Never too high, never too low 💙🖤🤍

BATH 26 - 27 EXETER Devastating. Congrats to Exeter. RIP the Bath Bomb - the physical dominance we showed in the first half was reversed in the second. Bench didn’t fire. Ultimately, there’s only one question that matters: why on earth didn’t we even attempt a drop goal?? 🤷🏻‍♂️🤯

Finn Russell injury update: - It’s the same calf injury; nothing new - The plan was to be back this week. But he trained Thursday and it wasn’t right - He’s hopeful that *if* we get to Twickenham, he’ll be fit #COYB

These are the days 💙🖤🤍 #COYB

Our boys for the semi-final 👇 💙 No Finn is big. Santi is world-class but this is his biggest test for Bath - lots on him and Spence to control the game. 🖤 No Pepper also a blow, but I like the starting/bench split in terms of game management and impact. We need the pack to dominate for 80 mins. 🤍 Huge match for Max, Ollie and Cam. Which centres outperform their opponents will go a long way to deciding this game. In JVG we trust 👊 #COYB

There’s a big selection call at 15 for Saturday. It’s exactly the sort of game we signed Santi for and tbf he’s probably had his best run of form the last month or so. But TdG is so reliable and was superb v Leicester. Think JvG will go Santi but it’s not a straightforward call

BATH 24 - 22 LEICESTER Home semi-final here we come! Gritty performance in a scrappy game. Starting pack really fronted up physically - du Toit the obvious standout but everyone was good. Probably our best defensive display for some time (albeit with limited wide threat) which was built on collision dominance. de Glanville superb, justifying the selection. Getting the home semi is massive. On we go! 💙🖤🤍

Leicester unsurprisingly strong. Gonna be a big test, especially at set piece and when Martin, Kata, Perese et al. come off the bench

Team for Leicester 👇 💙 Santi given the nod at 10. Donoghue is a star but think this is right - Carreras in good form and game management will be crucial 🖤 Heft over mobility given Tigers’ physicality - Barbeary starts with Molony and Richards on the bench 🤍 Unchanged 11-14 as we try to get some rhythm into the attack Massive game. Have a hunch we’ll be sharper and back on it #COYB

Bath are clearly not firing on all cylinders. But the doom and gloom after yesterday is odd. Bath without Finn Russell and Bath with Finn Russell are two of the most different beasts you could ever imagine. One of the best if not the best pickers of a pass in the world. He’s probably worth an extra try every five 22 entries. Literally the difference between winning and losing matches at this level. Do they need to up it. Of course. Is it over? Not by a long way.

Never nice to lose to Bristol and we need to improve in several areas. But ultimately it comes down to needing to beat Tigers at home- which may well have been the case even if we’d won. The challenge is helpfully simple now: go full beans and win 3 games. Keep the faith 💙🖤🤍

Team for Bristol 👇 💙 No Finn. Donoghue starts at 10. He’s more than capable of running the game 🖤 Mobile back row all designed to slow their ball down 🤍 The du Toit off the bench strategy seems over - it’s a first pick front row from the start now. Massive game. Very little margin for error now - time to get back on it #COYB

BATH 69 - 12 NEWCASTLE Never a serious contest but job done. Quite flat in third quarter but we turned it on in last 20. Arundell electric - both wings looking really sharp. Ted Hill excellent. Wonderful cameo from Max. Good to get back to winning ways. Now for a rest before a big month 💙🖤🤍

Niche observation from today was how much TCS’s kicking has improved. Some really accurate box kicks when he came on

Team for Newcastle 👇 💙 Really surprised by how strong this is. Expected far more rotation (only Lawrence and Kepu really rested?). But I suppose next week gives the time to rest 🤍 Great to see Max back, and some minutes for Cam. Having one of them at 12 is so key for our attack 🖤 We need a statement win to get back on track #COYB

Gutting for Horse after he looked back towards his best against Saints and Bordeaux. More encouraging about Max and Hennessey though 🤞🏼 somersetlive.co.uk/sport/oth…

Saturday’s results make today a huge opportunity for Bath. A BP win would take us top, with breathing space to third and all but sew up a play-off place. It’s going to be a properly tough test but this (and our last two games) should mean we have no shortage of motivation #COYB

Team for Sunday 👇 💙 Really the look of this. Great to have Cam and Big Joe back 🖤 5-3 split but tonnes of power on the bench. Interesting who will cover 8 - will we see Ted Hill there? (Or even Kepu?) 🤍 Butt and Lawrence key at 12-13 This feels like a really important game. A third loss in a row puts pressure on the run-in. But a win gives us breathing space and (with Newcastle next) allows us to give first-teamers two weeks off before Bristol, Leicester and the play-offs. Reckon we’ll be raring to go after last week #COYB

Think the biggest learning from Bordeaux is decision-making. We sometimes kept it tight too long (20 phases), sometimes went wide too quickly (on 2nd/3rd phase), and too often picked and went without support. There’s a separate challenge around execution in key moments, especially at the lineout. But if we use Sunday’s experience to sharpen our decision-making (and there’s no one I’d rather have making those calls than Spence and Finn), that’ll be the biggest positive takeaway for the Prem run-in