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Joseph ends speculation over future with new Bath deal

Jonathan Joseph, Bath (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Bath Rugby have agreed a new contract with Jonathan Joseph.

The England centre had been heavily linked to a move to Gallagher Premiership rivals Northampton and Bristol Bears.

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The 27-year-old, who is currently in Portugal with England ahead of the Guinness Six Nations is nearing a century of appearances for the Blue, Black and White since joining in 2013.

Capped 40 times by his country, the centre follows the likes of Nathan Catt, Anthony Watson, Charlie Ewels, Taulupe Faletau, Zach Mercer, Semesa Rokoduguni and Elliott Stooke in committing his future to the Club.

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Joseph said: “I’m really excited about my future with Bath. I want to say thank you to everyone at the Club who has put in the time and focus in getting me back out on the pitch. One of my main reasons for staying with Bath, is that I believe in everything we want to achieve together as a squad and how we plan to get there.

“It felt great to be back last weekend (against Toulouse) and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and challenging for a place in the top four.”

Director of Rugby, Todd Blackadder, added: “You can tell how much it meant to JJ to play last weekend after being out for so long. His immeasurable impact both on and off the pitch will continue to drive us forward as we look to further develop our game and our squad.

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“JJ has shown on numerous occasions for Bath and for England what a world-class player he is. His knowledge of the game and attention to detail is second to none and we’re delighted to have secured his services for next season and beyond.”

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J
JW 26 minutes ago
Half-back depth is the flaw in 'Razor's' 4-4-4 Rugby World Cup plan

Well there’s a couple of distinctions here that are important aren’t there?


First though like I replied to Tk where does it say theres need to test vets, or proven reliable players? It is simply ‘test quality’.


Now, I have created a list that I think is test quality, so all weve got to do is upskill the missing pieces right? No. Razor might not mean to have given every player half a dozen matchs but he will want to have identified and assured himself that each individual is indeed test quality. So yes, plays like Darry and Lord may still be included in a few squads and used so he’s happy to include them as say 5th and 6th ranked locks, but that doesn’t mean he needs to go to the same level to ensure for himself the 7th and 8th ranked locks.


He might be happy basing performances off SR Finals, or organizing an AB XV match against a team like France or SA with similar locking depth (even organizing say Warner Dearns to be part of the Japan XV etc), and I’m sure they’re going to have a very large squad over in South Africa for two months.


I don’t think he is quite in the same predicament as SA to have to rest top stars. And this is obviously just goal setting, they’re supposed to be hard. As you can see by the context around this series, arbitrary targets like everyone getting some minutes are made. That could also simply be how he ensures he has met the 4. So hookers would be ticked, as he’s already used 5 at test level. If you looked at the Baabaas SA game you’d see Beehre performing like an accomplished test player, that already makes 7 locks with more than 2 full seasons to go. You take the point BA was making about Marshalls previous remarks about Razor want players to be able to play 3/4/5 different positions, that would mean if Razor was really happy with Finau at lock last week he already has 8 test quality locks as well, etc, etc.


TLDR sorry for the big reply, it’s just a goal, the teams not going to suddenly fail if he doesn’t reach it, I think theres many means and many players for him to be comfortable in getting 4 in each position. He’s obviously not going to be able to get 4 proven, hardened test players in each by then, no.

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