Roberts seals triumph

It wasn’t a great spectacle, but preseason matches rarely are. Bath Rugby edged out Edinburgh in front of a Meggetland sellout of 4,200 and managed to get game time for all 30 members of their squad. With no obvious injuries and some very full-blooded contact against their organised and aggressive hosts, the 12-10 win was just fine for director of rugby Todd Blackadder. Will Chudley made his debut for Bath as the starting scrum-half, while Jamie Roberts, Jackson Willison and Joe Cokanasiga did the same off the bench. And the likes of Nathan Catt, Sam Underhill, Semesa Rokoduguni and Dave Attwood all made longawaited comebacks. With the likes of Scotland backrower Hamish Watson returning from injury and big number eight Viliame Mata seemingly making every other carry, the hosts provided a very stern examination. There was rustiness from both sides as one would expect from the first game of the summer, but Bath had no problem keeping possession and putting phases together in the first half. Their first attack, sparked by an Anthony Perenise half-break, was more than 20 phases long but the Edinburgh defence held their ground and put in some big hits to keep the metres conceded to a minimum. Chudley looked sharp; providing snappy service and urgency around the breakdown. Tom Ellis and Josy Bayliss were busy and aggressive, as were the second-row combination of Matt Garvey and Attwood, who was making his first appearance for the club since May 2015. It was Ellis who finally broke the deadlock in the 28th minute. After Chudley had taken play close to the Edinburgh line, Zach Mercer picked and went and soon Edinburgh were on their line. With Attwood providing some extra oomph, Ellis burrowed over. Burns’ conversion was struck well but hit the left post. Edinburgh came into the game as the half wore on. Mata, full-back Tom Brown and winger Dougie Fife all took advantage of tiring players and defensive dog legs. But once the line of white had been breached the hosts didn’t have the precision to finish off their chances and turned over a wasteful amount of ball. A penalty in the final play of the half from Jason Baggott kept the hosts within a score at the break, at 5-3 down. Edinburgh did an excellent job of penning Bath back in the second half. They forced mistakes and turnovers, and caused problems in the set piece which meant little was seen of the attacking structures Girvan Dempsey has been working on behind the scenes. The pressure built until, eventually, Bath’s defence was breached. A solid driving maul provided the platform and winger Chris Dean finished in the left corner after Bath had thwarted several close-range drives. Baggott used the strong crosswind to great affect to nail the touchline conversion and put the hosts in front. Bath needed to change the momentum and the likes of Roberts, Underhill, Willison and later Taulupe Faletau helped to provide some much needed impetus. Attacking off a scrum, Roberts and Willison crashed it up the middle before the visitors went “same way” until they reached the left touchline. They switched the attack, Underhill and Levi Douglas made ground before a flat pass from Max Green found Roberts. The 94-cap Welshman was steaming in on one of his trademark hard lines and there was no stopping him from 5m out. His countryman Rhys Priestland – on for Freddie Burns at half-time – added the extras. A few messy scrums and lineouts prevented further scores from either side and Bath were able to close out the win.