Bath coach Mick Ford is under pressure and needs results, says Hugo Southwell
Thursday 7 January 2016 16:43, UK
Former Scotland international Hugo Southwell says Mike Ford is under pressure and in need of a result in the Champions Cup this weekend.
Bath find themselves in eighth place in the Premiership after winning three games out of eight, just one season on from being runners-up in last season's domestic competition.
In the Champions Cup Bath have managed two wins out of three, and Southwell says the indifferent form of the team has put head coach Ford under pressure.
"It's hard to know what's gone wrong," said Southwell on Rugby Club Agenda. "They were a team last year who were very difficult to beat.
"Even the games they've won, that game in the Champions Cup against Wasps where they won at the death, they probably didn't deserve to win, but just hung in there.
"It's just been a very inconsistent season. Whether that's down to Mike Ford, you just don't know, it's very hard to tell but there's definitely pressure on him.
"And what a place to go, Toulon away, when there's pressure on you!
"He needs not just a result, but a performance down at Toulon this weekend."
The former Wasps back says Ford's team need to cut out mistakes and cross the whitewash more often if they are to rejuvenate their Premiership and European campaigns.
"They haven't become a bad side overnight. They've played some good rugby over the last 18 months.
"They need to get back to playing their patterns, to getting through the phases, stop making the errors that they didn't make last year and start scoring some tries.
"We look at their team, and they've got power and potency all over the pitch, but they're just not quite coming to the fore at the moment."
Another league convert in the news this week was Andy Farrell, who will join Ireland as their defence coach at the conclusion of the Six Nations.
It's a move that arrived without much speculation, which Southwell says is precisely how Ireland would have preferred it.
"I think that's probably what they wanted; under the radar.
"I think he's a great appointment for them. Joe Schmidt has said he's worked with a lot of these guys during the Lions in 2013, he's had success with them.
"The interesting thing for me is that he knows all the England players."
Watch the full episode of Rugby Club Agenda by clicking on the video at the top of the page.
