England wing inspires Bath to victory as fans return to Twickenham Stoop
Ruaridh McConnochie produced two classy finishes to ruin Harlequins’ celebrations over the temporary return of their fans as Bath emerged 41-27 winners at Twickenham Stoop. A crowd of 2,700 attended the test event – the first time supporters have been at any Gallagher Premiership match since the five-month interruption caused by Covid-19.
And while the pilot for rugby appeared to be a success, inspiring Quins to seek permission to stage another as soon as possible, events on the pitch took the gloss off the afternoon.
Apart from a blistering start that produced an early try for Joe Marchant, they were totally outgunned by play-off-chasing Bath who had galloped out of sight two minutes into the second half.
It was McConnochie who delivered that killer blow as one of two tries seized with Eddie Jones watching from the stands and England’s head coach can only have been impressed by his clinical touch.
Picked as a bolter for the 2019 World Cup, the 28-year-old Olympic silver medallist suffered a drop in form upon his return from Japan but his post-lockdown haul of five tries in four games propels him into contention for the autumn.
Adding to the wing’s try-scoring efficiency was a masterful kicking display by Rhys Priestland, the Wales fly-half who finished the bonus-point triumph with an individual 21-point haul.
Error-strewn Harlequins never recovered from seeing McConnochie capitalise on a restart blunder to ignite Bath and all energy drained from their game, exposing a lack of resilience and belief.
Roared on by their soon-to-be muted fans, Quins made a high-octane start that underlined their determination to mark the occasion with a show.
Brett Herron produced a couple of early flourishes but it was his half-back partner Danny Care who set-up Marchant’s sixth-minute try with a hanging kick that descended in front of the posts.
Showing his aerial athleticism, Marchant won the mid-air duel and then showed the strength to drive over the line and touch down.
Two Herron penalties pushed Harlequins into a promising lead but the second of those brought with it disaster as from the ensuing restart Matt Symons made a hash of the kick, spilling it backwards.
McConnochie reacted in a flash by beating Chris Ashton to the ball and the England wing produced a skilful finish under pressure.
Quins were shaken by the self-inflicted challenge to their dominance and it took only five minutes for them to crack again as Bath rumbled over through Elliott Stooke once centre Cameron Redpath had carved a hole in midfield.
With Priestland on target, the west country visitors cruised 23-13 ahead and their opponents’ frustration was clear when Care took a quick penalty only for the ball to be lost at the ensuing ruck.
Early in the second half Bath were out of sight as McConnochie claimed his second try when space was created down the left by a slick interchange and the former sevens specialist sprinted over, finishing with a side-step.
Martin Landajo and Lewis Boyce exchanged tries in a final quarter that lacked intensity due to Bath’s unassailable lead and Quins repeatedly dropping off-loads until James Lang touched down in injury time.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments