Bath Rugby

Rhys Priestland, the Welsh international fly-half, confirmed his move to Bath Rugby from the Scarlets on Tuesday.

Priestland will join up with the club after the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. But from both Bath’s point of view and Rhys Priestland’s, the move will prove to be a big mistake.

Bath already have a very good fly-half in George Ford who, at 22, is five years younger than Priestland and already a better player. In addition, Ford’s creativity and distribution make him a better fit for Bath’s expansive style of play than Priestland, who is a more conservative No. 10.

Ford has also been one of the reasons that Bath have improved so much in the past two years. As such, there was no need to sign Priestland. While it can be argued that adding another good player to the squad is reason enough, it could impact Bath’s fluidity in attack.

Neither would it be wise for Bath to rotate Ford and Priestland, as is sometimes the case with scrum-halves (Kahn Fotuali’i and Lee Dickson, for example, at Northampton).

The fly-half is the general and needs to provide the direction for the back line, arguably the whole team. Consistency at 10 is needed to allow the backs to flourish and for the team to settle on a game plan. Bath won’t succeed if they chop and change between Ford and Priestland.

If Bath wanted another fly-half to cover for Ford while he is away with England during the first half of the 2015-16 season because of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and future international fixtures, they should have opted for a 10 who would have been available to begin in September and who is not on his national team’s radar.

Rhys Priestland has fallen out of favour with Wales coach Warren Gatland and a section of the fans took to booing him in the Autumn Internationals.

It is understandable that he might want to leave Wales for rugby reasons, but moving to Bath is a big mistake for him. Priestland, we assume, wants to play for Wales after the World Cup but is moving to a club where he will likely be second choice and where his rival for the 10 jersey is the head coach’s son.

As former Bath player Jeremy Guscott commented on BBC Sport: "If I was a player of his calibre, Bath would not be the club I would join."

But if Priestland’s form is good enough (as Bath no doubt hope) for him to be in Wales’ squad beyond 2015, Bath will be faced with both their fly-halves being absent at the same time due to international commitments.

The one shining light for Bath (but not for Priestland) is that, under changes announced in August, by leaving Wales, Priestland would have to be deemed an exceptional circumstance by Warren Gatland in order to be picked for Wales.

However, the times when Bath really need to be at full strength—fixtures in the European Cup and the Premiership play-offs—they will be able to call on Ford.

Trophies are not won in the international window. If they wanted cover for Ford, it would make much more sense for Bath to sign an experienced fly-half no longer in the frame for international selection.

Bath also need to be wary of breaching financial fair play. Given the stringent salary cap in English club rugby, and the lucrative £500,000 deal reportedly given to rugby league convert Sam Burgess as per the Daily Telegraph, signing Priestland may detrimentally affect who Bath will be able to recruit in the future.

Bath, what is more, could have spent the money better on a position that they needed to strengthen. Their backs have great chemistry and their tight-five is powerful.

What they lack is back-row support for South African Francois Louw. Their proposed moved for Toulon’s Steffon Armitage, which fell through for financial reasons, would have been perfect.

Bath and Rhys Priestland have both made a big mistake.

Bath Rugby currently sit in third position in the Premiership, tied with Leicester Tigers on 64 points. With only two games left in the West Country club's push for the playoffs, young fly-half George Ford will be the key in taking the side to Twickenham.

Ford is the top points-scorer in the Aviva Premiership, racking up 215 points in 19 games for Bath, in a season where the 2011 IRB Young Player of the Year has come of age. The 21-year-old moved to link up with his dad, and Bath coach, Mike Ford in the summer and has been rewarded with ample game time and two full England caps this Spring.

His new club Bath are developing one of the most refined attacking games in the Premiership, and Ford is pivotal in its execution. He has been at the heart of all Bath's best moments in this campaign, marshalling their fearsome forward pack well and unleashing their impressive array of backs when the opportunities arise. For a young player, his decision-making is of the highest quality.

The trademark of Ford's game is his willingness to carry the ball to the defensive line, spotting a weakness and timing his pass to perfection to send a runner to exploit it. With Bath boasting bruising ball-carriers such as Matt Banahan and Semesa Rokoduguni, even the best defences will struggle to stop them once they latch onto a George Ford delayed pass.

Ford is not just an expert passer of the ball. His kicking game will be crucial in putting Bath in dangerous positions in their two tricky remaining Premiership games against fellow playoff contenders Northampton and Harlequins. A rare poor day from the kicking tee against Sale at the Rec in March showed that when Ford struggles, Bath struggle.

With Saracens and Northampton favourites to take the two home semi-final spots, Ford and Bath will have to take the tougher route to Twickenham. Bath will surely have to beat Harlequins away to secure their play-off place and to avoid an away tie against the unstoppable Saracens in the semis.  

While not the biggest fly-half, Ford's defence is also up there with the best in his position, according to World Cup winner and Mirror columnist Matt Dawson. These tackling skills will be closely examined in the tussle to reach Twickenham, but Ford has so far shown that he is up to the challenge.

Added to all these skills, Ford's footwork and his eye for a gap makes it clear that he is verging on being the complete package. The only remaining question marks surrounding George Ford are whether he can demonstrate his undoubted talent in the crucial matches. With Bath's tough run of fixtures, now is the time for Ford to answer those questions and take his team to Twickenham.

The Heineken Cup is always a spectacle. Whether you're a player, coach, or a fan.

Certain things can only make this spectacle even greater than already possible. Stepping out onto the great pitch of Stade Ernest Wallon in Toulouse has to be one of those things.

The players of Bath Rugby have that opportunity this Saturday in their emphatic return to the European stage.

Both places of great history in relation to their stature in the rugby world. Both eager to make a positive start to the new Heineken cup campaign.

Bath still have the taste of European glory after last year's Challenge cup win. Yet Toulouse have a void to fill where the Heinekin cup has not been for the last few seasons.

This now more than ever I feel is the time for Bath to really stand up and be counted. Their last Heineken cup stint was a fairly decent one, they still need to show this season in can be a memorable one.

Last season Bath wowed the fans with their style of play, yet just missed out on the Premiership title. They need to find that killing edge to put themselves into Europe's elite.  

The rugby they are playing at the moment in the Guinness Premiership has been defined at "total rugby" and they will need to take this to France with them.

Like their wine the French don't travel well, but in their own fortress you can see Bath having their hands full.

With a back-line ridden with talent who love to keep the ball moving, Bath will expect a smooth running game, which they have grown a custom to.

When he first joined Bath last season Butch James said he would love the chance to play in the Heineken Cup and play teams like Toulouse. I'm sure its the same for the rest of the Bath side.

There's a lot of guys out there who will be playing their first Heineken cup game, and they need to step up to the plate.

This weekend could define Bath's whole season, if they can go to Toulouse and return victorious it will show Bath are really ready to rumble and show they're ready to get some serious silverware in their trophy case in Bath.