Jeremy Guscott column: Taulupe Faletau can become best No.8 in the world at Bath

Taulupe Faletau’s decision to join Bath next season means that they have acquired a 25-year-old who is not only a world-class No.8, but who also has the opportunity to become one of the best players in his position on the planet over the next few years.
There is no shortage of great No.8s around the world, with Kieran Read, Duane Vermeulen and Jamie Heaslip among them, but for me Faletau has enough attributes to rank alongside them even now. He can run forever, tackles everything, and has real power as a carrier. Even better for Bath, he has the ability to play a broader game than he does for Wales at the moment. As well as making the hard yards and the tough tackles, and putting in the mileage, Faletau has that special factor as a footballer who can make telling off-loads and pop-passes.
The Dragons find themselves in an unfortunate position of missing out on a sizeable transfer fee, but the main problem seems to be that the WRU and Warren Gatland have had control, initially, on whether Faletau could leave Wales for England. It appears that they said ‘no’ in the hope that he would sign a dual contract for the Dragons and Wales, but what prevented him moving to the Rec earlier no longer applies.
Although the Dragons are the losers here, they should take great credit for Faletau’s development, and I’m sure that he’ll have great memories of his time with them. However, to win trophies sometimes as a player you just have to move on.
Not that he has moved very far – you can get to Bath from Newport in 40 minutes, and the Wales training complex at the Vale of Glamorgan in 80 minutes. Also, whatever the contractual challenges, I don’t think that Bath will stand in the way of him playing for Wales. In fact, the opposite applies, with the club benefiting from having players with international profiles.
It is interesting that the way he’s played for Wales is what Bath are missing in terms of having a hard-running carrier who is as steady and solid as they come. Faletau is so good because he makes the game look easy, and because he is so athletic, strong and quick, with the perfect frame for his position.
Given the Bath style, I’m sure that he will also be able to develop his own personal game further. Bath currently play an inclusive game with players seeing an opportunity in attack and trying to make the most of it. They will attack from anywhere, and that will suit Faletau. It will open his eyes, and encourage him to explore from there – he’s joining an attack-minded side that want to keep the opposition guessing, and his game will benefit from that. That Bath had already signed David Denton, who can play blindside or 8, shows just how single-minded he is, and a back row of Denton or Matt Garvey at 6, Francois Louw at 7, and Faletau at 8 has a very competitive ring to it.
The great thing is that, with 52 caps, Faletau is an established, experienced Test player already, and if you picked a Lions side now he would be my first choice No.8. However, you sense that there is so much more to come from him before he reaches his 100th cap.
What we don’t know is how vocal he is, or how big a say he has with Wales. We do know that he is a key decision-maker who is in the control module at the base of the scrum, and also an important kick-receiver from deep. While he was with the Dragons he also always looked fresh and full of energy for internationals, with nothing of the slouch about him. You like to think that there will be enough of a rotation policy at Bath to keep him that way – especially with another very good No.8 at the club in Leroy Houston.
I believe that Faletau will answer every challenge he faces at Bath. He is a pure, direct talent who will open up and show us all the skills he has.
Before that, Bath have this season to negotiate, and my guess is that despite an up-and-down start they will come through. The expectations of this Bath side are high, and some doubt may have crept in because they are ninth in the Premiership table, and, although there is a lot of rugby to play, you’ve got to start winning or the pressure builds.
This weekend they’ve got the away leg of their European Champions Cup double-header against a Wasps team that has been flying hig. Nathan Hughes at 8 is one of the players of the Premiership, Ashley Johnson’s move to hooker has been a success, Joe Simpson is playing a hard attacking scrum-half role, and Elliott Daly is the dominant outside-centre in English rugby.
Wasps are a side that have clicked, which is why against Leinster they seemed to get away every time they had the ball. However, they are coming off a home defeat by Exeter, and at times in their last two matches they looked like a side which just expects it to happen, while forgetting that you have got to turn up and work really hard, too.
Even so, Wasps go into this first leg at the Ricoh in a better place than Bath because this season they have kicked-on and found good form. That’s where Bath were last season, but so far they have not managed to replicate it this campaign. They are dogged by poor discipline, giving penalties away and turning ball over, and their scrum is not so dominant. There is no momentum, and they play a game with more ebb than flow because they are not being smart enough.
The beauty is that every game is a possible turning point – and Bath have to believe that at any moment they can rediscover the form of last season.