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Three players that you need to watch in tonight's game between Bristol Bears and Bath
There are less than six hours until the Gallagher Premiership begins for the 2018/2019 season, and the clash between Bristol Bears and Bath appears to be extremely competitive to say the least.
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Bristol Bears, having being promoted from the Championship last year, will be looking to hit the ground running under the watchful eye of head coach Pat Lam. The club based in the south-west, have high hopes this year of a successful season with some key high profile signings. However it will be a tough start to the year, facing a team that has equally ambitious goals in the form of Bath.
Bath should at the very least be aiming to secure Champions Cup rugby, after finishing the 2017/2018 season at a disappointing sixth place. Like Bristol, the Somerset club have also made a string of strong signings and this should hold the club in good standing coming into a long and arduous season.
It would be difficult for anyone to predicts tonight’s match, but we will attempt to pinpoint some of the key players who can win the game for each team.
Continue reading below…
We take a look at three players who we believe will make a decisive difference in the match for both teams.
Joe Cokanasiga (Wing)
This will be the first Premiership match for the 20-year-old since his move from newly-relegated London Irish. Cokanasiga scored for the men in blue during the final pre-season game against Scarlets last week after intercepting the ball from halfway and easily cruising through under the sticks.
Standing at 6ft 3 and weighing in at almost 18st, the Fijian-born winger has been likened by many to Matt Banahan. However, speed is what really draws Cokanasiga apart from his peers, with the ability to beat any defender in a footrace.
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We are sure that there will be a big impact from this player at some stage during the match and he is certainly one to keep an eye on.
George Smith (Openside Flanker)
At 38 years of age, Smith is undoubtedly one of the most experienced heads in World Rugby. Smith has become known around the rugby world for his unbelievable work ethic around the pitch, and that has not changed a bit despite his age. The former Australia international has played for Toulon, Wasps and the Reds along with many other clubs, however this new challenge appears to be different from the rest.
Bristol Bears are without a doubt, ‘the new boys’ on the block and Smith will have to face up to some of England’s most promising back-rows this season.
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We are sure that you will witness some Smith magic tonight so make sure to keep an eye out for him on the flank.
Sam Underhill (Openside Flanker)
English rugby has been blessed to have such a talented youngster at their disposal. The 22-year-old Bath player will be hoping recapture some of the form that he had from the start of last season, when he single-handedly bulldozed many of the teams that he came up against in the Premiership.
His defence is without a doubt his greatest asset and you can be sure to see some big hits from this man. His England debut came in Novemeber of last year, when he made a series of crunching hits on the Argentinian team that he came up against. Underhill would be well worth considering adding to your Premiership Fantasy team for the amounts of completed tackles that he gets through in a game. (Scroll down to the bottom to find the link.)
Underhill is still young and he faces a tough test in his opposite number, George Smith tonight. It will definitely a tale of youth vs experience and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
Tonight’s clash is a tantalising one to say the least, so make sure to catch the game LIVE on www.RugbyPass.com or if you can’t manage that then catch all the updates and statistics here – https://bit.ly/2PRLw4v
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
10 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
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