Watson: Leicester are our biggest threat
Bath captain Luke Watson says that Leicester are the club's biggest threat and enemy as the new season is now only a week away.
Bath are expected to do very well this season and have emerged as one of the favourites to win the Premiership title. This will be Watson's first season in charge of the team and it's clear he sees the Leicester Tigers as the main threat to Bath's dreams.
Watson said: "I think Leicester, before the squad's announced, are traditional favourites. They're very experienced and a great team and are deserved winners and champions for many years now. But we're not going to compare ourselves to Leicester, we are Bath and play the way we do."
Leicester are the current Premiership champions. They have lost a few key players this summer including Lewis Moody and Sam Vesty who have both joined Bath. However, they have kept the core nucleus of a very good side that will push Bath all the way this season.
Both Bath and Leicester both have sets of skills that will see them do well this season. However, some Bath fans may have preferred it if Watson was focusing on his own team first.
Bath and Leicester
Leicester have the experience and the recent feeling of winning the league. This will give them an edge over Bath because they will want that feeling to carry on throughout the season.
However, Bath have some ex-Leicester players who have already stated their desire to have a big season at the club. They may have one or two small issues with the way they left Leicester and it could be beneficial for Bath if they run around all season long trying to make a point.
Both squads are very good although Leicester may just have the edge in terms of quality. They have some real pace and energy in their team through Ben Youngs and Toby Flood and this is something Bath lack a little bit of.
The captain's focus
Leicester will not mind at all that the Bath captain is talking about them before the season has already started. For them it could suggest that Watson does not have his eye fixed on the ball and this could cause mistakes during important early games.
However, he has been given a new role and a lot more responsibility this season. He will have to learn how to cope with this in his own individual way and the experience from Moody and Vesty in a successful side will help.
He added: "It's a massive honour as Bath is a club with a lot of tradition and pride and to be part of that is a huge privilege. Anyone could have been captain. There were a number of candidates running for it. If someone else would have been captain it wouldn't made any difference."
Betting advice
The pre-season hype was always going to shape up with Bath and Leicester at the very top of the list of possible teams that could win the Premiership this season.
Leicester have the edge in so many areas that it makes them the better team to back. They have a great balance between hungry young players and experience from players who have been around for years. They know how to win the big games and they will pile the pressure on their rivals straight away.
Leicester also don't have a captain who is doing the job for the very first time. This means Watson will make one or two errors over the course of the season. Back Leicester all the way through.
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