The clash between Bath and Montpellier at the Recreation Ground on the 12th of December, 2014 was really impressive. Bath was able to win the rugby match due the earnest efforts of Bath winger Matt Banahan.

The hat-trick scored by Matt Banahan gave the opportunity to Bath to win against Montpellier. Bath was able to score 32 points and Montpellier was able to score 12 points. Montpellier tried extremely hard to fight back but the team was unable to succeed.

A tough time for Bath Rugby- the eminent rugby club would be reportedly missing their star player Francois Louw given the flanker’s critical neck surgery. The flanker can’t be available to his team for another couple of months.
Francois has missed out on Bath’s first 3 games of this latest Aviva Premiership given his stint with S. Africa in Rugby Championship & Ford’s (Mike) side would need to adjust with his absence for two more months.

Any kind of rugby story is incomplete without mentioning about the New Zealand national men and women’s team. The sport is embedded in the very culture of the nation. For over 140 years the people in the country have voiced their humongous support for the team wherever they have played. Each household is either directly or indirectly connected with any kind of successful rugby story. The home of Rugby is considered to be Nelson which is at the northernmost tip of the nation. The first Rugby game was played in May 1870. The popularity of the game soon spread across the country which finally led to the establishment of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in 1892. The first team that was formed succeeded in defeating the New South Wales in a convincing manner.
Any rugby superstar that have featured in major competitions for New Zealand can be identified as one of the most successful ones in the history of rugby. Names like George Napia, Brownley brothers, Colin Meads and Don Clarke feature in any of the lists for all time greats of rugby. Richie McCaw is the present New Zealand captain and he inspires his team by alluding to the examples of these legends. The Rugby World Cup has been witness to the greatest number of All Blacks triumph. Starting from the inaugural one to those of late, almost all the generations of players has tasted glory at least for once. Zinzan Broone, Michael Jones, Grant Fox, John Kirwan, Jeff Wilson. Jona Lomu is some of the few superstars whose popularity crossed all bounds because of their performances in the World Cup. The Women’s team is also one of the most dominant forces of the game. They have been able to maintain their position on the top of the rankings for quite a few numbers of years.

Ireland has always taken enough pride in their rugby team. It is one of the major sports in the country and is followed by many. Ireland has been nurturing talent sin the sport since a long time. Their game is characterized by agility, power, tactics and a gritty attitude. The domestic clubs pay enough importance to the local talents. Clubs like Lancaster has achieved enough success in the international arena. Brian O’Driscoll who is considered as one of the greatest ever to play the game for Ireland has been a constant threat to the opponents in his central position. He has recently retired from the game after a record 141 tests that he has played over his career. But the idea do not seem to have sunk in to the superstar as of yet. This was visible when he addressed the press after Ireland’s triumph over France in the Six Nations Championships.
Joe Schmidt is the present coach of Ireland and the players have always seemed happy under him. When Brian was asked about the role of the coach in the team he said that they knew the way they wanted to play the game. But he smiled and checked himself by saying that he would not be involved in the team meeting. It has been a long journey of fourteen years for O’Driscoll and the fans as well as the officials were emotional at his decision to retire. Schmidt had worked with him earlier in Leinster for three years and their collaboration became a by word in the Ireland dressing room. Driscoll repented for not having beaten the All Blacks even once in his lifetime. His next few seasons will be under scrutiny as he has a lot of work to do for Leinster beginning from the Heineken Club quarter final against Toulon.

David Wilson, the prop forward for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club Bath Rugby is eyeing triumph in the European Challenge Cup in order to showcase the great improvements shown by the team this time around.

Bath have sent Josh Ovens on loan to Bristol for the end of the season. The 21-year-old flanker made his Bath debut in September 2008 and has since made 20 appearances for the club.

“He’s a had a string of first-team performances and comes with a lot of quality,” Bristol head coach Liam Middleton told BBC Radio Bristol.

“He’ll add a lot of depth and quality to our back-row, where we’re strong.”

Bath scrum-half Chris Cook has revealed that he is open to the possibility of moving to another club on loan. The 20-year-old is currently third choice behind Michael Claassens and Mark McMillian and has not ruled out getting experience elsewhere.

“If needs be I’d be happy to go on loan if that’s what I need to do to improve my game,” Cook told BBC Radio Bristol.

“My brother plays at London Welsh so I wouldn’t mind a spell there.”

But the England Under-20 international is hoping under Sir Ian McGeechan he might be able move up the pecking order.

Second row Danny Grewcock has said that due to the intense training sessions the form of Bath has improved significantly.

Bath, who are fourth in the Premiership, travel to third-placed Gloucester on Saturday.

Grewcock told BBC Radio Bristol: “We have worked hard in training and that’s probably the key thing as we have picked up our intensity.

Bath are close to signing Ireland lock Ryan Caldwell. The 25-year-old started his career at Ulster in 2003, making his debut in 2005 before going on to make 79 appearances for the Irish club side.

He won two caps for his country while on tour in the USA and Canada in 2009.

“He is a big, powerful young lock, and will create some real problems for the opposition,” said Bath director of rugby Sir Ian McGeechan.

“He has very good skills already and will develop further as he matures.”

Bath’s Josh Ovens says that he is looking to impress his new clubs fans. The flanker, 21, has been on the fringes of Bath’s Premiership and Heineken Cup squads but gets a rare start against Newcastle on Saturday.

“It’s a really good chance for me and other players to go out and prove a point,” Ovens told BBC Radio Bristol.

“Every time I start or from the bench I’ve got to make sure I’m playing as well as I can to impress the coaches.”