Underhill suffers as Bath run lukewarm
TODD Blackadder had mixed emotions after Bath made heavy weather of seeing off European minnows Benetton and failed to gain a try bonus point.
Tries in each half from Zach Mercer and Aled Brew ensured the West Country outfit began their campaign with a victory in Pool 5. Yet it was far from impressive and the victory came at a cost with young England flanker Sam Underhill sustaining a head injury which could affect his hopes of playing in this autumn’s Twickenham internationals.
And Bath were again less than convincing for most of a game where their finishing power and stoic defence left Benetton heading home empty-handed.
Director of rugby Blackadder insisted: “It was a real mixed bag again. But that’s been the story of our season. We were lacklustre in the first half and could easily have fallen behind. But the guys scrapped away and things changed afterwards.
“We will take the win at the start of a very tough campaign in this competition, but there are plenty of things to work on.”
Eddie Jones was present, weighing up his England options for the autumn. Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph and Underhill were keen to impress.
Sadly, Underhill, who toured Argentina in June, had barely 20 minutes to shine as he was removed from the action with a head injury and replaced by Francois Louw.
Debut boy Josh Lewis kicked two early penalties to help ease any nerves the exEbbw Vale man may have had in the early stages. With neither Freddie Burns nor Rhys Priestland available it was up to Lewis to put Bath on the front foot.
A second penalty followed but it was Benetton who went close to grabbing the first try when flanker Sebastian Negri’s rampaging charge towards the Bath line only just failed thanks to an heroic tackle from Brew.
Underhill went off for a HIA after being left dazed in contact and Benetton growing in confidence and belief. They forced their English rivals into conceding a series of penalties.
Prop Nick Auterac was binned after Bath collapsed yet another scrum. Beno Obano was brought on to fill the front row gap with Mercer removed for ten minutes.
Semesa Rokoduguni’s last-gasp tackle denied wing Tommaso Benvenuti a certain try while Mercer made a dramatic return once Auterac’s yellow card punishment was complete.
Bath finally gained a grip. A rapid breakaway on the stroke of half-time sparked by Rokoduguni finished with the supporting Mercer crossing, and Lewis converted for a 13-0 lead.
The situation worsened for Benetton with lock Marco Fuser binned for foul play at a ruck in front of his own posts after Lewis had almost scored a superb breakaway try for Bath.
He was tackled inches short but kicked the resulting penalty. Bath also lost hooker Tom Dunn to the bin for an illegal shoulder charge at a ruck.
Bath sealed it ten minutes from time when Brew broke clear and showed the Benetton defence a clean pair of heels.