Bath survive red card to halt Premiership pacesetters
Bath shrugged off the dismissal of wing Aled Brew early in the second half to topple the Premiership’s early pacesetters with a powerful scrummaging display in a 22-13 win over Northampton.
The Saints had threatened to overrun the home side early on but Bath led at half-time with an opportunist Will Chudley try, converted by Rhys Priestland who then added a penalty.
After the break, prop Will Stuart capped a high-quality performance at tighthead with a catch-and-drive try and number eight Zach Mercer added a third from yet another dominant scrum.
The visitors could not have had a better start, being gifted a try after just 64 seconds. Priestland hesitated getting his clearance kick away and Grayson’s charge-down left Scotland centre Rory Hutchinson with a simple hack-on to score.
Grayson missed the conversion but added a ninth minute penalty when Bath could easily have conceded a second try.
The home scrum had a clear edge however and a penalty from the put-in provided the platform for Bath’s first score. Burns made a telling entry from full-back before Tom Ellis revived the attack in midfield and scrum-half Chudley spied a gap and sped 30 metres to touch down, with Priestland converting.
Saints continued to stretch Bath on the flanks with their quickfire rucks but Bath’s scrum remained a potent weapon.
As the visitors began to find themselves on the wrong side of the penalty count, Priestland was on target again from nearly 40 metres to grab a 10-8 lead. That they held it to half-time owed a lot to Burns and his defensive work at full-back.
That one felt good… pic.twitter.com/ZeBjt2BZm2
— Bath Rugby (@bathrugby) November 9, 2019
Soon after the break, Grayson wasted a chance to regain the advantage from the tee and Bath also repelled Saints’ catch and drive from a line-out.
Brew’s collision with George Furbank looked fairly innocuous at first, although the Saints fullback was sent sprawling. But replays showed the Bath wing’s forearm had been dangerously high and the home side were down to 14 men for the remaining 33 minutes.
The red card galvanised them into a second try within four minutes as Stuart finished off a line-out catch-and-drive, but Priestland’s conversion struck the bar.
A pre-game TV interview on Saturday is the first time Mark McCall has been heard from since last Tuesday's salary cap revelations about Saracens https://t.co/jFrsWg6Lov
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2019
Saints eventually made the numerical advantage pay when Teimana Harrison set up a ruck near the flag and Tom Wood satisfied the TMO that he had scored despite Mercer’s efforts to hold the ball up.
Grayson’s missed conversion left Bath with a two-point lead and then loosehead Ben Franks’s yellow card evened up the numbers on the field. The two packs then spent six minutes fighting over the same patch of ground as Saints conceded two free kicks and three penalties in succession, with replacement loosehead Paul Hill following Franks to the sin-bin.
And referee Ian Tempest was playing advantage again when number eight Mercer scored off the scrum for Priestland to convert. By the final whistle, virtually every scrum was a penalty to Bath.
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments