Bath Rugby out to be Euro stars for third time in Amlin Cup final against ...

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Bath Rugby will be going all out in their bid to get their hands on a third European trophy tomorrow night.

Bath became the first British club to win the Heineken Cup in 1998 and followed that by lifting the European Challenge Cup ten years later.

And Bath are back in the final of that competition – now known as the Amlin Cup – as they go in search of a hat-trick of continental crowns against Aviva Premiership finalists Northampton Saints at Cardiff Arms Park (8pm).

Head coach Mike Ford said: “We’ll leave everything out on the pitch on Friday, that’s for certain. We’ve got no tomorrows or no week afters.

“We’re in the 50th week of the season and the boys have sacrificed a lot. It makes sense for us, having the talent we’ve got in the squad, to win something.

“These big games bring a pressure and intensity that possibly isn’t there for a normal game. The team that copes and executes best will win.

“We’re preparing for it to come down to the last five or ten minutes, it’s going to be that close.”

It is Bath’s first cup final since they won this competition six years ago and Ford and his coaching staff have tried to keep their squad as calm as they can.

“We’re trying to make it as normal as possible,” said Ford.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the game anyway with it being a final and on TV. There’s a trophy and we’ve not won one since 2008. We’re just trying to do what we’ve done all year.”

Bath return to action for the first time since missing out on the Premiership play-offs in agonising fashion a fortnight ago.

A narrow defeat at Harlequins saw them denied a semi-final spot and they are determined not to suffer the same fate tomorrow.

“Maybe with the Quins game being do or die, we didn’t think correctly under pressure so we need to bring that to the game,” he said.

“But the boys are ready to go. We gave them three or four days to sulk, then we quickly moved on when they came in.

“We’ve dissected the Quins game and how we can get better – controlling the ball under pressure and dealing with the occasion and a must-win game.

“We need to have the vibe and physicality that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks.

“We’re confident that if we go out and do what we’ve done for 95 per cent of the season we are going to be there or thereabouts at the end of the game.”

Bath’s preparations for the final have been given a major boost with the news Francois Louw is fit to return from injury. The South African flanker has not played since suffering ankle ligament damage in the Premiership victory at London Irish in late March.

But they are still waiting on the fitness of hooker Eusebio Guinazu after the Argentina international suffered a concussion against Harlequins, with Bath already without the services of Rob Webber and Ross Batty.

Article source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/rugby-league-australian-league-forward-breaks-neck-tackle-013133471--spt.html

Bath Rugby out to be Euro stars for third time in Amlin Cup final against ...