Bath starts their quest to be the best rugby club in Europe today as the biggest club rugby tournament, the European Rugby Champions will see qualified teams from France, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland square off to decide which is the best in the continent. It will also see which of the three European competitions (Top 14, Pro 14, English Premiership) is the strongest as there will be some bragging rights. Bath will have a chance to prove that they are a strong side and to make a deep run in the tournament. Let's take a look at Bath's Pool and their fixtures.
Teams in Pool A with Bath
Bordeaux
Leinster
Wasps
Edinburgh
Toulon
La Rochelle
Sale
Scarlets
Dragons
Montpellier
Northampton
The top four clubs here advance to the quarterfinals, while the squads ranked 5th-8th will move to the European Rugby Challenge Cup. Leinster, Bordeaux, Toulon, Edinburgh, and Scarlets are all strong sides and will battle for the top four, but Wasps and Sale from the Premiership are going to try and take claim as well. Bath is in a tough spot as there are so many good sides vying for the quarterfinals. Bath will luckily have to play against two squads.
Fixtures
Match One: Scarlets (home)
Match Two: La Rochelle (away)
Match Three: La Rochelle (home)
Match Four: Scarlets (away)
La Rochelle is currently second in the Top 14 table, but have yet to play their fifth match which would have them likely tied with Toulouse if they win that fifth fixture. They're definitely a strong side with Will Skelton, Victor Vito, and Tawera Kerr-Barlow on the club, plus with a lot of Frenchmen on the side that has helped France into a lethal competitor in the Six Nations.
Scarlets are another good side and probably the strongest of the Welsh sides as they will assuredly will make things difficult for Bath. Jake Ball, Leigh Halfpenny, and Gareth Davies lead this strong team as they will cause problems for the Bath defense. Scarlets currently sit third in their conference behind Munster and Connacht respectively as they are in a very tough conference in the Pro 14.
It's hard to get a gauge on what Bath will do, but what they need to do is completely different. The best team in the Pool is undoubtedly Leinster and are likely to take the top spot, however, Bath is going to have competition here. Essentially, Bath is going to have to win out and win big too. Scarlets are banged up and that should benefit, but La Rochelle seems to be fully fit. It remains to be seen how they do, but this should be very tough to earn a quarterfinals spot, especially with the new format.
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