Jeremy Guscott: Now Bath need to be serial winners

To have someone as globally successful as Sir James Dyson alongside Bruce Craig at Bath is phenomenal – it brought cheers and pride to the people of the city.

Credit is also due to Bruce, below, who bought the club from Andrew Brownsword in 2010, and then experienced a whole range of ups and downs for over a decade until Bath finally started winning on the field in the last three years, crowned by winning the Premiership title last season for the first time in 29 years.

Dyson’s acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in the club came with the comment that, as a supporter for 40 years, he and his family are in it for the long haul, and it brings such great plusses that the whole of Bath is wearing a big happy smile.

Financial support

Some people might think that from now on everything will be easy for Bath, but that would be mistaken because, despite the size of the financial support, it won’t be.

However, Dyson investing in Bath, along with Red Bull investing in bottom of the table Newcastle, shows how much Premiership rugby clubs are looking to turn around a period of nearly 30 years of an unsuccessful financial model.

It could herald a new era with more financial backing for Premiership clubs, and the knock-on benefit for second-tier Championship clubs of an expansion model with a view to two being able to join the Premiership from 2029-30, and the goal of further expansion by 2040.

My feeling is that we will look back on this first period of rugby’s professional era as being uncomfortable especially when it’s compared to the upcoming 25 years which should bring about a dramatic positive change in the Premiership’s financial model.

However, after the size of the investments by Dyson, below, and Red Bull it would be surprising if the NFL model of an entire league being bought out remains on the cards.

On the pitch

The Dyson deal is good news, but ultimately it is still what Bath do on the pitch that matters most.

At their best I believe that Bath can beat Toulouse, Leinster, and Bordeaux-Begles in the European Cup, but it has to be their best day.

Bath showed last week by beating Saracens in the way that they did, and by the margin they did (62-15), that they are a team determined to defend their title.

In the final analysis it’s all based on winning, and, although the top five clubs in the Premiership can all beat each other, Bath at their best will fancy themselves against anyone.

Bath will also be confident of beating those in the bottom four, but will know that seventh-placed Sale away this afternoon is not an easy assignment.

Sale had some great news of their own last season when owner Simon Orange managed to sell his company for a huge sum.

It gave Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson the chance to get his squad right, and I’m sure that’s what he’s in the process of doing.

However, it’s not been a quick fix, and the question Sanderson and Sale fans have to be honest about is how many of their players would get into the Northampton, Bath, Leicester, or Exeter squads?

High impact: Bath prop Thomas du Toit on the attack
PICTURES: Getty Images

Attract fans

Sanderson is known as a great motivator, and overall he has usually got Sale into the top five despite the historical difficulties of the club being in the heart of football country, with rugby league also in the mix.

The challenge to attract fans to watch rugby union in Manchester is of a much bigger dimension that it is in, say, Exeter, where football does not dominate.

To some extent the result depends on what strength of team Bath send to the CorpAcq Stadium, but they cannot take too many chances when they are looking to finish either first or second.

That said, by now head coach Johann van Graan will have planned Bath’s path to the play-offs, including the number of wins required.

All the top four Premiership sides have strong squads, but the defining factor is how a club gets all its players to perform at optimum level week on week, because that’s how you win titles.

The clubs that have left legacies – like Saracens, and Leicester and Wasps before them – dominated for four or five seasons, whereas, by comparison, Bath are at the start of that journey.

By winning the title in 2025 Bath became the fifth club in five seasons to be crowned league champions, with Northampton, Saracens, Leicester, and Harlequins before them – but now they have given themselves an opportunity to become serial winners.

The class controller: Bath fly-half Finn Russell

European glory

The European Cup, with Bath facing another home encounter against Saracens on Saturday in the round of 16, is less easy to plan for – but a home draw looks imminent, with hopes of a domestic and European double bubbling under.

There is no doubt about the debt they owe to Thomas du Toit for putting them on the road to that objective.

The impact of the Springbok tighthead has had in his three seasons at The Rec is huge,

“Filling Thomas du Toit’s boots when he leaves at the end of the season will not be easy” and matches that of fly-half Finn Russell and van Graan.

In fact, it is as significant as anything we have seen from a player in the pro era for Bath.

Du Toit is a big man who plays even bigger, forging a reputation for being a formidable scrummager with the invaluable ability to play both sides, while also being such a complete player he scores tries galore.

Filling du Toit’s boots when he leaves at the end of the season will not be easy.

Effective playmaker

There is also the chance that van Graan could come into the picture to coach South Africa after Rassie Erasmus steps down, and he will have earned it given the way that the culture he has instilled at Bath has worked for the entire squad.

Whether you are an international back like Max Ojomoh or Henry Arundell, or a tireless grafter like Miles Reid – who, as a Bath born and bred flanker/No.8, it’s been great to see take his chance – you are measured equally by Van Graan.

Last but not least is a half-back pairing of Ben Spencer, above, and Russell.

Scrum-half Spencer finally getting more of a run at international level for England is good news, while Russell just continues to perform.

A big part of what makes Russell such an effective play-maker is the timing and accuracy of his passing, and the judgment to know when to throw long or short, and with what speed and trajectory.

It’s almost as if he sees it before it happens – and that’s when you know that Russell, and Bath, are cooking on gas.