So Todd, do you still stand by your team decision?

HAVING watched Bath detonate their chances of winning at Saracens last weekend by resting 13 players, it was poetic justice when they lost to Exeter at the Rec on Friday night.

The rationale for Bath devaluing the competitive currency of the Premiership by failing to field anything close to their strongest side was that it was in the club’s best interests to rest players – even if it meant ignoring the opportunity to test themselves against the champions.

As Bath’s director of rugby Todd Blackadder put it after his fourth placed team blew their chance in a 50-27 drubbing:

“We are resting guys, freshening people up, getting away from the habit of breaking people.”

The irony is that the extra rest did Bath no favours, with Exeter taking control in the final quarter, scoring two late tries to draw clear as Bath started to lose the collisions and fall off tackles. Blackadder said at the post-match Press conference at Allianz Park: “I absolutely stand by the decision. We did the best thing for our players and our team.”

That assertion is looking a little ragged after Bath’s 39-24 defeat by the Chiefs, and it may become increasingly contentious in the eyes of their supporters as the season progresses.

The message to Premiership owners, and coaches, is that if you devalue your biggest asset – a competitive league structure – you do so at your peril.