Bath Rugby Fans Abroad

International Bath Rugby Radio

2005-12-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

Joe Maddock crosses the tryline on a soggy pitch at the Rec in Bath's 21-12 victory over Gloucester.

It would appear that being put in my blog is good luck for Bath ruggers. Danny Grewcock, featured in the margin to your left has had a stellar year, and Joe Maddock (who hasn't really been playing well in the past year) manages to score a try after a picture of him appears on my blog. Coincedence? Um, yes, absolutely. But still, it's good to see Bath win.

It was even better to HEAR Bath win. While doing some homework on Saturday I tuned in to the the BBC Sport's Live Radio Broadcast of the match. It was fun to listen to English announcers again, even if it was the Gloucester crew.

For a full match report, read Dom Rumbles' report.

Til next time

GO YOU BATH

Tom the Yank
nworbxela

Quick notes

2005-12-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

A couple of quick notes:

1. As you can tell, this blog is undergoing some architecture changes, will be complete soon
2. Had the oppurtunity to listen to the Bath v Gloucester match this past Saturday, recap will be up later today or tomorrow
3. a couple of polls and maybe some focused advertising coming soon
4. I'm including this link for people interested in outdoor trampolines chester.

Til then
GO YOU BATH

Tom the Yank
nworbxela

nworbxela

2005-12-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

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Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I feel much better. This post doesn't make much sense to anyone outside of my Infotech class, so I feel I should explain it. My professor is conducting an experiment with google, and nworbxela is the key word. The odd keyword comes from is his name spelled backwards (Alex Brown).

nworbxela

Digging through the photo album...

2005-12-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

Found this photo of Joe Maddock and I following a defeat to NEC Harlequins at the Rec in the spring of 2004. Joe was a very nice guy, and kind enough to take a few photos and answer a few questions. Here's hoping he returns to the form he once played at in his NPC days (that's New Zealand's National Premier Championship.) He's not normally in the starting XV, but is a good fullback who hasn't quite re-discovered his touch. Best of luck to him, he's a genuinely nice guy.

GO YOU BATH
Tom the Yank
nworbxela

Bath fall late to champion Wasps

2005-11-22T14:35:00.000-05:00

One of many hard scrums that took place during Bath's 28-20 defeat to London Wasps at Causeway Stadium.

Our little Bath team, without 6 internationals and 1oth on the table took on Wasps and almost came away victorious. In fact, at the half Bath was tied with the champs at 11 all. And then it fell apart. A couple of penalties made, Wasps charging down a kick to get great field position and an ensuing 5-meter scrum and the rest is disappointing history. Bath didn't even manage to salvage a point out of the debacle. Sad times, especially for John Connolly in his second-to-last game for Bath. Match report by Dom Rumbles.

Congrats to Wasps winger Neil Baxter, who scored 2 tries on the day. In addition to being a solid rugby player, he is also an American Football player. He was recruited to go to training camp in Germany for the NFL Europe.

GO YOU BATH
Tom the Yank

A draw's ok by me

2005-11-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

Michael Stephenson hit a drop-goal to draw a tough match against Saracens, 12-12.

Still minus 5 England Test players, as well as Salesi Finau, Chris Malone, Frikkie Welsh, David Flatman and Martyn Wood through injury, getting a draw against a resurgent Saracens side is no small feat. According to math reports, neither team really played anything close to cracking rugby, instead both teams settled for penalty kicks when they couldn't make tries happen. I'm sure John Connolly is not elated with a draw, but being relaistic man I'm sure he's happy to have the points in the standings (Bath currently being 10th of 12.)
Speaking of John Connolly, his run as Head Coach for Bath Rugby is coming to an end. His final match will be against Leeds Tykes. He will be replaced by Brian Ashton. Ashton will officially take office on New Years Day.

GO YOU BATH
Tom the Yank

When England calls, Bath falls

2005-11-06T23:14:00.000-05:00

Joe Maddock is brought to ground in Bath's 13-36 defeat at the hands of London Irish.

Well, as it turns out losing 5 players to international duty and another few to injury will catch up with you. Had we had the services of resurgent locks Danny Grewcock and Captain Steve Borthwick, who knows what would have happened. Sadly, the match is already over with a dissappointing outcome. Here's hoping Bath can turn it around, I've quite gotten use to winning.
Congrats to former England test star Mike Catt for a match well played, as well as a try.

Speaking of Danny Grewcock, I was surprised to find that there's a wikipedia article on him. Much is made of his alleged apetite for all-blacks in the entry.

