Watson hits turbos to put heat on Toulon
BATH went to the top of an incredibly competitive Pool 5 with this vital win over the French giants in a minor European classic which ended with the winners staving off a 36-phase attack from the visitors.
It was no more than they deserved and leaves them the masters of their own fate although it is still very tight. Bath, with an away trip to Benetton and a home tie against old rivals Scarlets in round six, have 13 points and lead Toulon on points difference while Scarlets are on 12.
All three sides have everything to play for.
South African flanker Francois Louw took MoM honours – no argument there – but the man who provided the cutting edge for Bath on the night was Anthony Watson who struck twice from full-back in front of England coach Eddie Jones.
The first half was utterly compelling, as good if not better as anything the November internationals threw up, and saw Bath take it to Toulon with 40 minutes of sustained aggression, intensity, quick thinking and pace on the ball.
It took less than a minute for Bath to engage top gear with Beno Obano, a real prospect at prop, timing his run beautifully from deep, to blast his way over from short range for a converted try.
Two well-struck penalties from Rhys Priestland kept the scoreboard ticking nicely before Toulon finally started to inch their way into the contest, former All Black Alby Mathewson scampering away from the front of a lineout.
Max Lahiff, who was guarding that channel, was clearly held back by a crafty jersey tug but the offence was unseen by the officials.
Francois Trinh-Duc converted and added a penalty as Toulon enjoyed a decent spell but then Watson struck again. Bath were playing a long advantage and Toulon fatally relaxed when Watson carefully and deliberately looked for a space before hitting the turbos and disappearing out of sight.
There had been a Bath forward pass much earlier in the passage but what with the jersey tug that levelled things up.
Trinh- Duc landed another penalty and Toulon would have settled for 18-13 at half-time but in the last play of the half Watson patiently tracked across the field from right to left at half pace, before accelerating on a classic outside arc that was Jerry Guscott at his best.
Were Toulon still interested? Of course they were and straight after half-time they fashioned a wonderful try from Samu Manoa which started with a dazzling run from Ma’a Nonu. Chris Ashton then somehow off-loaded to Guilhem Guirado and the France skipper did well to fling out a final pass for the American to pick the ball off his toes for a miraculous score.
It looked in the balance as Toulon pressed but they couldn’t convert pressure into points and indeed Bath stretched the lead back out to eight points with another Priestland penalty before Trinh-Duc at least ensured they depart with a losing bonus point with his third penalty.