England's Bath bias difficult to justify

IF England's international selection is meant to be a meritocracy it is hard to understand how Bath managed to have the biggest contingent alongside Leicester for the second of England’s World Cup warm-up training weeks.

- NICK CAIN

Both teams had eight players in the squad, despite Leicester finishing third in the table and making the play-offs, whereas Bath finished in eighth place. It is pertinent that Bath were bottom of the Premiership until a late winning run in their last four league fixtures.

It is also worth recording that this included a 61-21 home victory in their last league fixture over a Saracens second/third team picked in order to keep their first-string outfit fresh for the Premiership final against Sale.

This number of Bath training squad selections is jarring considering that the club finished last in the Premiership in 2021-22, and seventh in 2020-21, meaning that they have been in the bottom half of the table for the last three years.

Their performance for a big-spending club which is bankrolled by Bruce Craig, one of the richest owners in the Premiership, has been at best inconsistent, and generally mediocre. Yet, somehow, as England prepare for the 2023 World Cup, no less than six forwards in a serially underperforming Bath pack are on the England training roster for the second week running.

It is justifiable speculation that this will increase their chances of making the 33-man World Cup squad Red Rose head coach Steve Borthwick announces on August 7.

Borthwick, who captained Bath during his playing career, has raised eyebrows already by transplanting virtually the whole coaching team he had at Leicester to Twickenham.

Borthwick has taken a similarly narrow view in choosing Bath props Beno Obano and Will Stuart, hooker Tom Dunn, lock Charlie Ewels, and flankers Ted Hill and Sam Underhill.

In addition, he has kept two backs from last week’s preliminary Bath training contingent of nine – wing Joe Cokanasiga and injured centre Ollie Lawrence – and only scrum-half Ben Spencer released.