Game Today (Bath - GP Semi)

[vinniechan]

I found the game surprisingly exciting despite the try count. We were a little bit headless in the first half (Crane and Castro distributing at the 10 channel says it all) but some tactical play and we slowly got the grip on the game.
Ben Youngs has come a long way this season.

[Owly tiger]

Stunning line-out performance and a Brian Moore-esque display from Chuter. Superb stuff!

[smalldell]

I went to the game and watched it again. What really caught my eye on the TV was the emmense amount of ground covered by the backs in defence. AA was running all over the place and although it was not our finest attacking performance I defy another team to defend for 80 minutes like we did.

Also, the lineout work was brilliant and a special mention for LD who I thought was outstanding.

[parkerd68]

Ben Youngs had a shocker - if he was lined up to be England's scrum half in Aus he won't be any more.

my Ben-loving mate (170-odd miles away in Newcastle!! summed it up perfectly - she said he looked like he just couldnt be bothered.

I rest my case, m'lud

Ah, the unbiased comments of a Harry Ellis fan! I too was disappointed with the kicks that got charged down. I feel that that was partly Ben's fault for not getting any support around the fringes to stop the blockers, but also the fault of those who should be patrolling those areas. I wouldn't say he couldn't be bothered. His run through the line out in the 2nd half and his subsequent staying on his feet Dan Hipkiss-like was very impressive showing commitment IMO, and his pass has improved immeasurably this season.

Still, we're all entitled to our opinions.

[hugh78]

any way you look at it sheer :censored: mindedness, great defense and pride has got us to the final.

Ben actually looked as if he was under orders to box kick everything in our half and we were just backing ourselves to break down any attack that came from their half. Risky but it paid off.I think we may see the same against Sarries because our main strength all year has been our defense, so it makes sense to use it positively as part of the game plan! This will make for seriously nail biting watching.

One day Bath will stop trying to run everything out of their own 22 against us. This may work against teams with looser defenses but not against a team who have only shipped 18 tries all season.

[hww27]

actually to be fair on Ben I didnt think he was all that bad..!!! However no-one's perfect - he did make a few mistakes but hey thats life. He's done well for us this season (yes, even this Harry fan admits that!!!) and its inevitable he would have a dodgy game at some point.

I didnt actually think he looked like he couldnt be bothered - it was my mate who loves Ben and thinks he can do no wrong ever who said that!!!

[Duckdee]

I was worried when Bath were outperforming our scrum to start with, but glad to see we got it sorted.

[PinBath]

As a Bath fan, through & through, I was so disappointed with the result. But, despite the (at times) appalling refereeing (against both sides) I believe the better side won on the day.

Pearson's insistence on going to the video ref for Tigers second penalty was totally wrong - I was sat right behind the post and it was wide. The other linesman, who was marking that upright, said it was wide but Pearson "over-ruled" him and wanted to go to the fourth official. How can a TV view, from a different angle, show if it is over?? Bizarre & wrong!! In the end it didn't make a difference, but it could have.

Anyway, bleating over. Well done to Tigers and thanks for another great season of competition between the two best clubs in England.

Now, make sure you stuff the Rent-o-Boks in the final.

See you next season!

Allez Bath!

[tigerburnie]

Only watched the highlights on tv,but it showed barf were repeatedly off side at the ruck and only saw them get pinged once.Barf front row didn't bind at all,at least we tried a couple of times.So it's all evened out in the end.

[mike]

A proper game of Rugby , at times exciting with the best atmosphere this Season . Forwards did much better this week and although Louis Deacon seems to struggle at International level I feel much more confident when he is in our Pack - he provides the ballast so that the Crofts and Moodys can play their own game .
Defensively we were very good again but in terms of attack - well , it was almost non existent .Take away Flood and Youngs our backs have no flair or pace whatsoever .Allen and Smith must be one of the least threatening centre pairings we've had for years and hopefully next season our Backs Coach ( assuming we do have one) will wake up and sort things out . Billy at 12 and Manu at 13 would be a start .
I'm more confident of beating Sarries than Saints - 10 man rugby for the Final I think.

[Bill W (2)]

Billy at 12 and Manu at 13 would be a start .
.

For which GP side?

[Tyzot]

After the game a group of us were stood next to the tunnel under the Crumbie having a chat and were approached by first Hape and then Lee Mears, who both said well played today and told us that they wanted us to wallop Sarries in the final - The Bath fans we spoke to said the same thing, so perhaps we'll attract more support from the "neutrals" than usual at Twickenham.

Came over as top blokes by the way.

Another observation - did anyone else see the Bath fan asking players for their socks (or any other spare kit for that matter) as they were leaving - first off I thought he was offering a laundry service! He got at least one set (Luke Watsons I think).

[Purebob]

Tyz

I think that's why Bath are such rivals to us: we're very similar clubs. I've never had a shred of an issue with a Bath fan at a game, and all the tales I hear of Bath players are similar to yours. No tiaras and tantrums.

I guess it must have taken a special club to attract Moodos from France and big money...

And I agree that we have an unusual amount of neutral goodwill in this final. Saffies get up peoples noses.

[Granby]

Ben Youngs had a shocker - if he was lined up to be England's scrum half in Aus he won't be any more.

The trouble for Ben - who I would have as England no 9 - is that the errors that he made are just the type that will have convinced the England coaches that he should be left to gain more experience in club rugby, with the hope that he might just be ready for the 2015 RWC or more likely 2019.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Watched the game yesterday & to be honest we didn't try to play too much Rugby, agree with the comments about our centres going forward but in defence they were top drawer (esp Smith who is far superior to Hipkiss in defence & IMHO matches him in attack).

One would hope that sense will prevail & Johne will start in front of Alex in the final & that our back play will finally at some point in the future match our forward play.

Crane played better than for some time & its was also the best Crofts been all season.