Bath looked cemented in the top two of the Premiership before the start of the Six Nations, but three successive defeats have seen them drop to fifth and on Friday night they replay the fixture that ultimately cost them a place in the play-offs last season, Sale at home.
Bath finished fifth last season, level on points with Harlequins but having won one game fewer. A costly defeat came against Sale at The Rec, at the end of March rather than the beginning, going down by a point in a controversial finish in the rain.
It was their third consecutive league defeat to Sale, a run they ended in Salford on the opening day of the season, but with only five points separating Saracens in second and the Sharks in seventh, victory would take them back into the top four with Wasps and Saracens facing each other on Sunday.
“It is our most important league game of the season so far because of the way the last few weeks have gone,” said the Bath second-row Dominic Day. “We are not going into the game with any other mindset than to win. That would get us back on track. We see the Recreation Ground as a fortress and were bitterly disappointed to lose our home league record to Northampton two weeks ago. It will be a big night.”
Bath’s three defeats have been without their England contingent of George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Dave Attwood. The prop David Wilson has been injured while his front row colleague Paul James has been ruled out for six weeks after breaking a bone in his hand playing for Wales in Paris last weekend.
“I would have liked to play for Bath on Friday, although I am not sure my body would agree,” said Joseph. “We have lost three games on the bounce and dropped from second to fifth and it’s going to be a tough run-in to the end of the season. No team in the mix can really afford to lose a game now and each one is almost like a final.”
Bath have collected 10 points from their last six Premiership matches: only the bottom club, London Welsh, have accumulated fewer in that time and Sale, who would climb into the top four with a bonus point victory, sense an opportunity.
“Bath are only a few points above us and we are looking to go down there and do a job on them,” said the Sale wing Tom Arscott. “Bath have a strong squad and have been doing well this season, but they will be looking to put right wrongs from last weekend and despite having so many players away on international duty, they still have a lot of quality.”
Danny Cipriani returns at fly-half for Sale having been an unused substitute for England against Ireland on Sunday. Bath welcome back the prop Henry Thomas, who also remained on the bench in Dublin, and their coach, Toby Booth, said the club’s losing streak was not cause for panic. “We are not going to throw the baby out with the bath water because of what has happened,” he said. “We are pretty enthused by the progress we are making: that is not glossing over the fact it has been a difficult period for us, but in adversity you find true leadership and a picture of where you are.
“We have dressed a few things and we are confident we will end up where we need to be at the end of the season. We have to get the performance right against Sale and the outcome then takes care of itself. We have not spoken about last season’s home game with them, but they were one of the teams who were fortunate enough, and I use the word fortunate on purpose, to beat us at The Rec. It is about where we are this week compared to last.”
