Aviva Premiership
Francois Louw calls on current Bath vintage to write their own history
Tom Hamilton
May 26, 2015
Sam Burgess, Francois Louw
Sam Burgess, Francois Louw© (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Francois Louw wants the current Bath vintage to create their own legacy when they tackle Saracens in the Aviva Premiership final on Saturday.

Bath's last Premiership final was 2004 when they fell to Wasps and they have won just one piece of silverware since their Heineken Cup triumph in 1998. That win over Brive in Bordeaux proved to be the end of an era of dominance for Bath which saw them win 10 cups between 1984 and 1996. Following the Heineken Cup win in 1998, they had to wait 10 years for their next trophy - the Challenge Cup triumph in 2008.

It has been a barren spell for Bath but their 47-10 win over Leicester last Saturday has seen them book a spot in the Premiership final where they hope to end up champions of England for the first time since 1996. Whenever you are at the Rec you see players from those halcyon days walking around and Louw says their presence does not bring added pressure but instead the players will use it as motivation.

"I would not say pressure, I would say a sense of pride, a sense of wanting to achieve that glory once again when Bath won the Heineken Cup back in the day," Louw said. "Obviously the Premiership and so forth, it's not pressure, it's a boost. It is a fantastic club with a lot of heritage and history. As a current side in 2015 we want to live up to the expectation that the fans have, the club has of itself, which is a very big ask but that's why we play this game - for those pressures and for that commitment to hopefully achieve that."

For Louw it will be his second final at Bath after they lost the Challenge Cup finale to Northampton last term. The 34-cap Springboks flanker is also hoping a win on Saturday will bring to an end a run of bad luck in finals.

"I have played in a couple of Currie Cup finals [with Western Province]. In 2010, we played in the Super 15 final against the Blue Bulls when I was with the Stormers, which we lost. I have never won a final.

"To be where we are now, to be here with Bath after being at the club for four years and to finally get to the final of the Premiership, which is the biggest thing for us as a team, is absolutely amazing and very exciting. There was an immense amount of pressure, but it was a good pressure. It was a sense of wanting to achieve and to do well. There's the opportunity to be crowned the best club in England, which is very exciting and I am blessed to be a part of."

Key to Bath's performance on Saturday will be the form of their mesmerising backs. The axis of George Ford, Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph in their midfield proved too much for Leicester and Louw is full of praise for their form.

"You have to give credit to the boys. There's a reason they all made the England squad. You can't exclude them for one second, those guys are absolutely electric. Being a loose forward with the backs we have, it can sometimes be quite scary. They are very unpredictable and they just let loose.

Kyle Eastmond
Kyle Eastmond© Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

"You know you are going to have to run 50 metres to clean a ruck on the wing and then get up and clean a ruck on the other wing. It is a very high tempo, high pace game, but the electric impact that those guys have had has been monumental for us. From George's side, his control of the game, his precision tactically, his kicking. You go into the centres with Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph, the way those guys conduct the forwards around them and conduct the backs around them. They really just penetrate and put guys away in holes if not take the hole themselves. The World Cup is a long, long way away but if those guys donned 10-12-13 for a Test match I think they will be devastating against any team.

"With the wings we have out wide with Semesa and Banners out there, and Anthony Watson striking from the back, it is very exciting. It is an absolutely outstanding backline, you have to give credit to those guys. A lot of the games we have won has been because of their outstanding individual ability."

Bath coach Mike Ford says unless there is a monsoon at Twickenham on Saturday his side will go there with the same intent they showed against Leicester - to attack. Louw also believes keeping tactics and preparations as constant as possible is for the better.

"We focus on our game, we don't want to change anything. I would not say our attack needs to step, there is just more of an emphasis on execution, accuracy. We will keep doing what we have been doing. It is not a secret: we like to run the ball, we like to attack, we like to take players on from anywhere on the field, we like a quick tempo game.

"We will focus on ourselves and building our strategy that we have been implemented this whole season and just really perfecting it and pulling it off in the final game of the season, which we will require to be Premiership champions."

© Tom Hamilton

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