Attwood on the rampage as Bath give Pivac problems
DAVE Attwood marked his return to the Rec with an all action display as Bath thrashed the Scarlets.
The abrasive England lock was a constant thorn in the Scarlets’ side with his explosive ball carrying and destructive defence.
And after so much uncertainty over his future this summer – after spending most of last season on loan at Toulon – Todd Blackadder was delighted to see Attwood back in a Bath shirt.
“Dave Attwood went very well,” said Blackadder. “He was huge in the set piece and absolutely owned the collisions. I thought all the forwards did well tonight and Dave led the way.
“I’m delighted to have him back from France because he’s such an important player for us.”
Bath warmed up for their Premiership opener against Bristol with seven tries courtesy of Henry Thomas, wing Jack Wilson, lock Dave Attwood, a brace from Joe Cokanasiga, scrum half Chris Cook and Levi Davis.
It was a sobering night for the Scarlets who lost summer signing Uzair Cassiem to a potentially serious Achilles injury while Samson Lee and James Davies emerged as doubts for next week’s PRO14 opener in Ulster.
The visitors could muster only two tries through outside half Rhys Patchell and tight head prop Werner Kruger.
Bath started strongly with Thomas powering his way over from short range after an initial break by former Scarlet Rhys Priestland.
Wayne Pivac’s side hit back with a series of powerful driving lineouts on the Bath five metre line resulting in Wales star Taulupe Faletau being sent to the sin bin after cynically stopping the visitors crossing the line.
Scarlets refused to take the three points and opted for a scrum with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne exploiting Faletau’s absence on the
blindside to put Patchell over.
The hosts almost immediately retook the lead when the Scarlets were penalised at scrum time. Priestland kicked for the corner with a strong driving lineout setting the platform for the ball to be spread wide with Wilson crossing at the far left-hand corner.
Bath kept up the pressure with the visitors struggling to defend their driving maul. The forwards then went through the motions with Attwood muscling his way over the line to give the visitors a 19-7 half time lead.
Blackadder’s side started the second half as they started the first. Scarlets wing Evans kicked possession away allowing Cokanasiga to charge down the touchline before bumping off Patchell to cross at the corner.
The Scarlets pulled a try back when Kruger powered over from a driving lineout.
Bath grabbed their fifth try when van Vureen peeled off from a rampag- ing maul to barge his way over the try line.
Cokanasiga extended Bath’s lead when he intercepted a Steffan Hughes pass to run in unopposed.
Davis sealed Bath’s win when he broke clear from yet another Bath lineout to touch down at the corner.
Scarlets coach Pivac insisted his team needed drastic improvement ahead of next week’s PRO14 kick off.
He said: “It was a good wake up call. We were outplayed across the board and came out second best.”