Wasps set existential angst aside to claim victory at Bath
Wasps temporarily put their off-field troubles to one side as they ended a fraught week by beating Gallagher Premiership opponents Bath 39-31 at the Recreation Ground.
Bath finished bottom of the Premiership last term, yet they pushed Wasps to the limit, threatening to wipe out a 29-point deficit through an outstanding second-half display, but the visitors held on.
Wasps went into the game after filing a notice of their intention to appoint an administrator with the High Court.
They are being pursued for unpaid tax and have been served with a winding-up order by HM Revenue and Customs, while Wasps are also having difficulty in repaying a £35million bond that was raised to help finance their relocation from High Wycombe to Coventry eight years ago.
While confident they will secure the finance needed to prevent administration, failure to do so could result in automatic relegation from the Premiership.
Against that backdrop, though, Wasps defied the odds as they stormed ahead through first-half tries from wing Josh Bassett, flanker Jack Willis and scrum-half Will Porter.
Jacob Umaga kicked four penalties and two conversions, with Bath’s sole response being a Matt Gallagher try that Orlando Bailey converted.
Wasps secured a bonus point midway through the third quarter when Bassett collected his second try, and Bath looked down and out.
But a Tom Dunn try double and Jonathan Joseph touchdown, with Bailey adding one conversion and Piers Francis two, set up a pulsating finish, before Francis and Umaga kicked late penalties.
Dunn captained Bath in the absence of scrum-half Ben Spencer, who suffered concussion during last weekend’s home defeat against Sale Sharks, with full-back Tom de Glanville ruled out by a hamstring issue.
Umaga returned from injury to line up at full-back for Wasps, while Francois Hougaard featured on the wing and hooker Dan Frost gained a first start of the season.
Wasps absorbed early Bath pressure as the home side looked to bounce back from losing to 14-man Sale, before moving into their stride as Umaga kicked an 11th-minute penalty.
Umaga doubled Wasps’ advantage through a second penalty three minutes later, but both sides suffered injury blows midway through the first-half.
Bath flanker Chris Cloete, a summer signing from Munster, limped off to be replaced by Josh Bayliss, while Hougaard also exited early, with Zach Kibirige taking over.
Wasps claimed the game’s opening try 15 minutes before half-time, and it was an outstanding team score, started by centre Sam Spink’s half-break and ended when Bassett finished brilliantly after gathering Umaga’s floated pass.
Alarm bells were ringing for Bath, but they had even more to worry about as Wasps scored from their next attack, creating intense close-range pressure before Willis touched down and Umaga converted.
And a third try in five minutes arrived after slick approach between Umaga and centre Burger Odendaal saw Porter sprint clear to score. Umaga’s conversion made it 25-0.
Bath managed a response before the break through a smart finish by Gallagher, and Bailey added the extras, but Umaga booted two more penalties to give Wasps a 24-point interval advantage.
Bath’s misery showed no sign of abating, with scrum-half Louis Schreuder yellow-carded for illegally preventing Wasps from taking a quick penalty.
And as Bath struggled to regroup, relentless pressure was rewarded through a second try for Bassett, putting the visitors seemingly out of sight.
Dunn crashed over for a second Bath try, converted by Bailey, and after Willis was sin-binned for a high tackle, a third home try arrived for Joseph before Dunn claimed his second touchdown.
A Francis penalty brought Bath to just five points adrift after they punished Willis’ indiscretion, yet Wasps had just enough in the tank as Umaga’s late three-pointer sealed it.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments