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DIGITAL PROGRAMME: SALE SHARKS (PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF)

Saturday 1 June 2024

By Bath Rugby

May 31^st, 2024

A WELCOME FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE, TARQUIN MCDONALD

Welcome, everyone, to this highly anticipated Gallagher Premiership play-off clash between Bath Rugby and Sale Sharks.

I would like to extend a warm greeting to the players, staff, and supporters of Sale and congratulate everyone associated with the club on securing a top four finish this season.

It’s a privilege to compete against a team of such talent and experience and we anticipate a match packed with passion, determination, skill, and strategy from both sides.

We welcome today’s visitors after an incredible end to the regular season which saw us beating Northampton Saints at home to finish second in the league, whilst Sale won away at Saracens to claim the fourth spot.

The Premiership is a gruelling 18-match regular season which this year witnessed one of the closest Run-Ins I can remember.

We sit where we are in the league because of the incredible effort put in by the players, under Johann’s leadership supported by his world-class coaching team, staff, and everyone across the club, including the supporters, since the start of the campaign.

The journey we have been on as a club over the last two seasons both in the league and the Investec Champions Cup this year should fill everyone associated with Bath Rugby with immense pride.

The hard work has not stopped, and I know that Johann and his players will be doing everything in their power to keep our season alive beyond this weekend.

Sale have again demonstrated in 2023/24 that they are an excellent side and come into this game on the back of some impressive recent wins.

It has been honours-even across the two games we have played each other during this regular season, both teams winning their respective home fixture.

The atmosphere and support for the full 80 minutes of our game last weekend against Saints at The Rec was incredible and the loudest I have heard reverberating around the stadium for some time – we will need that again on Saturday.

Away from matters on the pitch, the Stadium for Bath planning application is progressing through the various planning stages – rest assured we are moving in the right direction and will continue to provide updates as matters develop.

These will be my final programme notes of the season regardless of what happens on Saturday.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the club and recognise also those leaving us after the end of this campaign.

Our supporters have turned out in huge numbers again this season – selling out The Rec – come rain or shine and again showing how much the club means to you.

I want to thank you all again for your unwavering support over the 2023/24 campaign.

I would also like to acknowledge our sponsors and partners. Their support is instrumental in enabling us to compete at the highest level and continue to develop as a club both on and off the field. We are grateful for their ongoing commitment and belief in our vision.

COYB!

Best wishes, Tarquin

DIGITAL PROGRAMME: SALE SHARKS (PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF)

BATH RUGBY'S TEAM NAMED FOR GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF

Ready to take on Sale Sharks, Head of Rugby, Johann van Graan, has named one change to his side that stormed to victory over Northampton Saints in Round 18, securing the Blue, Black and White second place in the league table and a home play-off fixture.

Getting his eighth start in a row, prop Beno Obano takes the starting loosehead jersey.

Tom Dunn will feature as hooker, with Thomas du Toit completing the starting front row line-up.

Quinn Roux and Charlie Ewels are named again in the second row after delivering strong performances together against Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints in recent weeks.

Across the back row, Ted Hill and Sam Underhill take the blindside and openside positions respectively.

Alfie Barbeary trades places with Josh Bayliss on the bench to start at Number 8.

Our captain, Ben Spencer, will command from scrum-half, partnered with Finn Russell at fly-half.

Across the backline, van Graan copy and pastes his selection from Round 18 with Will Muir and Joe Cokanasiga retaining their positions on the wings.

Cameron Redpath and Ollie Lawrence will pair up in the centre and Matt Gallagher completes the starting line-up at fullback.

Niall Annett, Juan Schoeman and Will Stuart take their spots on the bench, with Elliott Stooke, Miles Reid and Bayliss being named as replacement loose forwards.

Louis Schreuder and Orlando Bailey take the replacement back positions.

The man in the middle to referee the fixture is Luke Pearce, supported by Tom Foley and Sara Cox along the sidelines and Stuart Terheege in the TMO box.

A victory in this game will see Bath Rugby compete in the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham on the Saturday 8 June.

CHANGE YOUNG LIVES BY RUNNING THE BATH HALF MARATHON!

When you sign up to run the epic Bath Half Marathon as part of the Bath Rugby Foundation team, you get the best runners' package to support your efforts:

Free limited edition running vest
Pre and post run massage sessions
Warm hub close to the start/finish line
No long queues for the toilets
Secure bag storage
Pre and post run food and drink

We look after you all the way with training tips, fundraising support, and lots more. And the best part is you'll be helping to change the lives of local vulnerable youngsters too.

All we ask is that you raise a further £250 on top of your entry and we will support you to reach your goal.

Happening on Sunday 16 March 2025, secure your place now and start your Bath Half 2025 journey with us!

RUN THE BATH HALF

FOLLOW THE ACTION

You can follow the action LIVE on our Bath Rugby X channel.

The game will also be shown on TNT Sports and Discovery+.

FOLLOW ALONG ON X

CHRIS CLOETE IS TRUCKING IT FROM BATH TO SOUTH AFRICA

After announcing his retirement from Rugby, Chris Cloete has set his eyes on his next challenge, a 13,500km trek from the UK to his home in South Africa.

Chris has played rugby since his early years at Sharks, Western Province, where his love for the game has helped him travel the world and now Chris is returning back to South Africa to give back to the rugby community along the way.

Joined by his his family and dogs, Cloete will be driving back through Europe and Africa, while donating rugby kit and dropping into local schools and communities to impart his rugby knowledge.

Having loved his time with Bath Rugby, Chris has decided to dedicate his adventure to raising well needed funds for Bath Rugby Foundation.

Bath Rugby Foundation work in Bath and North East Somerset and Wiltshire supporting vulnerable youngsters. Every year Bath Rugby Foundation works with around 4,000 youngsters who’ve had the toughest start in life.

The Foundation's programmes focus on key areas of need in our community - education, inclusion and employability. The children it works with are born into poverty, have a Special Educational Need or Disability, or are excluded because of their race or gender.

From everyone at Bath Rugby, we wish you all the best with this exciting adventure, Chris. Thank you for choosing to support Bath Rugby Foundation and we hope you and your family have a safe trip.

DONATE HERE

LEARN MORE ABOUT VYOO

THE RECCY: REC FEST!

Join us and Dick Lovett for Rec Fest as gates open from 12:00.

Live music on the Band Stand 🎤
Jamma de Samba Tunnel of noise 🥁
Vyoo games! 🛞
Happy Hour! 🍻 (12:30-13:30)
Additional bars around the ground 🍻
Bath Rugby Foundation raffle 🎟️
Pyro show & Guard of Honour 🔥
Saxophonist 🎷
Max the Mascot 🦁
Circus Tent with Super Pirates & Face Painter 🎪
Road Angel 📹
Basketball shoot-out 🏀
Matchday Ambassadors 👋
Come on You Bath clapper banners - bring the noise! 👏
Food & beverage 🌭 +10% discount for Club Members
Bath Rugby Shop 👕
Bath Rugby Supporters' Club 🤝
Travel sorted with Centurion 🚌

Please note, the Swift Half, Wine Gin & Fizz bar and outfield vendors and all other activations in the Fan Village will be open from 12:30 (excluding Click and Collect which will be open from 13:30). All other stadium bars and the Clubhouse Bar will open from 13:30. To access The Rec from 12:30, please use William St Gate, Riverside Gate or Sports Centre Gate. Stewards will be on site to direct supporters to the right entry points. All other gates will open from 13:30.

READ THE RECCY IN FULL

PURCHASE VIÑALBA

MATCH PREVIEW, DELIVERED BY HUBOO

In a first for Head of Rugby, Johann van Graan, and a first for many of the players, Bath Rugby will take to the field with a Premiership Rugby final within grasp.

The first task: the Premiership play-off.

Van Graan has remained focused, calm and clear on his processes all season. The Head of Rugby has previewed what is set to be an enthralling encounter between his Bath side and Alex Sanderson's Sale Sharks.

"What we as a group said at the start of the Premiership - 18 rounds, get better every week, and then see where we're at," said van Graan. "The end result is we're on 60 points, level with Northampton and earned a home semi-final which is testament to the hard work to, number one, the players, because they've worked now for 50 weeks to get us in this position, as well as a lot of people behind the scenes.

"For us it's about enjoying this week and we've got an opportunity on Saturday afternoon to play in the semi-final of the Premiership.

"Sport proves that it's a lot better to play at home than play away. The cards fell our way that we earned a home semi-final and we'll embrace it. We love playing at The Rec, we've got fantastic supporters that have been there from the first round of the Premiership Rugby Cup, right through the Champions Cup and the Premiership.

