Killer Tigers blow urges Catt to return

Mike Catt is ready to put his injured body, and his England place, on the line in a high-risk attempt to halt Bath?s humiliating decline.

In an ideal world, Catt would still be several games away from testing the right calf muscle which curtailed his Lions tour so early, but life in Bath is currently far from ideal.

The 48-9 thumping at Leicester on Saturday was the club?s heaviest defeat since the introduction of a league system, their worst ever against their fiercest rivals and their fourth straight loss this season. They are rock bottom, in confidence and in the Premiership, and Catt cannot put off his comeback any longer.

?I?ve got to play next week,? he said, knowing another huge task looms for Jon Callard?s shell- shocked young side. Their European Cup campaign begins with a daunting trip to Biarritz, which would have stretched the Bath side that won the competition three short years ago.

?I didn?t want to come back and have all the pressure on me, but that?s how it?s going to be,? said Catt, who has no idea how the leg will stand up to contact sessions in training. ?And if it goes wrong with me back in the side, where do we go from there??

The worry for Catt is that he could be about to make the same mistake that cost him his place on the Lions tour. There, desperate to prove his fitness, he broke down in the first half of his only game, the defeat by Australia A, and played no further part.

Now, the pressure is on him to stop the rot at Bath. Callard has him pencilled in for Biarritz on Saturday, especially after Catt?s fellow England centre Mike Tindall hobbled off at Welford Road and is doubtful. Catt also has the Six Nations to consider. Despite not featuring at all this season, he was named in Clive Woodward?s England squad for the Ireland game next month. A pressure-cooker game against a top-class French side will find Catt out and could put his recovery back for weeks if he is not totally ready. ?I wanted to be fighting for my position at Bath but I?m going to be put straight back into it,? he said.

Catt had some harsh words for the team- mates who succumbed so spectacularly at Leicester, where they shipped 20 points in 10 first-half minutes of one-sided rugby.

?It?s not the coaches? fault, it?s the players,? he said. ?Some guys have been at the club for three or four years now and are just not taking the lead. People have got to grow up and quickly.