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Bath send shockwaves through Premiership by toppling Harlequins
Wing Will Muir scored two tries as Bath shredded the Gallagher Premiership form-book by beating reigning champions Harlequins 21-17.
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Although Bath remain bottom of the Premiership, they followed up victory over Worcester three weeks ago by claiming first back-to-back league wins since March last year.
Quins, minus the likes of England Six Nations squad members Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt, led at half-time after tries from flanker Dino Lamb and wing Cadan Murley, with Tommy Allan adding a conversion.
But Bath, 32 points behind Quins before kick-off, stayed in the contest through two Ben Spencer penalties before Muir struck twice in 14 minutes, then Spencer’s late penalty sealed it after Quins substitute George Hammond claimed his team’s third touchdown.
Spencer added the conversion to Muir’s opener, and it was an outstanding effort by the injury-hit west country club after they conceded 64 points at home to Heineken Champions Cup opponents Leinster last Saturday.
Quins, without Smith’s direction and the physical presence of Dombrandt, saw hopes of a fourth successive away win in all competitions disappear.
England international number eight Nathan Hughes made his Bath debut after joining on loan from Bristol earlier this week, while centre Max Ojomoh answered an injury SOS by featuring at fly-half and there was a first Premiership start for prop Arthur Cordwell.
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Quins were captained by their former Bath hooker Jack Walker, with lock Lamb moving to blindside flanker and Tyrone Green returning at full-back.
Quins pressed from the start, but they blew two golden try-scoring opportunities inside the first four minutes after Green’s pass failed to find an unmarked Luke Wallace, then wing Nick David spilled possession as he dived towards Bath’s line following a superbly-placed Danny Care kick.
Bath were pinned inside their own 22, and when they eventually escaped, centre Cameron Redpath’s poor clearance saw Quins counter-attack, and David sent Lamb over for a try that Allan converted from the touchline.
Lamb left the action shortly afterwards with what appeared to be hamstring injury, being replaced by Archie White, then Green received a yellow card from referee Tom Foley for a deliberate knock-on.
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Prop Will Collier became the second Quins player to make an injury exit, with Simon Kerrod going on, and Bath began to put some promising passages of play together, led by some sharp running from Redpath and Ojomoh.
Spencer opened Bath’s account through a 27th-minute penalty, then he added a second successful kick shortly afterwards as Quins struggled to rediscover their early authority.
But they finished a stop-start opening half by conjuring an exceptional try that was started by David’s midfield break, taken on at pace by centre Huw Jones and finished by Murley.
Allan drifted the conversion attempt wide, yet Quins took a 12-6 advantage into the interval after absorbing a considerable amount of pressure.
Bath, though, retained their composure and went ahead for the first time after 44 minutes when Ojomoh’s pass freed Muir, who applied a high-class finish, before Spencer added a touchline conversion.
It was the cue for Bath to find unquestionably their best form of a wretched season, and a dominant third-quarter display ended with Muir claiming a second touchdown for a six-point lead.
Hammond’s try six minutes from time, which rounded off a flowing move, set up a grandstand finish after Allan’s touchline conversion went narrowly wide.
But Bath had enough in the tank to hold on and claim their best result of the season.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
31 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
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