Bath are Premiership’s Galacticos – Diamond

Before their meeting this weekend, Bath is being called “the Galacticos” of the Premiership by Newcastle Falcons consultant rugby director Steve Diamond.

With four games left, Bath leads the table by 15 points and almost guarantees a play-off spot.

The West Country side, who are chasing a treble, has already won the Premiership Rugby Cup and will face Edinburgh in the semi-final of the European Challenge Cup.

According to Diamond, “they are the new Saracens.” They have assembled a sizable squad that will serve them well for many years.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bath were the reigning champions of English league rugby, winning the title six out of the first nine times.

Since 1996, they haven’t been champions. They have reached the Twickenham final three times before the Premiership play-offs, but they have each lost once.

The most recent loss came from Johann van Graan’s side, who had earlier lost 25-21 to Northampton Saints last year.

Since 2010, billionaire owner Bruce Craig has financially supported Bath, winning their first trophy in 17 years with last month’s Premiership Rugby Cup.

According to Diamond, who will take his bottom-of-the-table Falcons on Saturday to face them in domestic rugby, similar to Saracens’ six titles between 2011 and 2023.

Many other clubs make the same amount of money as Bath, but they all seem to have a good plan, he continued.

They have done their recruitment correctly, and they haven’t done it in years. It took years of Bruce’s reign to get them in the shape they are now.

It simply demonstrates that you can’t buy a team. The league has hosted them for 25 or 30 years, but they have never won. Although the money is crucial, they appear to have taken the right steps in terms of hiring.

Finn Russell, the star fly-half of Scotland and marquee player, is well-known for his skill and support, along with scrum-half and captain Ben Spencer.

Additionally, there are England duo Ollie Lawrence and Sam Underhill, as well as a number of rising young English talent.

All of this contributes to making Bath the Premiership’s envy of the rest.

Coaching is important, but Diamond said that the most crucial thing is the cattle you have to prod, not the cattle.