The 'sign of growth' that Bath have taken from their latest loss

Bath head coach Johann van Graan urged his side to continue fighting after suffering a last-gasp 30-27 defeat to high-flying Sale at the AJ Bell Stadium. A 17-point haul from visiting captain Ben Spencer looked to have secured Bath victory after they fought back from 22-3 down to lead 27-25, despite losing Max Ojomoh and Cameron Redpath to yellow cards.

However, Arron Reed snatched a dramatic win for the Sharks when he dived over in the corner in the final minute. “That’s a difficult one to take, specifically the way we fought back, got ourselves ahead and then defended so well with 13 men,” said van Graan, whose Bath side remain second-bottom of the Gallagher Premiership.

“Across the 80, we have to be better. We conceded a yellow card within a minute and they scored a try because you don’t have your blind winger to cover that – minus those five points and you win the game. The positive for me is the way we stayed in the fight, we had to stop a maul and defend with five backs and that is a sign of growth, but I would have loved to win that one.

“We are fighting and that is all I’m looking for. We are not going to be perfect in the first season but you put yourselves in the position, tonight, to beat Sale second in the league away. This competition is definitely not over for us this season. There is a lot of rugby left this season.”

First-half tries from Joe Carpenter, Sam Dugdale, Tom Roebuck and Tommy Taylor had put the hosts in control though Niall Annett’s try on the stroke of half-time offered the visitors some hope. Jonathan Joseph’s try continued the fightback, and despite yellow cards to both Ojomoh and Redpath, Spencer’s conversion of his own try saw the visitors lead only for Reed’s late score to snatch the full five points.

Victory for Sale continues their strong season to date, and director of rugby Alex Sanderson believes the late win could prove crucial as the season progresses. He said: “When we look back on the season, if we are lucky enough to earn ourselves a home semi-final, it’s on nights like tonight that you do that, you earn it. It’s quite significant I feel.

“It’s a decent sign of where we are going – hopefully if we keep them together this group can do special things, not just this year but for years. I knew we’d be digging in that second half, really digging in and that’s all I asked of them. I didn’t ask them to win, just dig in and they did.

“You see how much it matters to them on the sideline, me included, over-exuberant celebrations but it matters, it really matters them fighting for each other.”