Bath coach Steve Meehan has moved to ease the pressure on new South African recruit Luke Watson, as the hype around his imminent arrival reaches fever pitch at the Rec.

Meehan is concerned that the club's disheartened supporters are building up the loose forward as some sort of 'saviour' for their ailing fortunes.

With a one win from seven games, supporters are hoping Watson's introduction will be the kickstart the side needs to turn their season around.

The Bath boss, though, has cautioned against such lofty expectations of the former Western Province skipper.

"Let's slow down," Meehan told the Bath Chronicle, "It's almost setting up the guy for failure.

"I'm wary of putting too much pressure on Luke and people painting him as some kind of saviour.

"It's dangerous to put such responsibility on someone immediately."

Meehan wants the controversial South African personality to have a slow and steady integration into the Bath set-up, and is eyeing the Anglo-Welsh home clash with Ospreys on November 14 as a possible debut date.

"He has been watching some of our matches and we've been in contact pretty often," Meehan said, "Luke needs a couple of weeks off after a tough Currie Cup and the Super 14.

"We will get him in front of the physios, the medical team and the strength and conditioning team. They will all want to get their hands on him and have a good look."

But before the Australian head coach casts his thoughts towards Watson, he has some more pressing concerns, notably a first home win for his side this season in the Guinness Premiership clash with Newcastle on Saturday.

Two losses and a draw has given the side an unhappy start to their home campaign, but Meehan believes that his side have shown signs of form recently, particularly in an impressive first half showing against Stade Francais.

"Our first half against Stade was the best half of rugby we had played all season," he said. "We were organised and the players had their heads up.

"We need to back up what we did against Stade Francais in the first half with a complete match against Newcastle."

But Bath will be without Joe Maddock on Saturday after the Kiwi wing strained his ankle during the loss to Stade. Meanwhile, Olly Barkley is struggling to recover after breaking his leg during a pre-season training camp.

365

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