WELL, here we are, the final frontier for in what has been an extremely testing season for all concerned with the club.

The match against London Wasps provides us with the opportunity to redeem ourselves after what was an extremely painful and embarrassing record defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm last weekend.

It was somewhat unfair that the unfortunate scoreline rather overshadowed some excellent performances from the three young players who made their first team debuts. Spencer Davey, who is just 19, was threatening in attack all afternoon in the centre and also made some big hits. Not bad for a player who is not even a regular United player.

I also thought the performances of Gareth Delve and Gareth Knox were commendable when they came on midway through the second half. Delve has both tremendous pace and power and thoroughly deserved his try, while Knox showed great positional awareness at the back and defended stoutly.

A lot has been said about the club putting too much emphasis on youth development. However, these are three precious talents who have a bright future ahead of them and who I am sure we will see a lot more of in the not too distant future.

Speaking of youth development, I would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to the under 19s, captained by Gareth Delve, who defeated Bristol 29-19 at Franklin's Gardens to lift the National Colts Cup on Bank Holiday Monday. By all accounts it was a fantastic match of open, running rugby.

The rugby news this week has been dominated by the revelation that Rotherham may not actually take their rightful place in the Premiership after all, due to the fact that their stadium does not pass Premiership standards.

At the time of writing this, it was just a rumour, but if this proves to be the truth then it could be argued that the decision makes a mockery of Premiership competition.

While it would be nice to take the pressure off of our injury-ravaged squad and be assured of Premiership status for another season, it would have been appropriate to decide this on the pitch this weekend.

That is why I expect the team to approach the match on Sunday as if it is a relegation decider.

Nobody here wants to finish at the bottom of the pile-Premiership status assured or not. The guys have taken a long hard look at themselves this week in the wake of the Gloucester defeat and have put in the hours on the training paddock to prepare for in-form Wasps.

Therefore, I believe that you will see the guys give 110 per cent on Sunday. Everyone from the coaching staff to the players has something to prove to themselves and the critics and would like to repay the fans for their fantastic support this season.

As for me, it will hopefully be my last match painfully observing from the touchlines as I hope to be fit and ready for the start of the season.

I am giving my back plenty of rest at the moment, while also working in the pool with the 'aqua-jogger'.

There is a lot of hard graft to come, but I am determined to come over the summer months back stronger and ready for the challenge of taking Bath back to where it belongs-at the top of the Zurich Premiership.

Matt Perry