Premiership Review - Bath Rugby 19 - 19 Northampton Saints

There comes a point when, if you want to play with the big boys, you have to beat them at their own game.  Think of Saracens out-muscling Clermont in the Heineken Cup semi-final, of Andy Murray out-running Djokovic to claim his first Grand Slam or of Jeremy Kyle out-smugging all the competition to become the most irritating man on television.  And it’s that principal that would have had Bath realising that, with Northampton coming to the Rec on Friday night, they would need to show that they had the physical muscularity required to earn themselves a spot in the Top 4.

Northampton were soon testing Bath’s mettle in exactly that way, hammering deep into the hosts’ territory from the off.  After an early penalty from Stephen Myler, the visitors piled on the pressure through the likes of Luther Burrell and Sam Dickinson as the talented Bath backline was kept deprived of possession.  But, by and large, the West Country outfit seemed up to the challenge – with Dave Attwood leading the way with a couple of bone-shuddering hits before Myler tried a drop goal under pressure, which drifted wide of the mark.

If the Bath defence had passed its test, the scrum was about to get full marks as it surged over their Saints counterparts twice to earn two penalties – one resulting in field position and a relief from pressure, whist the other earned them 3 points.  Northampton, though, were looking the more dominant in open play and, after Myler had missed an attempt following a clumsy challenge by Attwood, the Northampton fly half slotted his next effort after a superb turnover from Courtney Lawes on Nick Abendanon.  However, there was a feeling that Bath were beginning to find their feet in the loose, and began making some inroads of their own.  Leroy Houston was a marauding presence from the base of rucks whilst the gargantuan Matt Banahan was making a couple of ominous rumbles himself.  The pressure earned a penalty for offside, which George Ford duly slotted, to bring the scores to 6-6 during the break.

It was an odd sort of game, where not a huge amount was happening but you still couldn’t take your eyes off it, such was the ferocity and intensity of the hits that were now raining in from both sides, and it was the hosts who struck first on the resumption.  After Ford had missed a tricky 3 pointer, he put his side into the lead for the first time with a try which oozed international class.  I mentioned before the game that Lawes would be given the brief to hammer the young 10 at every opportunity, but the ex-Leicester man skipped past the lock’s huge lunge, darted past Alex Waller and sprinted in beyond Ben Foden to touch down by the sticks.  The 21 year old’s conversion made it a 7 point advantage to the men in blue, black and white.

Being bossed about though rarely sits well with Saints, and they were stung into action.  Barely 10 minutes had gone since the try when Northampton struck with one of their own, and again they had an England-hopeful fly half to thank for their success.  After building field position through a penalty, Burrell and Kahn Fotuali’i both made half breaks before Myler attacked the short side, drew in Anthony Watson and Abendenon and slipped a delightful pass out of the back of his hand for winger Jamie Elliot to score in the corner.  Myler added the cherry on top with a magnificent conversion from out wide.

This was now resembling a heavyweight boxing match between two brawlers – they’d both have moments of finesse, but now they resorted to matching each other swing for swing to see who’d go down first.  Ford knocked over 3 points from another scrum penalty – despite not having a hooker on the pitch, after the injury-enforced withdrawals of Rob Webber and Ross Batty forced prop Nathan Catt to try his hand in the 2 shirt – before Courtney Lawes saw yellow for a brainless off-the-ball tackle on Watson and George Pisi had a try disallowed due to an Elliot forward pass.  The Northampton scrum, though, gained revenge by earning a penalty to allow Myler to equalise with just 14 minutes to play.

It was desperate, frantic and physical – and Bath thought they had stolen a win after Northampton were penalised at the breakdown after yet more strong work by the tireless Carl Fearns, allowing Ford to reclaim the lead from 50 metres with just 2 minutes remaining.  Prop Anthony Perenise, though, ensured that the win wouldn’t be that simple, matching Lawes’ earlier stupidity with a pointless and late tip-tackle, which saw the big man sent to the bin and, more importantly, an easy 3 points for Myler.

There was, as has been standard fare for the Premiership this season, one last moment of drama still to come.  Bath reclaimed the restart and set about attacking, with the goal of getting Ford within drop-goal range or forcing a penalty, and it looked like they had achieved the latter after the assistant referee claimed that Lawes had landed a late hit on Ford 40 metres out.  Holding out his arm, referee Matt Carley shouted that Bath had the advantage and, with seemingly nothing to lose, Ford took a long-range drop goal, which fell well-wide.  No matter, he would have a penalty attempt – wouldn’t he?  The assistant referee suddenly decided that, as it was foul play, it was worth checking and, upon TMO review, it was clear it wasn’t a penalty at all – meaning that Matt Carley was left with no choice but to blow for the end of the game.  It was cruel on Bath and exposed a loop-hole in the law – if Ford hadn’t been told he had advantage, it’s likely he would have avoided such a speculative drop goal attempt.  Carley had his hands tied by the rules as they currently stand, but surely in that situation a Bath restart from a scrum would be the most appropriate remedy?

Although Bath fans made clear their disgust at the decision, a draw was a fair result – although it benefitted nobody.  Bath though, had proven that they are more than capable of standing up to the bullies – but it still might not be enough to put them into the right playground after next week.

What else was happening in the Premiership last weekend?

Gloucester 38 – 30 London Irish:  The Cherry and Whites got a weekend of free-scoring underway with a bonus point win over Irish at Kingsholm.  The hosts scored through Sione Kalamafoni, Charlie Sharples and substitute Shane Monahan (3), but their day was spoiled by the sight of skipper Billy Twelvetrees being forced off with a nasty injury.  Irish grabbed a bonus point themselves thanks to a superb hat trick from Marland Yarde and a score from Gerard Ellis.

London Wasps 44 – 38 Newcastle Falcons:   The Falcons celebrated their Premiership survival by picking up two bonus points despite falling to defeat at Adams Park.  Tries from Mike Blair, Joel Hodgson, Noah Cato and George McGuighan contributed to an entertaining game in which Wasps scored through Nathan Hughes (2), Ashley Johnson, Joe Simpson, Viliami Helu and Charlie Hayter.

Saracens 44 – 20 Worcester Warriors:  Dean Ryan’s season was summed up as his side went down brave but outclassed at Allianz Park.  Tries from Dave Strettle, Chris Ashton (2) and Jackson Wray (3) were too much for the Warriors, who crossed through the outstanding Chris Pennell (2) and Semisi Taulava, meaning that they will be playing Championship rugby next season.

Sale Sharks 22 – 44 Leicester Tigers:  Defence was once again optional as the Tigers swept the Sharks aside in Salford.  Despite 3 tries in 10 minutes from Michael Paterson, Henry Thomas and Johnny Leota late in the 2^nd half, the Tigers were always in control thanks to tries from Niki Goneva, Toby Flood (2), Niall Morris, David Mele and a penalty try.

Exeter Chiefs 29 – 30 Harlequins:  Harlequins kept alive their playoff hopes with a dramatic last-gasp win over the Chiefs at Sandy Park.  Dave Lewis and Matt Jess scored for the hosts, but Quins grabbed a bonus point with Ugo Monye, Nick Evans, Danny Care and Tom Guest all crossing – setting up a winner takes all encounter against Bath for the final playoff spot next weekend.