for the England national side and he should be the central guy for Bath to attack on defense. It's very well known the type of talent the Tigers have in their attack as it can be overwhelming. Luckily for Bath a lot of the Tigers' talent is not playing in this match, but that doesn't mean they aren't lethal still. If Leicester gets wide in the spaces then it will be difficult to matchup against them even with flat line defense. Because of that, containing van Poortvliet is essential as frustrating them to where they can distribute the ball will be huge. Get him to distribute to where you want him to go and Bath's defense will have to dictate that. Problem is that his replacement might actually be their secret weapon as Ben Youngs, a legend in English rugby, coming on might be harder to prepare for. Youngs is a grizzled veteran at ripe age of 35 and with his experience and intelligence, Bath needs to be on their heels to watch what he does. Whatever might frustrate van Poortvliet probably won't phase Youngs and having him in the match in crucial moments will be an advantage for the Tigers no matter who they play. The best bet for Bath is to apply as much pressure as possible so that he doesn't get the chance to evaluate the attack.
Dig In The Trenches, Win The Scrum
One thing that Bath has a huge advantage of is their forward pack. That's not to say that Leicester doesn't have any good players in their pack, but Bath has a plethora of talent that most teams would crave to have. While Julian Montoya and James Cronin might be great hookers, Leicester is going with Charlie Clare and Finn Theobald-Thomas instead especially with Montoya on international duty and Cronin being used as a replacement prop. However, even if Montoya and Cronin were the options at hooker, Bath would still dominate with Tom Dunn and Niall Annett. Heyes will be the difficult prop to face against, so that is a matchup Beno Obano has to win though grizzled veteran Dan Coles coming off the bench looks difficult as well. That being said, the back row for the Tigers pails in comparison to Bath's as Olly Cracknell and Hanro Liebenberg might be good players, but going up against Jaco Coetzee, Guy Pepper, Josh Bayliss, Ted Hill, and Alfie Barbeary, big yikes for Leicester.
Kicking Against Their Speed
The Tigers have incredible speed and defensively it will be difficult to contain. Finn Russell and Ben Spencer will have to use their kicking abilities to tactically put the ball somewhere that will make it difficult for Leicester to utilize that speed. Freddie Steward is a world class player and him at fullback will be difficult to defend, but he will likely shift to the wing when Mike Brown comes into the match and that makes things even more hard to defend. Familiar face Anthony Watson, who played at Bath for a number of seasons and is finally fully fit to play, is also devastating with his speed. That being said, Bath is familiar with Watson for obvious reasons, so imagine Spencer will be the main guy kicking the ball to an area on the pitch Watson is not strong at retrieving the ball from. Bailey coming off the bench will look to use his kick and chase abilities to throw Tigers off as well which might be useful if he can have his forwards chase down too and tackling those speedy Leicester players. Tom de Glanville will also be tasked to do the same as Bailey, but he will likely be used more for his attacking prowess.
The Lineout
Ross Molony is finally getting a chance to play for Bath as he is fully healthy. That being said, Molony is a wizard at the lineups as he will make things difficult for Harry Wells and George Martin. Charlie Ewels is coming off the bench and with his abilities and experience, then the lineout is advantage Bath hands down. The Quinn Roux-Molony Irish connection might help a lot too with second row chemistry and having to go against that will be difficult. So wizardry and chemistry, sounds like a recipe for success for Bath.
Attack Jamie Shillcock
Obviously with Handre Pollard on international duty, the 10 jersey isn't as much of a strong suit for Leicester as it could be, but Jamie Shillcock is still a very capable flyhalf. With Pollard not playing in this match, take advantage of not having that type of talent on the pitch to go against. While Shillcock is a good player, he isn't as world class as Pollard, so attack him as much as possible. Shillcock will be calling the plays, so applying pressure on him will be huge. It won't be easy to apply pressure at whomever plays at scrumhalf and Shillcock at the same time, but it will need to be a team effort.
Bath's Starting Lineup And Replacements
1 Beno Obano
2 Tom Dunn
3 Will Stuart
4 Quinn Roux
5 Ross Molony
6 Josh Bayliss
7 Guy Pepper
8 Alfie Barbeary
9 Ben Spencer
10 Finn Russell
11 Will Muir
12 Will Butt
13 Ollie Lawrence
14 Joe Cokanasiga
15 Tom de Glanville
16 Niall Annett
17 Francois van Wyk
18 Vilikesa Sela (debut)
19 Charlie Ewels
20 Ted Hill
21 Tom Carr-Smith
22 Orlando Bailey
23 Jaco Coetzee
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