Rugby Union: Bracken closes the era

IT IS never comfortable to witness the disintegration of the once great and even during the brief spells yesterday when they were playing from memory, Bath, like the memory itself, were patently fading fast. Saracens did not in truth have to be very good to win and there were times when they were actually fairly bad. But even in their worst moments they were slicker and more composed than their opponents. It is not just that some parts of Bath's game are weak, it is that too many parts of their game are not working at all.

There was a disturbing lack of cohesion and direction in their play, the latter admittedly not helped by the fact that Andy Nicol departed with a knee injury after just seven minutes. It was the second successive match in which they have lost their skipper but, more importantly, it was the fifth successive match they have lost in the league and the word crisis is no longer an over-statement for their predicament.

Their game yesterday was littered with inexcusable errors and avoidable mishaps. For most of the time they were a feckless rabble, and despite the claustrophobic pressures at the top of the league, from which any one of half a dozen sides could emerge victorious, it is increasingly hard to see Bath as champions.

Their decision-making was lamentable. This was particularly true of Mike Catt, who had the most wretched day. Every time he passed the ball panic spread through his own ranks and when, a yard from his own line, he fired off a dreadful pass to the unprepared Russell Earnshaw, Bath were extremely fortunate not to lose more than their collective cool.

On another occasion, this time in an attacking position, Matt Perry very nearly snapped his spine getting down to Catt's grubber of a pass but miraculously held on. The scoring chance, though, had gone.

The damage to Bath's hopes was done in the first half when Saracens, on the few occasions when the game sprang to life, were sharper in their running and more intelligent in their support, an area in which Tony Diprose and Francois Pienaar are absolute masters.

Kyran Bracken put clear water between the sides following penalties by Catt and Gavin Johnson when he gathered a loose ball and made off into the Bath 22 before passing to Steve Ravenscroft for the try. Johnson's conversion and a second penalty gave Saracens a 10-point lead before Catt, in the third minute of first-half injury time, kicked his second penalty.

This was scant reward from what was Bath's most committed and constructive spell, in which Adedayo Adebayo was twice thwarted, once by a legitimate and crushing tackle by Alain Penaud a yard from the line and then by the more dubious intervention of Brendon Daniel, who appeared to barge Adebayo off the ball as the winger was bursting through on to Jeremy Guscott's cleverly- flighted kick.

A penalty try at this point might have done wonders for Bath's fragile confidence, but Saracens would doubtless argue that they were themselves denied a try after Penaud had broken through and Daniel had been tackled without the ball.

Without ever seriously threatening Saracens' dominance Bath had at least as much of the play during the second half and scored the only try through Iain Balshaw, whose genuine pace skinned his opposite number Richard Wallace on a couple of occasions and should have persuaded his colleagues that he was Bath's most potent attacking weapon. Unfortunately it was not only beyond the wit of his team-mates to work that out, but beyond their ability too as they laboured to string more than a couple of good passes together.

His try, though, was all his own work. He intercepted Penaud's loose pass and sped off down field, kicking past Johnson and winning the race to the touchdown. Alas, Catt's decision-making and passing were not the only areas of his game to suffer a serious malfunction and he missed the conversion. Four minutes later Penaud dropped the simplest of goals from in front of the posts and with seven minutes remaining all Saracens required to do was keep Bath from scoring again, a task which on the day was easy enough.

Bath: M Perry; I Balshaw, K Maggs, J Guscott, A Adebayo; M Catt, A Nicol (capt, A Hatley, 29); D Hilton (J Mallet, 71), A Long, V Ubogu, S Borthwick (B Sturnham 48), N Redman, R Earnshaw (N Thomas, 48), D Lyle, E Peters.

Saracens: G Johnson; B Daniel, R Constable, S Ravenscroft, R Wallace; A Penaud, K Bracken; D Flatman (B Reidy, 71), G Chuter, P Wallace, P Johns, D Grewcock, T Coker (P Ogilvy 65), T Diprose, F Pienaar (capt).

Referee: A Rowden (RFU).