You would probably describe Bath’s return to play as perfect. Only Exeter have matched them in winning each of their games since topflight rugby resumed earlier this month.
As a result, the wins over London Irish, Leicester Tigers and most recently Northampton Saints, means that the side now find themselves in hot contention for a playoff spot in October. It is something that would have been scarcely imagined when the world ground to a stop in March.
Beno Obano has been involved with Bath since he was a teenager, going through the highs and lows with a side struggling to remain consistent and achieve what their star-studded squad has been capable of on face value.
“Our squad has always been good since I arrived seven years ago,” Obano said. “Every year we have had a competitive squad or a very good squad. So this year it is; ‘Bath have a really good squad, but in the past six years they have had a really good squad and they haven’t really achieved, so this year, are they likely to achieve?’, the answer would generally be no.
“I feel like we have built on certain things that we haven’t before and certain foundations that were laid in place last season, but are coming to fruition now and we are building upon slowly and I think we are moving in the right direction. The real test will arrive when we start to play this week and next week, the people around us and closer to us in the table.”
Ben Spencer too believes that his new side have a good chance of reaching the top four. Having moved to Somerset during Covid-19 from Saracens, Spencer has been one of Stuart Hooper’s standout players since the side took back to the field several weekends ago.
“We have got a young group, but we have got a confident group,” Spencer said. “There is no one in the squad who doesn’t think we can make top four and when the playoffs come, anything can happen.
“We are just trying to take it game by game at the minute, luckily they come pretty fast, so we are moving on pretty quickly, but we will just go game by game and hopefully just keep getting a little bit better each game and who knows where it could take us.”
Both Spencer and Obano harbour England ambitions. The latter was recalled to Eddie Jones’ England squad in February, his long return to form following injury deserving of a place in the squad, if not the team. Spencer hasn’t pulled on an England shirt since the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final in Japan.
The scrum-halves Eddie Jones selected for the Six Nations, Ben Youngs and Willi Heinz, have not been in the best form since returning to play, in fact Heinz hasn’t even pulled on a Gloucester shirt yet. As a result, many have Spencer of their nine of choice when Eddie Jones announces his squad for the end of October tests.
Obano’s battle is somewhat more difficult with Joe Marler and Ellis Genge his opposition. In the mix with the squad and several dominant performances since rugby restarted, there is no doubt that the 25-year-old is up for the challenge.
Both had received messages from England’s coach, Obano’s task to come back to rugby a little leaner. No doubt his brother, Suvwe, who recently completed a sport and exercise science degree at Loughborough, had something to say about that. Spencer to was given some points to work on that we have already since he has lined up for Bath.
“I have had a couple of conversations with Eddie and one of them was to be more vocal, to organise a pack,” Spencer said. “I have just tried to put that into practice as much as possible, in both training and games. Hopefully I keep growing in that area and we will see.”
Obano is also quick to heap praise on the club’s new Head Coach. After several years away with England, Neal Hatley returned to Bath and has really impressed himself on the squad, an upturn in results by no means a coincidence.
“While he was at England, he learnt what it takes to win and win consistently,” Obano said. “I think he has brought that back to the club, it is never the same, because when you are with England, it is so concentrated and you have to be really harsh on things because there is a game on the weekend.
“If someone is not doing something, you can take them out and bring someone else who is just as good, but you can’t do that in the club setting as much. So, you have to adapt things slightly, but I think he brought the idea and the general ethos from England’s winning culture back here.”
