Leicester Tigers Vs Bath Rugby Preview.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal & Jack Makepeace
TMO: David Grasshoff
Citing Commissioner: Tony Diprose
HEAD TO HEAD
Played:72
Tigers win
Bath wins: 29
Draws: 5
LAST 3 MEETINGS
25/1/20 Premiership: Bath 13-10 Tigers
5/10/2019 Premiership Rugby Cup: Bath 7-18 Leicester
18/05/2019 Premiership: Tigers 31-32 Bath
Last weekend both teams gave a good account of themselves. Although differing results.
Bath ran out fairly comfortable winners 34-17 over London Irish at The Rec as Leicester made the
trip down the M5 to Sandy Park to play Exeter, where the hosts got a hard-fought 26-13 win.
I saw a big improvement in the Tigers’ performance, especially in the first 40, even with a few
lesser-known names such as winger David Williams, full-back George Worth and back-rower
Tommy Reffell in the starting line up. Although a couple of the more experienced heads impressed
me, the likes of Dan Cole, the Youngs brothers and former Bath fly-half George Ford really took
the game by the scruff of the neck before Exeter's organisation and cohesion shone through to
take the win in the second half. I asked Tigers supporters Dan Pennington & Shaun Gibson for
their thoughts on the game;
“Definitely an improvement. The first 35 minutes were brilliant and even when Exeter took charge
a bit, we stayed in the game and heads didn’t drop. Definite shouts of recovery” Dan also shared
his thoughts on the fixture this coming Saturday;
“I’m expecting a close game, any little extra improvement will be welcomed. The same level of grit
and intensity and we’ll be in the hunt, but Bath are looking good. Saturday is a good chance to
run out a few new plans before next season” said Dan.
Shaun added;
“The way I saw it was very positive. First 20-25 our defence was very aggressive and knocking
Exeter back for 6 phases a number of times. The line-out has been a major issue for a few
seasons but it is already much improved. Clear signs of Borthwick’s signature. They (the players)
seem much fitter and didn’t let going behind dampen the spirits and they kept going”
I agree with Dan I think the game is going to
be tight and how the two scrum-halves get
on maybe the difference on the day. Ben
Spencer (left) really impressed on his debut,
scoring the first try of the game running in
from his own 22 after intercepting a Curtis
Rona offload. Spencer also controlled the
game well with the speed of ruck ball he
produced. He was calm and patient when
needed and quick and zippy when attacking
in and around the 22. His box kicking was
exceptional. You can see the influence
Richard Wigglesworth has had on him. The
Bath game plan under Stuart Hooper this season has been what many consider as ’10 Man Rugby’ and to do this effectively you need a
quality half-back partnership. With the addition of Spencer, we are well on the way to having just
that. He’s going to get the chance to be the first
choice 9 and the general every pack needs. On
the other side of the coin, nobody knows how
to control a game at Welford Road better than
Ben Youngs (right).
I anticipate minimal changes from Bath, with
the changes coming next week with
Wednesday's trip to Franklins Gardens. I’m
predicting a change in the second row. With
Josh McNally, who was hooked off at half time
against Irish dropping out of the 23 altogether
with Elliot Stooke being promoted from the
bench and returning academy graduate Will
Spencer coming onto the bench against his
former employers. Also would not be surprised if
the loose-heads swapped places. With Obano coming into start and Lewis Boyce dropping to the
bench. Saying that, Lewis Boyce did absolutely nothing wrong, but with the impact, Beno had off
the bench I think it's hard not to start him this week.
Leicester Tigers vs Bath Rugby or Bath Rugby vs Leicester Tigers has always been special,
especially for my family as my wife, Hannah and her family (for some reason and for their sins
support the Tigers)
Bath Supporter Ryan North is looking forward to the game.
“ So Leicester Tigers away at Welford Road. For a long time, those words would strike fear into
most Bath fans. But Bath have won there the last two seasons by small margins and despite
Leicester being at the bottom end of the table it’ll be another tight affair. There’s bound to be
squad rotation with the Northampton Saints game on Wednesday night and I’m interested to see
what kind of side Bath put out with the way the table is. I’m going Bath by 4 COYB!”
So all in all supporters of both sides think it will be tight and looking at the results of the last 3
times the sides have met then that would suggest it’ll be the case again on Saturday. Bath by 6.
By Tom Dabinett for BathBytes
(twitter: @tomdabs)
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