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Bath dodge possible points deduction by the barest of margins
By Paul Smith
Bath finally broke their Gallagher Premiership seasonal duck with a battling 22-19 win over Worcester at the Rec on Sunday.
And with two points also this weekend being awarded for their recent COVID cancellation against London Irish Stuart Hooper's team now trail the Warriors and local rivals Bristol by 11 points at the foot of the table.
However, details have since emerged of a communications error which went within minutes of causing a potential points deduction which would have reversed Bath's progress.
According to Somerset Live, winger Will Muir was forced to withdraw from the home line-up after not only being named in the side but also having taken part in the warm-up.
Muir was replaced minutes before kick-off by Tom Prydie after Bath received an email from EPCR - the organisers of the European Champions and Challenge Cups - advising that he was ineligible to play.
The 26-year-old former England Sevens squad member was handed a four-match ban for ‘recklessly making contact with the eye’ of flanker Josh Van der Flier during his club's Heineken Champions Cup meeting with Leinster on December 11.
However, Muir's disciplinary ruling also advised that he "is free to play on Monday 10 January 2022," by which point, had COVID not intervened, Bath would have played five rather than four games.
Bath have in fact taken the field just once since their trip to the Aviva Stadium since La Rochelle were unable to travel due to French government restrictions before a COVID outbreak forced Hooper's club to forfeit a Premiership Cup game against Exeter and a league match against London Irish.
It has since emerged that EPCR did not count the December 29 cup clash with Exeter as one of the four games that counted towards his suspension.
Speaking about the late change Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper said: “We will get more details in due course, but he was cleared to play off the back of his ban and then literally minutes before kick-off I was notified there was an error and he wasn’t cleared to play.
“It is really, really poor and I am very disappointed but we will go through the right process to work out what went wrong there. It was literally right before the game so I haven’t had any more contact at the moment.”
The most notable incident of a Premiership club being disciplined for fielding an ineligible player came in 2013 when ill-fated London Welsh were docked five points after Kiwi scrum half Tyson Keats was found to be playing under an ancestry visa issued following the submission of falsified paperwork.
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Latest Comments
I think Italy were always targetting this match and intended to win. They needed to exorcise the 2023 RWC. I think they could have done with a bit more help from other 6Ns particularly from Ireland to knock more holes in NZ and their confidence.
Mentioned before the Italy Argentina match was a virus that ripped through the Italy camp early that week. In general play Italy were competitive albeit with a high error count and crucial missed tackles.
Ive said it before the era of NZ turning up unprepared for all comers and triumphing is definitively over. If a Tier1 team target NZ and NZ do not prepare accordingly they are in with a major chance of losing. It used to occur the odd time in RWCs against France, now it can occur v any Tier1. The competition has improved. NZ can still be at the top but their talents must be deployed sufficiently into dismantling teams as with their attack then allowed to exploit.
They dismantled Ireland pretty well in Dublin which went largely unnoticed. That allowed them scoreboard advantage and attacking opportunities of which one was enough.
That Italian team beat Wales and significantly Scotland last year. They used the loss to NZ in the most positive way possible. No doubt NZ prepared but I would assume it was similar to versus Argentina: 3/4 arsed at best. These test matches are rare and this was another chance to practice dismantling a determined and prepared opponent which was lost. If Italy had scored a 7 pointer at 17-6....an Italian win was on.
Go to commentsGB = England, Scotland, Wales. UK = England, Wales, Scotland, NI
Nothing to stew son.
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