Bath climb into play-off places after victory over Sale
Bath moved into the play-off places at the expense of Bristol Bears after an impressive 37-22 triumph over Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium. Sale went into the weekend in second but this result, combined with Wasps’ triumph over Bristol, means that the Sharks slip down to fourth with the Bears a place further adrift.
Steve Diamond’s men opened the game well and went in front thanks to Rohan Janse Van Rensburg’s score, but the West Country outfit responded brilliantly.
Ruaridh McConnochie levelled matters before Rhys Priestland kicked a penalty and Ben Spencer crossed the whitewash to give Stuart Hooper’s outfit a 10-point buffer.
That would be reduced early in the second period as Jean-Luc Du Preez touched down before AJ MacGinty added a penalty, but Bath were clinical and effectively sealed the win via successive Priestland penalties and Spencer’s second try.
Dan Du Preez did briefly give the Sharks hope of a losing bonus point but Jonathan Joseph went over late on to seal the full five for the visitors.
Despite the end result, it was the Sharks that began the brighter in Salford, going 7-0 ahead with just three minutes on the clock.
Since regaining his place in the XV from Rob Du Preez, MacGinty has been superb and the USA international was the architect of the try. The fly-half dummied, got his hands free and found the rampaging Van Rensburg, who shrugged off the attentions of several would-be tacklers to touch down.
Sale continued to control matters and had the opportunity to extend their advantage, but MacGinty’s penalty attempt was wide and they would pay for that profligacy.
With their first real attack, the visitors constructed an excellent score as they moved the ball through several phases. Wide passes over the top of narrow Sharks defence kept them on the front foot and McConnochie eventually burst through to cross the whitewash unopposed.
The West Countrymen were also proving effective in the maul and their pressure forced Jono Ross into a cynical infringement. The captain was sin-binned for a trip and, from the resultant three-point attempt, Priestland moved Hooper’s men into the lead.
With their opponents down to 14 men, Bath took advantage and manufactured another try as a bullet pass sent Joseph clear. The England man chipped over the top and Spencer was the player to grab hold of the ball and touch down.
It was thoroughly deserved and a lead they would take into the interval, but they were thankful to a brilliant last-gasp tackle from McConnochie. MacGinty and Tom Curry had combined superbly with the former looking set to score, but the England hopeful enhanced his reputation by bringing down the pivot.
Hooper was looking for more of the same from his side and they continued to defend valiantly, but they were beginning to come under pressure.
Faf De Klerk was getting a supply of quick ball and the hosts thought they had scored through Marland Yarde, but play was brought back following a forward pass by Akker Van Der Merwe.
Despite that rearguard effort, Bath were eventually breached as the Sharks once again went through the phases. Replacement Dan Du Preez made a significant incursion before his brother finished the move after MacGinty had sent him through a gap.
Sale’s pivot missed the conversion but was successful with a three-pointer moments later to reduce the arrears further. However, Priestland almost immediately restored Bath’s buffer with one of his own off the tee and then slotted another to increase their lead to eight.
With Rob Webber yellow carded for the cynical indiscretion which led to that penalty, the West Country outfit were in command and they secured a hugely impressive victory when Spencer intercepted Yarde’s pass and touched down.
Dan du Preez did go over late on for the Sharks but it proved to be mere consolation as Bath deservedly had the final word through Joseph.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to comments