It’s been since the 1995-96 since Bath has won the Premiership and since 2014-15 to compete for another piece of hardware. So to say that the fans of the club have eagerly wanted to see the team make a run for a Premiership championship might be a bit of an understatement. However, with the decline of other clubs such as Gloucester and Leicester and with Saracens being relegated, Bath has an opportunity to become a strong club for many future seasons. How can they do that? Well here are some reasons for them to become that.
A Strong Scrumhalf Duo
Bath has a great duo at the 9 jersey whom can make any club salivate at the possibilities. The club had just signed Ben Spencer who made a significant impact playing for Saracens and is a world class player. Spencer is seen as the future starting scrumhalf for England, but his passing and his kicking are fantastic and knows how to score tries. Will Chudley on the other hand is an experienced and quality player who has also played some winning rugby at Exeter Chiefs. Chudley is quick with his distributions, controls the tempo well, and possesses speed. Having Chudley as a replacement to Spencer makes them formidable. Spencer is only 27 and Chudley is 30, so there is quite some time left for them to play great rugby. Having a talented player like Spencer and an experienced and competent one in Chudley makes them a deadly duo and they could make opposing defense’s frustrated.
Keep Beefing Up The Forward Pack
There’s a lot to like about the forwards for this club. After acquiring prop Juan Schoeman and lock Will Spencer, this team means serious business. The props have a lot of great talents like Beno Obano, Christian Judge, and Lewis Boyce, plus have experience in Nathan Catt and Henry Thomas, but they also have a standout in Will Stuart who has been one of the best in the Premiership even being called up to play in England’s Six Nations squad this 2020 tournament. Adding Schoeman makes them even better.
The hookers are pretty well set as Tom Dunn is a great player and there’s quality, depth, and experience in Ross Batty and Jack Walker. Batty might be 33 and time is running out, but he still provides some good rugby. Walker is 24 and has a lot of time in front of him to become a stud and the team seems to like him a lot as they gave him a contract extension.
The backrow is where their strength lies as there are a lot of world class and quality players there. Losing Francois Louw to retirement hurts, but there is a lot here for them to still be top notch. Sam Underhill and Taulupe Faletau are great players, but there is also Tom Ellis, Josh Bayliss, and Mike Williams who are great depth and good rugby players. However, both Zach Mercer and Miles Reid are highly underrated who can become world class soon.
The locks on the other hand are probably the weakest link of the entire squad. The addition of Spencer does give them a significant upgrade, Charlie Ewels is a great player, and both Elliott Stooke and Josh McNally are solid, but this part of the pack isn’t exactly a bunch of world beaters.
So, when looking at all four parts of the forwards, the team still has some work to do. Adding a world class player in the second row would be critical as lineouts are very important to matchup against. Another back row player would be great also as losing both Faletau and Underhill during international duty hurts a lot and it only beefs up the depth and quality as well. Getting another player for the back row might not seem crucial, but is a good safety net though academy product Nahum Merigan might be able to fill in that role soon. The same could be said in the front row for both prop positions and at hooker, but the hope is that academy product Tom Doughty will develop into a player that eventually replaces Batty. However, while there is a lot to like about the second row, it’s the glaring weakness of the pack and needs more upgrades. If Bath can do that, they will be a force in the scrum and having a strong scrum goes a long way in matches.
Continue To Invest In The Backs
The most exciting part of the club is their backs as there is a lot of talent there. The scrumhalf situation as mentioned is a great situation, but the wings, centers, and fullback situation is deep and super talented. The team already had Jonathan Joseph and the underrated and undervalued Max Wright (who also signed a contract extension) on the squad, but with newcomers Josh Matavesi and exciting youngster Cameron Redpath coming to play for the team, the midfield looks lethal. The wings and fullback look explosive too with world class players Anthony Watson and Joe Cokanasiga leading the charge, but also the speedster Ruaridh McConnochie and experienced Semesa Rokoduguni providing more options as well as Darren Atkins and academy product Gabe Hamer-Webb making this even more potent and versatile. With scrumhalf Ollie Fox and utility back Tom de Glanville coming up through the academy, there seems to be a lot to like there. It was disappointing to see the electric wing/fullback Tom Homer to leave, but there seems to be a lot of options and versatility in the backs that they would do just fine without him. However, they need to keep continuing to invest in their talented backs core if they want to stay competitive. Matavesi and Joseph are each 29 and Rokoduguni is 33, so they need to find ways to stay young and competitive too. Luckily in the academy, promising youngsters such as flyhalf Orlando Bailey, centers Will Butt and Max Ojomoh, and fullback George Worboys are rising through the ranks and could contribute soon. However, it doesn’t hurt to find other world class and quality backs when the older players start declining and can no longer contribute. That should lead to long term success.
Fix The Flyhalf Situation
Rhys Priestland is a good, solid flyhalf, but he is 33. While having Freddie Burns on the team was nice to have with his kicking and versatility, his departure makes the depth hurt. While de Glanville is listed as a flyhalf, he is young and will be utilized in other positions for the time being though he could develop into a great. A good rugby club has a great 9/10 combo as evidenced by how successful Saracens and Exeter have been and what the Sale Sharks have now. While it would be nice for Bailey and de Glanville into great flyhalves, just relying on them to become that is asking a lot. So, the logical thing to do is to find a world class flyhalf in the near future as that would be a key piece into making them as lethal as possible. There is the problem with the salary cap as that could limit what teams could afford, but a world class 10 is a priority for this club as that would push them to long term success.
Keep Finding Versatile Players
What will really help Bath in the future is being able to match up well against other clubs and one way to do about that is having a lot of versatile players. That will give Stuart Hooper more flexibility with his replacements and shuffling players on the pitch. In the backs, Atkins, de Glanville, McConnochie, Watson, Matavesi, and Redpath all provide options for Hooper and for him to get creative when moving players around the pitch depending on the teams they are playing. The forwards are a little interesting as despite a strong front row, there really isn’t any need to worry about versatility, but more depth, however it wouldn’t hurt having a couple players who could play at both loosehead and tight head prop. The second row is hard to get any flexibility there, but Williams could play there in a pinch if needed. As for the back row, there is three positions to play so while there might be a player who is stronger at one position, he could play all three. Underhill, Williams, Mercer, Reid, Ellis, and Bayliss can play all over the back row and it would seem likely Faletau would man the 8 position. However, if injuries do occur, someone can cover at another position. That being said, despite the club having plenty of versatility, Bath will need to continue to find those type of players anywhere they can. Developing them from the academy would be nice, but finding a player would be pretty nice. Versatility and depth are becoming more and more important as the sport continues to change.
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