Losing at Newcastle may not sound the ideal way to prepare for a match at the home of Toulon, the Champions Cup winners for the past three years, but the Bath head coach, Mike Ford, believes last Saturday’s reverse at Kingston Park has enhanced his side’s chances of becoming the first visiting team to win in the tournament at Stade Mayol.
Toulon have won 25 of their past 29 European Cup matches, and while Bath have made a slow start to the season they won in Toulouse and Montpellier last season on their way to the quarter-finals and believe they have it in them to claim a hat-trick on Sunday.
“We know we can win in France because we did it twice last year,” said the Bath captain, Stuart Hooper, who returns to lead the side after a six-week injury lay-off. “Toulon have a great squad packed with internationals but they have general traits you can deal with, the same as any other team.
“You pick on the weaknesses you’ve identified and the biggest thing when you play a game like this is the mental side. At the end of the day it is 23 players against 23 and after a disappointing performance you have to put the shirt on again and deliver a performance. We will be doing everything we can to get the win.”
Bath have Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond back as a midfield pair and they will be up against the rather more physically imposing Ma’a Nonu and Mathieu Bastareaud, whose exclusion from the France squad this week prompted his club coach, Bernard Laporte, who spent eight years in charge of the national side, to mount an impassioned defence of the centre. Bath can expect the ball to be taken up the middle, but with Quade Cooper at fly-half, Bryan Habana on the wing and James O’Connor at full-back Toulon have a stiletto to go with their scythe as they look to make Bath their sixth English victim in the European Cup at Stade Mayol.
“I cannot say I am glad that we lost at Newcastle, but that result has meant we have talked through a number of things this week,” said Ford. “The manner in which we lost was the most disappointing and I was angry. We still believe in what we are doing and the defeat has given everyone an edge.
“The players have responded and reacted fantastically, and I know Toulon are a tough side but it is the fixture I want because there is a bit of fear. We know we will have to play well and getting a win there would change our momentum. The easy bit for coaches is when you play a good side because it gets the juices flowing: you want to challenge yourself against the best.
“We have been honest with ourselves this week and everyone in the club wants the same thing. We have not played well this season, there are a thousand reasons for that. We have to get the fundamentals right and secure front-foot ball and then show a bit more composure and better execution.
“We can use the World Cup as an excuse but Saracens lost as many players as us and they have cracked on. We need to be tougher, nastier and more aggressive in the pack and get back to where we were last year.
“Then we can start thinking about throwing the ball around.”