GO YOU BATH

Tom the Yank

England calls

2005-11-03T23:06:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to locks Danny Grewcock and Captain Steve Borthwick, Lee Mears and Matt Stevens and Olly Barkeley. All were called up to the England 22-man squad to face Australia at Twickenham. Best of luck!

GO YOU BATH!
Tom the Yank

Raise your hand if you like beating the French

2005-11-01T22:46:00.000-05:00

Danny Grewcock pounds home the final try of Bath's 39-12 victory over Burgoin.

With another fantastic effort, Bath takes full control over Pool 5 in the Heineken Cup. Lee Best was reputed to have had his best match in a Bath jumper with some fancy footwork, though he didn't get the try to show for it. No matter, a rousing victory none the less.
On a side note, being a lock myself, it's nice to see the heavier guys scoring tries. As such, congrats to Danny Grewcock and replacement lock James Hudson. A rather short match report can be found here.

For those of you paying attention, you know that I play rugby for the University of Delaware. Check out our site here.

GO YOU BATH

Tom the Yank

To Ireland! To Victory!

2005-10-29T23:19:00.000-05:00

Chris Malone demonstrates the strong defense Bath utilized in their 19-22 victory over Leinster.

Now for those kind folks reading this blog from across the pond, you may not understand the affinity many Americans have for Ireland. My family is descended from Irish immigrants, and I still have family living there. My favorite test team is quite easily Ireland (save your hate mail, I know they've been disappointing of late.)
So with all this to take into account, it was quite hard for me to support Bath in the face of some of my favorite players (Malcolm O'Kelly, Gordon D'Arcy) but I stuck with my club none the less. It would appear I was rewarded for my loyalty. Bath played a smashmouth defense with occasional (and ever more frequent) kicking brilliance from Olly Barkeley and Chris Malone (seen above dropping the hammer on some poor ball carrier.) Bath continues it's march through the Heineken Cup, and club supporters couldn't be happier. At least I believe so, there aren't many other GP or Heineken Cup fans around here. All the same, here's a match report by Dom Rumbles.

I know I've linked to them before, but Allez Bath is a great site to get in touch with other Bath fans.

As always,
GO YOU BATH!

Tom the Yank

Alright, finally...

2005-10-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

England's Test Lock Daniel Grewcock hammers the Gloucester defense.

Alright, to the big match. We beat Gloucester with only 14 men. By all accounts an ugly match, but there's no room in the Win/Loss column for a description. All that matters is the W. If there were room for descriptions, we'd be sure to include Chris Malone's 55 meter drop goal as well as Olly Barkeley hitting a 50 metre penalty to win the game in the dying moments (on a sore ankle, no less.)

For a much better, and rather poetic recap of the game, turn to Dom Rumbles writing on bathrugby.com.

Can't say enough about Everytime Ref, Everytime. They're a group of Bath Rugby supporters organized over a message board. They've their own songs as well as a rugby club. Most of them live in and around Bath, so they've the freshest information on goings-on within the city.

As Always,

GO YOU BATH!

Tom the Yank

Some administrative details

2005-10-19T12:55:00.000-05:00

As you can see, I have CSS up and running. Wonders never cease. I've also managed to add a sitemeter at the bottom, as well as contact info on the sidebar.
I'm going to have to put off updating the blog regarding the huge win over gloucester until later in the week, I've a huge test tonight at 7pm and haven't the time to do the proper updates. Hope all is going well with everyone out there in the blogosphere (assuming anyone is reading this.)

GO YOU BATH!
Tom the Yank

News and Notes

2005-10-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

14 man victory over Gloucester. Gloucester has still not won at the Rec. I would have done anything to see it. All the same, if someone can refer me to a site with highlights from the match or even better the whole match itself I'd be grateful. Big update coming later in the week, with notes on the game, photos and some site tweaks. I can't do much of it now, as I'm using a library computer and many of the windows features I need have been disable for security purposes.
I'm learning to use style sheets, and it's not the easiest thing in the world. So far, the site has a different look to it, not quite sure how much i like it. Remember, big update round wednesday or so.

GO YOU BATH!

Tom the Yank

Look who's next

2005-10-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

Frikkie Welsh breaks free for a try in Bath's 20-27 victory over Ospreys

I'd like to focus on the fact that we won away. I'd like to focus that Olly Barkeley has continued his fantastic footwork with 4 penalties. But now we get to play Gloucester for a semi-final berth in the Powergen Cup. I have to find a way to see this match. Someone, please help me out here. Anywhere in the Philly/Wilmington/Baltimore area.

