Sale v Bath Fri 7.45

[fivepointer]

Watson back for Bath which is very good news.

Sale: L James, Solomona, S James, O'Connor, Ashton, MacGinty, De Klerk; Harrison, Webber, John, Beaumont, Phillips, B Curry, T Curry, Ross.

Replacements: Langdon, Moroz, Jones, Postlethwaite, Strauss, Cliff, Redpath, Reed.

Bath: Watson, Cokanasiga, Joseph, Roberts, McConnochie, Burns, Fotuali'i, Obano, Dunn, Lahiff, Attwood, Ewels, Ellis, Underhill, Mercer.

Replacements: Walker, van Rooyen, Perenise, Douglas, Stooke, Chudley, Priestland, Rokoduguni.

[Raggs]

Bath with Watson in the unfamiliar fullback position eh...

[Which Tyler]

From the start is a big statement, most (including myself) expected him on the bench with Homer starting and Roko given an extra week

[Mellsblue]

It’s a shock to have him out of position after such a long time out. You’d think they’d want to ease him in somewhere more familiar.

[Banquo]

assuming Watson is going to get fully back to his best and ditto Roko, where McConnachie fits will be interesting. Homer looked in very good nick too.

[Which Tyler]

assuming Watson is going to get fully back to his best and ditto Roko, where McConnachie fits will be interesting. Homer looked in very good nick too.

I wish we had the same problem with the half-backs

[Banquo]

assuming Watson is going to get fully back to his best and ditto Roko, where McConnachie fits will be interesting. Homer looked in very good nick too.

I wish we had the same problem with the half-backs

In theory Freddie and Priestland are a pretty formidable pair of options. 9..well...

[Digby]

I'm sure someone on here is a fan of Chudley, that sounds like an accusation I'd make of Puja or perhaps p/d

Mind I didn’t see Fotuali'i falling off a cliff in performance levels

[Puja]

I'm sure someone on here is a fan of Chudley, that sounds like an accusation I'd make of Puja or perhaps p/d

Mind I didn’t see Fotuali'i falling off a cliff in performance levels

I actually thought he'd do really well at Bath, but it's really not happened this season. He's a very good Prem player at his best.

Puja

[Oakboy]

assuming Watson is going to get fully back to his best and ditto Roko, where McConnachie fits will be interesting. Homer looked in very good nick too.

But, Watson is fully back at fully back???

[Banquo]

I'm sure someone on here is a fan of Chudley, that sounds like an accusation I'd make of Puja or perhaps p/d

Mind I didn’t see Fotuali'i falling off a cliff in performance levels

he is pretty ancient now tho...

[twitchy]

Great to see watson back.

[Digby]

I'm sure someone on here is a fan of Chudley, that sounds like an accusation I'd make of Puja or perhaps p/d

Mind I didn’t see Fotuali'i falling off a cliff in performance levels

he is pretty ancient now tho...

Very true, but still he flipped almost overnight

[Which Tyler]

I'm sure someone on here is a fan of Chudley, that sounds like an accusation I'd make of Puja or perhaps p/d

Mind I didn’t see Fotuali'i falling off a cliff in performance levels

he is pretty ancient now tho...

Very true, but still he flipped almost overnight

Yup, he joined, played very well for 14 months, signed a new contract, and lost all semblence of form

[Scrumhead]

How old is he? Must be pushing 35 now so not hugely surprising to see him tailing off.

[Which Tyler]

How old is he? Must be pushing 35 now so not hugely surprising to see him tailing off.

36, and there was no "tailing off" about it, his form went from challenging DeKlerk to challenging Allison in about a week.
NB, there may be shiny of exaggerating for effect in this post, but he did go from stupidly good to stupidly bad stupidly quickly

[Digby]

There was always a healthy level of physicality to what Fotuali'i brought to the game, and I think everyone expected he'd have to manage a certain amount of tailing off, but seemingly he hasn't been able to draw on his experience he was just suddenly a shadow of what was

I'd be interested to know if Blackadder was trying to have him do something a little different to support a shift in Bath's tactics or whether it's all him

Sad to see frankly, when he was first at Bath he was arguably the most influential performer in the league

[Banquo]

There was always a healthy level of physicality to what Fotuali'i brought to the game, and I think everyone expected he'd have to manage a certain amount of tailing off, but seemingly he hasn't been able to draw on his experience he was just suddenly a shadow of what was

I'd be interested to know if Blackadder was trying to have him do something a little different to support a shift in Bath's tactics or whether it's all him

Sad to see frankly, when he was first at Bath he was arguably the most influential performer in the league

Not so sad, he's 37 next month and had an excellent career, with a great indian summer in reality. The only regret he may have is taking so long to really make the grade.

[16th man]

Jesus wept but the reffing is all over the place.

[16th man]

So Curry getting away with not releasing balances out Bath flopping all over Sale's ball a couple of minutes ago.

[16th man]

Terrible game.

[Which Tyler]

For anyone still thinking Coka is just big, turned and caught Solomona.


Unfortunately the best thing that's happened for Bath.

[Which Tyler]

Thank fuck that's over

[Tigger]

Thank fuck that's over

What he said....

[Adam_P]

Sounds like BT chose the right game to put on