Rugby Football

Verily, the fates have conspired against me and, due to work commitments, I shall be missing the first half of tomorrow’s crunch match against Bath. I finish at midday so shall be bounding speedily down the Valley of Gold, listening intently to Radio Gloucestershire’s commentary, and hopefully parking sufficiently near to the stadium to enter the Kingsholm bear-pit as close to half-time as possible. Although Bath are missing some crucial forwards, they should still possess sufficient grunt and astuteness to cause the city some problems. The key should be to attain at least parity up front, provide quick ball and attack with alacrity and verve. Key figures should be Hazell, Mercier and Simpson-Daniel; if they all play to their considerable potential and the forward effort suffices, the spoils should be Gloucester’s. I take nothing for granted though.