Bath vs. Harlequins - Friday 19.45

[Scrumhead]

Bath:

1. Cordwell
2. du Toit
3. Rae
4. McNally (c)
5. Williams
6. Ellis
7. Richards
8. Hughes
9. Spencer
10. Ojomoh
11. Muir
12. Redpath
13. Joseph
14. Hamer-Webb
15. Rokoduguni

16. Doughty 17. Vaughan 18. Verden 19. Spencer 20. Coetzee 21. Simpson 22. Butt 23. Prydie


Harlequins:

1. Garcia-Botta
2. Walker (c)
3. Collier
4. Symons
5. Tizard
6. Lamb
7. Wallace
8. Taulani
9. Care
10. Allan
11. Murley
12. Esterhuizen
13. Jones
14. David
15. Green

16. Riley 17. Els 18. Kerrod 19. Hammond 20. White 21. Gjaltema 22. Beard 23. Lynagh

Some surprises there … notably Ojomoh at 10. Strange when Redpath is at 12?

Quins team looks a lot more settled on paper, but we’re scraping the barrel in the back row.

[Puja]

10. Ojomoh
12. Redpath

Wow. That's certainly... a selection. Had no idea that Ojomoh could play 10, especially to a high enough level to keep Redpath at 12. Bath already screwed by injuries and then stitched up further by Eddie randomly selecting their last fit fly-half for a training camp. Who the hells is going to be place-kicking for them?

You'd've thought another hard game for that Bath team.

Puja

[Peej]

Yeah, I don't get the Ojomoh/Redpath decision. Quins backrow looks a little weak but a very strong backline as usual.

[Mikey Brown]

I don’t know how these things get handled but maybe as neither are really a 10 Redpath may have asked to have his best shot at the 12 jersey for Scotland in the 6 nations?

Quins team is strange. Seeing Garcia-Botta’s name always puts me on edge. Walker as captain ahead of Care or Symons is interesting. Lamb at 6… hmm.

[FKAS]

10. Ojomoh
12. Redpath

Wow. That's certainly... a selection. Had no idea that Ojomoh could play 10, especially to a high enough level to keep Redpath at 12. Bath already screwed by injuries and then stitched up further by Eddie randomly selecting their last fit fly-half for a training camp. Who the hells is going to be place-kicking for them?

You'd've thought another hard game for that Bath team.

Puja

I assume Spencer will kick. Agree very odd that Redpath is at 12 and Ojomoh at 10. Logic would have it the other way round unless Ojomoh is going to really surprise a lot of people with his skill set.

[fivepointer]

Roko at 15. Has he played there before?

Bath just having to muddle through. Neither of the young 12's has much (any?) experience at 10 but someone had to draw the short straw.

Hughes comes straight in at 8, which was always likely.

Quins short of a few as well, though you'd expect them to have greater togetherness.

[Puja]

10. Ojomoh
12. Redpath

Wow. That's certainly... a selection. Had no idea that Ojomoh could play 10, especially to a high enough level to keep Redpath at 12. Bath already screwed by injuries and then stitched up further by Eddie randomly selecting their last fit fly-half for a training camp. Who the hells is going to be place-kicking for them?

You'd've thought another hard game for that Bath team.

Puja

I assume Spencer will kick.

Ah, yes. Missed the incredibly obvious option there!

Puja

[Scrumhead]

I don’t know how these things get handled but maybe as neither are really a 10 Redpath may have asked to have his best shot at the 12 jersey for Scotland in the 6 nations?

Quins team is strange. Seeing Garcia-Botta’s name always puts me on edge. Walker as captain ahead of Care or Symons is interesting. Lamb at 6… hmm.

Quite possibly … Maybe it came down to who was better equipped to face off against Esterhuizen? I’d have thought Ojomoh, but Redpath is a good defender.

Lamb has played at 6 before and is better than Archie White, but we’re very depleted in the back row. We could really do with Lawday, Chisholm and of course Evans to be fit. I’d love to know what the ETA is on him, Lewies and Louw. Getting them all back would be a huge boost.

