Bath looking hot as they tackle the Tigers for final redemption

Hunches, to be honest, are a bit of a folly. You cannot bank on them and they often prove to be utterly meaningless.

And yet, while leaving Twickenham in June last year having watched Bath fall to Northampton in the Gallagher Premiership final, there was an instinct which was hard to ignore. A conviction about a losing finalist I cannot recall feeling previously.

Not only would Bath be back in the Premiership final the following year – they would go one step further and win the league title, ending a sorry drought for a club of Bath’s stature which has lasted for 29 years. There are Bath fans now worrying about the cost of weddings, mortgages and nursery fees who have never seen their club, winners of six league titles in seven years between 1989 and 1996, become champions of England.

Two factors after last year’s heartbreak helped support that belief. Beno Obano’s red card, for a high tackle on Northampton’s Juarno Augustus, meant Bath had to play with 14 for about an hour. Faced with that numerical disadvantage, they did not wilt. In fact, Bath went from trailing 15-3 at one stage to ­leading 21-18 with the finish line coming into view, before Alex Mitchell’s crushing try ended up winning the final for Northampton. Good teams do not fold in the face of adversity. Johann van Graan, Bath’s director of rugby, often talks about “the human spirit”, wanting his side to be “tough to beat”. They were in that final.

Second, while Northampton’s ­triumph was a last hurrah for Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Alex Waller, Bath’s squad remained intact. If anything, the arrivals of Ross Molony, Francois van Wyk and Guy Pepper made them stronger.

Still, you have to walk the walk, and Bath finished this season 11 points clear at the top, booked a semi-final place with three rounds to go and also won the Challenge Cup, Europe’s ­second competition, lifting their first big trophy since 2008. Not bad.

Trailing at half-time in Friday night’s semi-final to Bristol, off the back of a wonderful team try from their spicy neighbours made by Kalaveti Ravouvou’s brilliant run, there was no panic. Why fret when you have a powerhouse pack with the two best tighthead props in the ­country in your squad – Will Stuart, the England prop coming off the best season of his career, and the Springbok colossus Thomas du Toit – and a player-of-the-match ­performance from your outstanding young back-row in Michael Pepper. Will Muir and Joe Cokanasiga are not currently on England’s radar but, bursting with confidence in this backline, look as though they will finish every chance that comes their way.

And then you have the control and flair supplied by half-backs Ben Spencer and Finn Russell. Russell brings the stardust and is some asset, but Spencer is the heart of this side, their tone-setter. He embodied that status with one kick and chase in the second half which forced a Bristol error. Signing Spencer from Saracens, a move from before the Van Graan era, has always felt like a coup.

Having covered Bath closely in that period before Van Graan, back then they could not finish off chances and in defence willingly gifted them to opponents. Bath finished bottom of the table in 2022 and Van Graan arrived that summer.

The South African, previously with the Bulls and Munster, is big on mantras. From his first week in charge, the messages have remained the same. “Tough to beat” is one. “Dream big” is another. The defence was ripped out and rebuilt, medical staff overhauled, smart signings made in Russell, Du Toit, Ted Hill and Ollie Lawrence.

Leicester Tigers, 21-16 winners of the second semi-final against Sale, have pulled off their own remarkable revival under Michael Cheika, going from eighth to second, benefiting from a campaign under a world-class coach. The only regret is that Cheika will depart after this season. Their wing threats, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Adam Radwan, who scored two tries yesterday, are lethal and the pack can still bully teams. There is an ­emotional surge behind their run too, with the imminent retirements of Mike Brown, Dan Cole and Ben Youngs. It is hard to imagine Leicester without those last two incredible servants to their club. But Bath have always been the frontrunners, the best side in the country, primed to make amends. Their 29-year league drought could soon be over. Just a hunch.

Photograph by Joe Giddens/PA Wire