Former Bath Rugby coach John Connolly believes his old club'scurrent woes would have been avoided had Steve Borthwick opted tostay at The Rec last summer.
Connolly, who was at Bath from 2003 to 2006 and led them to thetop of the Premiership table in his first season, worked withMichael Lipman, Alex Crockett and Andrew Higgins throughout histenure.
Borthwick left for Saracens after skippering Bath to theirEuropean Challenge Cup triumph a year ago and has since been madecaptain of his country.
Speaking from his home on Australia's Sunshine Coast, Connollysaid: "Letting Borthwick go was probably the greatest tragedy forBath ever - for what he stood for and his influence.
"He is a very bright individual who is very much his own man, andI was shocked when he left. Great captains have a certain air aboutthem - and he has that. The players there respected him and wouldhave done anything for him."
And Connolly says the club face an uphill battle if they are torebuild their battered image in the light of this week's events.
He said: "There is such great expectation on players now and tohave something that negatively affects Bath's image or theirperformance on the field is massively disappointing.
"I certainly think Bath have got some very big challenges aheadof them to put things right. Off-field issues are just as big as on-field issues in my opinion."
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