1
Bath win again in Champions Cup after edging thriller with Cardiff
Bath took a major step towards the Investec Champions Cup knockout phase by beating Cardiff 39-32 in an Arms Park thriller.
ADVERTISEMENT
They made it 10 points out of 10, backing up a dominant victory over Ulster by scoring six tries on the road.
Cardiff pushed them every inch of the way, though, leading until South African forward Jaco Coetzee touched down twice during the final quarter.
England wing Joe Cokanasiga continued his rich vein of form by also touching down, along with centre Ollie Lawrence, hooker Tom Dunn and number eight Alfie Barbeary, while Finn Russell kicked three conversions and a penalty.
Cardiff collected two losing bonus-points for their efforts, as Wales wing Josh Adams scored twice and centre Ben Thomas and wing Gabe Hamer-Webb also breached Bath’s defence, while fly-half Tinus de Beer added two penalties and three conversions.
Cardiff, crushed 52-7 by Toulouse in their tournament opener, made a flying start and were ahead after just five minutes.
De Beer broke impressively from just inside Bath’s half, before kicking into space, and Adams pounced for a score that the fly-half converted.
ADVERTISEMENT
But Bath showed no sign of being rocked by Adams’ score, and they cut open the Cardiff defence just three minutes later when Barbeary set up an attacking platform and Russell’s pass sent Cokanasiga over for his third try of the Champions Cup campaign.
The game’s blistering pace showed no sign of letting up, and Bath went ahead following some trademark Russell magic.
He ghosted through Cardiff’s defence from deep, freed wing Will Muir, and his inside ball was taken by Lawrence to score a try that showcased rich attacking quality.
But any prospect of Bath hammering home an advantage was dispelled instantly as Adams underlined world-class finishing ability to claim his second try in opportunist fashion.
ADVERTISEMENT
De Beer converted, yet Bath stormed upfield and Cardiff could not repel their power-runners, with Barbeary touching down and Russell converting to tie a pulsating encounter at 17-17.
A De Beer penalty then nudged Cardiff ahead, only for Bath to post a bonus-point try through Dunn 10 minutes before half-time, converted by Russell, after Adams went off nursing what appeared to be a knee injury.
Cardiff, though, had the final say of a spectacular first half after lock Teddy Williams’ strong-running assist to Adams’ replacement Hamer-Webb to cross against his former club to secure a 25-24 interval advantage.
And the Welsh side extended that lead in the 44th minute when scrum-half Tomos Williams caused uncertainty in Bath’s defence, allowing centre Rey Lee-Lo to send his midfield partner Thomas over.
De Beer’s conversion left Bath eight points adrift before a Russell penalty brought his team back to within range in pursuit of a second successive Champions Cup bonus-point win.
Cardiff found themselves having to absorb escalating Bath pressure, but they could not stop Coetzee crashing over from close range.
Russell’s conversion hit the post, and a thrilling clash headed into the final 10 minutes level, although Bath had shown signs of moving up a gear.
And that momentum shift was confirmed by Coetzee’s second try in five minutes after powerful approach work by Cokanasiga.
Russell converted, and Bath had done enough, continuing their impressive season and enhancing a burgeoning reputation as great entertainers.
Comments on RugbyPass
Yes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy 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!
5 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 …
34 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 comments