There has been a real mindset shift into terms of how the side will approach defence in the upcoming campaign with Head Coach Neal Hatley, homegrown talent Miles Reid and England international Sam Underhill providing the detail in episode 3 of Bath Rugby Unseen, powered by Dyson.

In episode 2, Attack and Backs Coach David Williams referred to getting back to our style in any moment on the field. The Blue, Black and White's defensive effort for 2021/22 is to retrieve possession in order to get back to said style and maximise the opportunities created.

One of the Gallagher Premiership's top tacklers last term, Reid said: "If you can bang teams physically and control them physically, you’re more than likely to get the upper hand on them in defence.

"The mindset has got to be about getting the ball back to attack again.

"We always want to sit in that area where we’re attacking them; that’s kind of building on our style, we want to sit in that area.

"We want to defend for as short as possible time so whether we’re getting the ball from blasting through breakdowns and getting counter rucks like that or we’re stealing the ball, we’re ripping the ball… that’s always the most dangerous ball to go and attack from.

"Your mindset has to be ‘we’re not going to defend for long… let’s force them into a mistake or force the ball back’."

BATH RUGBY UNSEEN EPISODES

EPISODE 1 | FIRST BLOCK OF PRE-SEASON

EPISODE 2 | THE EVOLUTION OF OUR ATTACK

EPISODE 3 | OUR DEFENSIVE MINDSET

A SNEAK PEEK AT EPISODE 4

Bath Rugby Unseen | Episode 3: Our Defensive Mindset

Related News