"If you look at the need for tickets and how quickly we sold out the stadium for this game, I think we could've sold out The Rec a few times over and it's great to see. For me, the most pleasing thing from a team point of view is people are proud of the club and proud of the players. The players are putting it out there week in week out and it's given us an opportunity on Saturday in the semi-final.

"I think in life you are exactly where you need to be at a certain moment of time. We started on the 11 July two seasons ago and we took it day by day and the number one thing was for people to be themselves, starting with me and then the players and all the staff working extremely hard and then repeating that for two seasons in a row. The result of it is a play-off game at home at The Rec.

Speaking of the challenge ahead on Saturday when facing Sale Sharks, van Graan added: "It's definitely not just another knockout game. I been privileged enough to be involved in Super Rugby semis, URC semis, a World Cup semi-final; this is my first Premiership semi-final and what I've learnt from all of the semis from all the other competitions is that this is not just another game and we're not treating it as just another game. We're sticking to our process but we re excited about this game and we're embracing it.

"Ultimately if you can't enjoy it and you don't see this as a different game then why do we play this sport? Is there extra pressure and expectation? Yes, but we want to be in these games and we've got to perform on Saturday afternoon and we're preparing for that. We're acknowledging that we're up against an opponent that played in the final last year and it's another good team, but that's what you're going to face in a semi-final. Our preparation has been solely on ourselves and we're loving every minute of it.

"We've been growing our game now for the last two seasons. We started off with our defence, our kicking game and our set piece, and we've added so many layers to our attack this season, averaging across all competitions around four tries per game, so we're not going to vary from the way that we play, it's situational and the players in our team are good enough that the system caters for any given situation. We've got a nine and 10 that have incredibly good kicking game; our world class players have played in very high profile games and whether you kick, you run or you pass, it's up to them to get us on the front foot.

"We've got a team that have gone through a lot of experiences and this is new for us now as a group. First semi-final together and that's the beauty of the journey we are on, it's how many firsts have we had this season. It's the first time we've been in the knock-out of the Champions Cup together and now I think it's the first time in nine years we're into a Premiership semi-final. So it's new for us but new means absolutely embracing what we are doing and adapt on the day and that's been something we've been really good at.

"We've been involved in some arm wrestles, some high-scoring games and we've come from behind on multiple occasions and we've also been up by a lot. Who knows what Saturday might bring but for us it's about our game and how good we can be in the semi-final."

MAX OJOMOH NAMED IN RPA'S 15 UNDER 23 TEAM OF THE SEASON

Bath Rugby's Max Ojomoh has been been selected in this year's RPA 15 Under 23 Men’s Team of the Season.

Voted by fans, Max Ojomoh has been selected in this year's RPA 15 Under 23 Men’s Team of the Season.

Shortlisted after being selected as one of February's nominees, Max has been chosen as the overall pick in the RPA 15 Under 23 Men’s Team of the Season, taking his place in the centres alongside Harlequins' Oscar Beard.

Congratulations, Max.

VISIT HOMEWOOD

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION: SALE SHARKS

With international stars littered through his ranks, Alex Sanderson brings his Sale Sharks to the River Avon as they head to The Rec on Saturday.

In a familiar head to head, Finn Russell will look to front up against George Ford at fly-half, with the two having met numerous times on the international scene for Scotland and England respectively.

Singing the praises of his playmaker, Sanderson has said: "Without a shadow of a doubt, he [Ford] has been brilliant for us and, as I said in the past, how he has shifted the attacking focus mentality of the international side [England], I believe he was a big influence with that, and he still seems to go unrecognised for a lot of his efforts. Not in-house he doesn’t, just externally."

Bath welcomed Sale Sharks at the end of March, beating them 42-24, having previously suffered a narrow defeat away to Sanderson's side back in November in a 11-9 loss.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS LAST VISIT TO THE REC

Bath Rugby 42-24 Sale Sharks

Sunday 24 March 2024

TRY MR FILBERT'S

GJ VAN VELZE AND CHRIS CLOETE ANNOUNCE RUGBY RETIREMENT

GJ van Velze and Chris Cloete will retire from rugby at the end of this current 2023/24 season, both players have announced.

