Aviva Premiership
Mike Ford: Bath will be back to challenge for Premiership glory
ESPN Staff
May 2, 2016
© Harry Trump/Getty Images

Bath will be back challenging the Aviva Premiership's top teams after a hugely disappointing season, head coach Mike Ford has claimed.

The West Country side were last season's runners-up, losing to eventual champions Saracens in the final at Twickenham, and supplied a raft of young talent to the England squad. This season has seen them slip to a lowly ninth in the Premiership table, suffering 13 defeats -- including Saturday's 15-14 loss to Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens.

Ford admitted questions needed to be answered but cautioned against knee-jerk reactions to what he sees as a freak season for his side.

"We're going to look at it deeply, but we can't throw the baby out with the bath water from what we did last year," Ford said. "Clearly, for a number of reasons, we've not kicked on. We've been competitive all the way through this season but our confidence of winning those tight games has deserted us. It's been tough.

"I will rip it up and start again, but I'll put all the good pieces from last year back in there. You can look too deep and analyse too much, thinking everything's wrong.

"We've certainly got to improve in every aspect, but I'm very confident that with the unbelievably talented squad, the new recruits we've got coming in, and [chairman] Bruce Craig behind us, we're going to be there or thereabouts next season."

© ESPN Staff

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