Last season for Bath Rugby was plagued by inconsistency.
Bath's good home form deserted them on the road, whilst positive Cup runs fell
agonisingly short of silverware. Understandable then that the coaching
philosophy at the start of their new Premiership campaign is very much about
building consistency, not just this season, but for years to come.
Bath 1st team coach, Toby Booth, speaking at the first media
briefing of the 2013/14 season, was keen to emphasise the "new".
New new players like Alafoti Fa'osiliva, George Ford, Micky Young and Martin
Roberts have been added to the squad, along with the high profile signing of
Gavin Henson. So for Toby and the rest of the coaches, one of the most
important aspects of pre-season is integrating the old and the new.
"Pre-season is about testing new elements of
theoretical play. Seeing where players are, from a form point of view. Seeing who's staking
a claim for that first team shirt."
On the pitch, Bath's preseason form has seen two wins and
one defeat. Yet, Toby was keen to put these performances into perspective.
"We've been pretty dominant in a lot of our preseason
games despite the result (a 22-20 defeat to Newport Gwent Dragons). We had a
couple of tries not given, there was no TMO at the game and we had a kick to
win the game. So we're not as worried about the results."
Whilst appreciating the importance of getting results
pre-season, in terms of building confidence, Toby was more interested in
assessing how the side are performing.
"We want to make sure we are good fundamentally. Good
defence, good set-piece. Making sure we can play the brand of rugby we want to
play and be positive."
Toby characterises that brand of positive rugby as the
"Bath way"; a committed, attacking
and, most importantly, consistent style of play.
"We've developed very much over pre-season the new Bath way. If we can get those
things right, we will be in every contest. We want to be successful and we want
to bring silverware to Bath."
Is that ambition realistic? Bath came close last season,
reaching the Amlin Cup quarter finals and LV Cup semi finals. Yet, despite
their Cup exploits, poor league form resulted in a 7th place finish, just below
the last prestigious Heineken Cup place.
"Your team reflects the ambition of the coaches and the
organisation. We are an ambitious organisation, we don't enter into anything to
make up the numbers."
Reasons to be cheerful, if you are a Bath fan, but Toby
recognises that with the club's commitment
to "developing players that will pull on the blue, black and white for the
next 5, 6, 7 years", fans can expect "some bumps along the
way". Whilst silverware remains the ultimate goal, securing Heineken Cup
rugby this season would certainly represent progress, a realistic ambition if
the team can put last season's inconsistent
form behind them.
Toby Booth was talking to Ian Nockolds, Somer Valley FM
sports show presenter. Somer Valley FM broadcast weekly interviews with Bath
Rugby players and coaches, every Tuesday evening at 6:45 pm.
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