A third of the way through the Premiership season and Bath seem to have forgotten how to win.

In a normal season, they would be looking at relegation.

But this is not a normal season, and they might be safe for three years.

Assuming - big assumption - Ealing get automatic promotion - and Pirates stay second, could Pirates win a theoretical play-off?

 

There is absolutely no pressure or consequence of a) losing or b) finishing bottom, in terms of loss of income to those clubs in the Prem.

At a time where no company or person in the real world is immune to the economic threat of unemployment due to business downturn or worse, created by the uncertainty created as a result of Covid, it is inconceivable that the Premiership clubs think themselves immune to such uncertainty.

Let me remind you of what happened in 1999. At the end of the 98/99 season, we finished second to Bristol in the Championship (or whatever it was called at the time)

In that season Bristol were automatically promoted to the Prem and we had to play the team that finished bottom in a 2 leg play off.

In that season the bottom team, Bedford had lost most of their games so were guaranteed to finish bottom a considerable time before the end of the season so much so, that for their last league game (at home to Richmond) they rested their entire first XV to give them even more opportunity to rest up, knowing that, their season rested upon two games. To the contrary, we had to play right to the end. Bedford lost that game against Richmond conceding over 100 points at home with no consequence whatsoever.

As it happened, Bedford retained their status on try countback as the two games ended 38-38. 

We were able to extract our revenge the following season, against the same opponents in a 2 leg play off, but that season, we, even as Champions, did not automatically go up (second placed team got nothing).

Whether we won or lost is not the point of this post, but what it re-enforces, is that Bath, like Bedford, could lose all their games, rest key players with no consequence, whereas whichever side they play will not have that luxury or finances.

The point being don’t mistake Bath being at the bottom as being a poor side even on a par with Championship teams. Bath would absolutely be well capable of beating any current Championship team comfortably, and so the only way that could be altered is by automatic promotion.

Some of your recollections aren't as I recall for the Allied Dunbar Premiership season 1998–1999:

Bedford didn’t finish bottom but Hartlepool were already relegated by the time you played Richmond you couldn’t catch the third bottom team so you rested your first team and lost 106-12 at home to Richmond on 16th May 1999.

We beat you 19-11 at Clifton Lane the following Thursday and lost 27-19 at Bedford the following Sunday.

I forgot about London Scottish merging.

I take your point about the current situation but also consider the following season when we won the league yet still had to go through a play off against you to earn our place. Consider that we played a full season yet last season was orchestrated for Saracens to play only 11 games to get promoted, and the temperature at headquarters must have been rising when Pirates beat them early on.

Such is the gap now I stand by my view that the gap has only got wider and the only way the lower team would succeed would be if the Prem team had major issues, say financially.

By the time promotion & relegation resumes the gap will be impossible to bridge.

Interestingly Bedford as the Prem team in the second year play off with Rotherham had major financial issues. Frank Warren (Then Chairman) had his assets frozen in a law suit with Don King in America. Cheques were bouncing and first team players were leaving.