Bath pile on pressure as Bristol wait for first win

FOR the second consecutive match Bath collected the spoils despite a disjointed performance on Thursday – not that director of rugby Todd Blackadder was complaining.

“This competition is building nicely for us,” said the New Zealander after the first Bath-Bristol derby in more than seven years. “In the last couple of matches we haven’t been at our best but we have toughed it out.

“Once again, our defence stepped up under pressure.”

The issue for Bristol is whether the Challenge Cup remains an unhelpful distraction from their primary business of staying afloat in the Premiership.

Whether or not Bristol's season is deemed a success or not rests purely on whether they survive in the English top-flight, a point which Bristol director of rugby Andy Robinson made ahead of this match when he said his priority for the coming fortnight was his side’s league match with Sale next Sunday.

And it was a point reinforced by skipper Jordan Crane after his side delivered an improved – if still flawed – showing.

“Our bread and butter is the Premiership and we needed to build for Sale next week,” said Crane.

“We needed to put some pride back in the shirt after the last six weeks. We did that a bit, and hopefully that’s given us some good momentum to take into the Sale game.

“Every man put in a massive shift and what let us down was our discipline and we couldn’t hold onto the ball.

“We keep saying we’ve got to learn but we’ve got to learn quicker.”

Face-masks of Bath cult hero Leroy Houston were distributed ahead of the match as the Australian played his final game at the Recreation Ground, but the real back row star was 19year-old Zach Mercer, who once again delivered a ballcarrying performance of eye-catching assurance.

Rhys Priestland did not control the game with particular ease in open play, but the Bath fly-half – overlooked by Rob Howley for Wales’ Autumn international squad – was flawless from the kicking tee, collecting 17 points.

It was a game light on line-breaks and try-scoring opportunities, but heavy on errors.

While solid at the setpiece, both packs struggled to control the ball and build telling periods of pressure.

Bristol suffered two late yellow cards – the first for a blatant offside by Jack Tovey, the second for a dangerous challenge by Geraghty – and Bath capitalised when the in-from Matt Banahan seized on spilt ball to canter home for an injury-time try.