[Danno]

Bit of a disconnect from Green there. He's really not the player he was 6 months ago

Super def by Roko

We say this every winter but that pitch is disgraceful

[Magic_sponge]

Why would that not have been considered taking him (David) in the air by Muir then? No doubt there was no ill intent, but he was clearly in the air which caused him to knock it on.

[FKAS]

Why would that not have been considered taking him (David) in the air by Muir then? No doubt there was no ill intent, but he was clearly in the air which caused him to knock it on.

Yup. Simple penalty.

Bath have done so well to keep it tight and then just got opened up before half time.

[Magic_sponge]

Strange one so far. I think bath have done ok, like you say FKAS generally kept it tight. Quinns have just been error after error after a promising start.

David has been good. But in fairness to Quinns, look through the team sheet, this is not a premiership winning team on paper by any stretch. I know all teams lose something during international periods, but I think Quinns maybe rely on them more than most.

Agree on the point about green too... Maybe just needs a break? Perhaps switch David back to full back and bring lynagh on

[Magic_sponge]

Oh well at least I signed Muir for the fantasy team this week, that's the main thing!

[FKAS]

Yeah great and I've got Green and Care still in my side...

[Which Tyler]

Well there's a thing!

[Mikey Brown]

Some bizarre stuff amongst it, but fair enough. Nice to see Bath play well and we need to learn we can’t carry on playing like that and winning every week.

[FKAS]

I'm not really sure what happened here. Quins were awful and Bath kept it tight and squeezed out a win.

Nathan Hughes looked revitalised. One game at Hartbury and he looks desperate to impress.

[jimKRFC]

Sounds like Hughes had a good game, perhaps he should just sign one year deals so he doesn't get too comfortable and lose his edge!

[Puja]

Wow. Did not expect that result.

How did Ojomoh get on at 10?

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Wow. Did not expect that result.

How did Ojomoh get on at 10?

Puja

Surprisingly well TBH - rotating a lot with Redpath there, and I rather suspect, helped a lot by Spencer; but still trusted with the ball more than Bailey was at the end of last season.
But then I guess there was also an element of "what's the worst that could happen, that wouldn't happen anyway" which may have allowed a little freedom to try things.

I'm sure he'll have learned a hell of a lot from the experience, and hopefully the whole team will have earned a huge confidence boost from that, and remember what it's like to be top dogs (unbeaten in the Prem, 2022 ).
Sarries up next, so let's hope we're out to make amends for the hammering they gave us, rather than being brought back to earth with a rather large bump.

[fivepointer]

Bath deserved that. They defended stubbornly and never shirked the work. Not much in the way of finesse but if they can grind out some results at least that gives them something to build on.
Thought Ojomoh did well and Hughes made a very good impact. Could be a handy acquisition.
Quins have been playing poorly for a few weeks and could have lost any one of their last 3 games. Last night their luck ran out.

[twitchy]

Yeah bath played well. If nathan hughes put that much effort in every game he would be a top player. It's a shame he always just goes back into his comfort zone.

[Oakboy]

Yeah bath played well. If nathan hughes put that much effort in every game he would be a top player. It's a shame he always just goes back into his comfort zone.

With all the psycho-babble available to coaches these days, if nobody can find a recipe to keep Hughes motivated it is very odd. He was clearly fit and sharp physically. I think he has always been an intelligent player. Few others pick up and get through the middle of rucks like he does and he is sharper than most for spotting that the ball is out - often checking for the ref's approval with a grin on his face. Even half a dozen performances like that could help Bath a lot. The two crunching tackles on Green and Esterhuizen were splendid motivational moments for the other players - you couldn't hear them chortling but I bet they were.

[Banquo]

Yeah bath played well. If nathan hughes put that much effort in every game he would be a top player. It's a shame he always just goes back into his comfort zone.

With all the psycho-babble available to coaches these days, if nobody can find a recipe to keep Hughes motivated it is very odd. He was clearly fit and sharp physically. I think he has always been an intelligent player. Few others pick up and get through the middle of rucks like he does and he is sharper than most for spotting that the ball is out - often checking for the ref's approval with a grin on his face. Even half a dozen performances like that could help Bath a lot. The two crunching tackles on Green and Esterhuizen were splendid motivational moments for the other players - you couldn't hear them chortling but I bet they were.

Maybe its Hughes himself, so not so odd, really.