Match review from the BBC

GO YOU BATH

Tom the Yank

Bath 1-0 in Powergen Cup, Defeats Bristol 25-10 at the Rec

2005-10-03T11:06:00.000-05:00

English international Olly Barkeley in one of his 5 penalties for Bath against Bristol, Bath won 25-10

Yes, we did face Bristol did face a somewhat inexperienced squad. Yes, Bristol coach Richard Hill chose to rest most of his regular XV, but the point should be made that we are now well on our way to the Cup. A win like this, in addition to the confidence generated by Olly Barkeley's 5 penalties (15 points for those of you keeping score at home) can really propel side into further victory. Also, well done to Frikkie Welsh for coming off the bench to score a try after running the full ;ength of the pitch. Leave your thoughts in the comments section. I had some trouble tracking down the match report on the bathrugby.com site, so enjoy a brief review from the rugby union fans at the BBC. As always

GO YOU BATH!
Tom the Yank

Conquering the North!

2005-09-27T00:41:00.000-05:00

Tight-head Prop Matt Stevens dives in the corner for one of Bath's 4 tries

Yes. Yes. YES! Sweet victory in Northampton, with a bonus point to boot! Stellar play by the forwards led to the tries, scored by Scaysbrook, Stevens (above), Wood and Feau'nati. You can read the match report to make sure you're aware how back to form this side is! What's more, the conditioning of the team is showing as the big breaks for Bath came during the second half. Bath is going to be dangerous for the Powergen Cup, and I look forward to reading more and trying to catch a few highlights on the web. If you know off any good sites, please leave a comment with the link. I'm having real trouble actually watching our favorite team.

Also, I'd like to leave a plug for Bath Rugby Supporters Club. Check their site out, whether you're in the west country or out somewhere in the world. join the forum, be heard!

Tigers Roar Late in Bath Defeat

2005-09-20T00:08:00.000-05:00

French International David Bory shined despite Bath's away loss to Leicester, 40-26

We were down 17-6 and brought it back to 23-17. Amazing. Maybe we had a chance to win, perhaps if we hadn't started off on the back foot. We started off slow, fired up then poof, the chances of winning the match disappearedThe Tigers remembered how spectacular they can be when in form and proceeded to tack on tries at clip, eventually ending the second half at 40-26. I didn’t get to watch the match, but I’m sure it was both encouraging and disheartening for Bath fans everywhere. Though I agree with Coach John Connolly that it’s a “more encouraging performance,” the most encouraging performance for all of us would be a victory. Powergen Cup starts soon, let's hope to see the XV we've all been waiting for. Don't forget to take a look at the match report for a full synopsis on the game.

Go You Bath!

Tom the Yank

Bath Still Searching for First Victory

2005-09-13T12:31:00.000-05:00

Above: Fullback Matt Perry attempts to stop the bleeding in Saturday's loss to the Northampton Saints.

After dropping last Wednesday's close match 19-16 to newly promoted Bristol, Bath fans the world over were looking for a resurgent Bath side to rise against Saints. Sadly, they were dissappointed. On a soggy pitch at the Rec, Bath missed several important kicks and allowed Saints to take the match, 9-17. While it must be said Saints' Bruce Reihana's kicking boot was in fine form in monsoon conditions, Bath's failure to convert penalties into points made the home team's victory unlikely. The same situation occurred at Bristol, and calls in to question the abilities of the Bath's kicking corps. This is an issue that must be resolved prior to Bath's next match, away against the very dangerous Leicester Tigers.

Despite these low-lights, Bath excelled defensively, limiting former New Zealand All-Black captain Carlos Spencer to only one serious threat in the whole of the match. They also showed some promise in the attack, having one try bafflingly called back on a floating cross-field kick to Andy Beattie. However, if they can't find ways to consistently convert penalties, it could be a rough season for us Bath fans. All the same

GO YOU BATH!

~Tom the Yank

Match Reports available below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/4213878.stm
http://www.bathrugby.com/85_87.php

Welcome!

2005-09-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Bath Rugby Fans Abroad!

This blog will track the progress of Bath Rugby Club through the Guinness Premiership from the perspective of an American fan. For those of you who don't know, Bath is a city in the West Country of England. It's famed for it's Georgian architecture, Roman ruins and Bath Abbey. What's more, it's home of my favorite professional rugby club.
My name is Tom, and I play rugby at the University of Delaware, USA. I lived in West London in the spring of 2004 and travelled around Europe in that time. I played XV's with the Grasshoppers Rugby Club near Osterley, as well as watched plenty of the game on TV. I visited Bath towards the end of the 2004 Zurich Premiership season, and got to see the club take on the NEC Harlequins. Though they lost to the 'Quins, I became hooked on the team. I'm also doing this blog for course credit at my university, so be gentle in your comments. As I'll always do, I end this post with
GO YOU BATH!

~Tom the Yank