Eggs Benedict are something of a gastronomic art form. Cooked well, they are heaven - but even a whiff of a badly made hollandaise or an over-poached egg and they quickly become breakfast hell.
Matt Stevens does a good hollandaise. I devoured a plate of Eggs Benedict in his cafe last Saturday morning. Sorry to go all Michael Winner, but breakfast was the best thing to come out of Bath on Saturday. There is no hiding the fact that these are troubled times at The Rec.
Round 7 of the Guinness Premiership saw them lose yet another home game, setting a new and unwelcome record at one the most celebrated clubs in the land.
They did push Sarries in the final quarter: but where last season they had the likes of Butch James to snatch a win, there now seems to be no-one capable of producing that crucial moment of magic.
The South African World Cup winner is due back in January, but that's a long time to wait for that game-breaking talent that he brings.
Saracens showed a glimpse of attractive rugby in the first half, with tries from Andy Saull and Noah Cato, while hooker Schalk Brits was a joy to watch. The South African just loves his rugby and is lightning quick, with great hands, and his electricfying break set up the opening score.
He was beaming after the game - I only wish all post-match interviews were that easy! There have been murmurs of discontent as Sarries' functional style but I must come to their defence here.
Coach Brendan Venter is a very bright bloke, who has his team playing very clever rugby. They play the game on their their terms, and they engineer field position - and points - in a clinical fashion.
If opponents are loose they will be punished, and Glen Jackson's boot will ruthlessly eat up all those hard yards the forwards may have earned.
Their Sarrie's rush defence is up so quick the opposition have no space or time to move. One of Bath's many failings on Saturday was not moving the ball quickly enough when the slightest gap appeared in the Sarries defensive line: and that in itself didn’t happen very often.
Venter's tactics are sure to be figured out at some stage, but they also have a Plan B and crucially, the personnel to implement it. To quote a slightly mad Spaniard, 7 wins from 7, “Zat ish a fact” - credit where credit is due.
International action now takes over for a couple of weeks, and as the international union's cash registers start to ring the Premiership takes a break.
If you're reading this, Martin Johnson, here is my England team for the forthcoming internationals, (with 11 of the original 32-man squad sidelined by injury, I don't envy Johnson his task in the coming weeks!)
ENGLAND
Ben Foden (Northampton)
Matt Banahan (Bath)
Dan Hipkiss (Leicester)
Shane Geraghty (Northampton)
Ugo Moyne (Harlequins)
Johnny Wilkinson (Toulon)
Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
Tim Payne (London Wasps)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton)
Duncan Bell (Bath)
Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton)
Jordan Crane (Leicester)
Tom Croft (Leicester)
Lewis Moody (Leicester)