GJ van Velze and Chris Cloete will retire from rugby at the end of this current 2023/24 season, both players have announced.

Van Velze has decided to call time on a stellar career which has included more than 150 Premiership appearances across three different clubs, spanning over a decade.

The utility forward joined Bath following successful spells at Northampton Saints and Worcester Warriors.

Prior to his time with Bath, for whom he has made 20 appearances, van Velze skippered the Blue Bulls as well as representative age-group teams in South Africa.

Fellow Springbok, Cloete, joined Bath in the summer of 2022, following time at Munster, Southern Kings, Western Province, and Pumas.

Capped for South Africa ‘A’ and recognised for his breakdown skills winning the 2020/21 Pro14 Turnover King prize, the all-action back row made 26 appearances for the Blue, Black and White.

FULL STORY

JONKER, SCHOEMAN, VERDEN & WRIGHT TO LEAVE BATH

The club can confirm that Johannes Jonker, Juan Schoeman, Keiran Verden, and Max Wright will be leaving Bath Rugby at the end of this 2023/24 season.

Verden departs the Blue, Black and White, after eight years having risen through the Beechen Cliff pathway into the club’s Senior Academy and then the First Team.

Schoeman arrived from Durban-based outfit The Sharks having also played for the Blue Bulls, making his first Premiership appearance for Bath against Worcester Warriors. He is currently standing at 62 appearances for the club, most recently coming off the bench during the Round 18 win against Northampton Saints.

With 40 caps to his name earned over a seven-year period at Bath, Wright joined the club in October 2017 having graduated from the Yorkshire Carnegie setup before going on to make his league debut against Northampton Saints.

Former Border Bulldogs, Lions, and Montpellier prop Jonker signed from Ealing Trailfinders and debuted on the opening day of the 2021/22 Premiership season against Sale Sharks, the same game in which Schoeman scored his first Bath Rugby try. Jonker has gone on to represent the club 27 times.

FULL STORY

BATH CONFIRM SENIOR ACADEMY DEPARTURES

Rory Cameron, Gabe Goss, Byron Lloyd-Gilmour, Murdoch Lock, Dan Marais, Nahum Merigan, Archie Stanley, JJ Tonks, and George Worboys will be leaving Bath Rugby following the end of this current 2023/24 season.

Cameron, Goss, Lloyd-Gilmour, Merigan, Stanley, and Worboys all came through the club’s Academy, with Goss, Merigan, Stanley, and Worboys having gone on to represent the First Team.

Also with Bath Rugby senior appearances against their names, Lock and Tonks joined from Harlequins Academy and Northampton Saints, respectively, whilst Marais began his rugby career at Hamilton, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Head of Rugby Johann van Graan paid tribute to these Senior Academy players’ contribution during their time with the Blue, Black and White and highlighted their commitment to the squad’s motto.

FULL STORY

BECOME A NEXTGEN JUNIOR MEMBER!

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BENEFITS OF NEXTGEN JUNIOR - 4-11 YEARS MEMBERSHIP 24/25

A 96-hour priority ticket purchase window ahead of general sale.
Exclusive Bath Rugby junior membership welcome pack
Junior Monthly Newsletter
Entry into regular competitions
Access to Bath Rugby events & experiences
Priority access to grassroot events
Exclusive Merchandise
Access to Matchday Members Zone at The Rec
Personalised birthday message
Win a chance to be a Matchday Mascot

SIGN UP TO NEXTGEN TODAY

DONATE TO BATH RUGBY FOUNDATION HERE

AN UPDATE FROM BATH RUGBBY SUPPORTERS' CLUB

We hope you are reading these notes either walking to the ground or sat in your seat with warm June sunshine on your face waiting with excitement and anticipation on this really special day.

Many of us will look back on our last memorable semi-final play-off at The Rec in 2015 against Leicester Tigers as one of the most jubilant and euphoric days in the professional era. Let’s hope for more of the same today!

The club's journey from that day to today's semi-final has had peaks and troughs but regardless of today's result, let’s recognise the optimism and positivity that JvG and his team have re-installed into the club. There will be other good days ahead and we won’t need to wait the best part of 10 years for them.

Here at Bath Rugby Supporters' Club we’ve ridden the wave of that optimism. We’ve seen membership top 1,000 and enjoyed a succession of great events and memorable days both at The Rec and away from home.