Priestland lifts Bath above the dross
Ben Ryan delivered an eviscerating verdict last week on the standard of skills in northern-hemisphere rugby. Passing and catching techniques, the former Fiji sevens coach wrote on his blog, had barely improved in 40 years. This should serve as his exhibit A.
There was barely a passage of play longer than 60 seconds without a knock-on. Until the final quarter, when Bath used their replacements to turn the screw, momentum was continually punctured by spilt balls and misplaced passes. It would have been no great surprise if it has been revealed that the ball had been smeared with Vaseline before kick-off.
Bath will not care. Their victory, courtesy of 17 points from the boot of Rhys Priestland and a commanding performance from his half-back partner Kahn Fotuali’i, consolidated their grip on a top-four place. Dave Ward, Harlequins’ hooker turned openside flanker, should also be exempt from the general malaise for his sterling efforts at the breakdown.
“The most pleasing thing about that was the result,” Todd Blackadder, the Bath director of rugby, said. “It was just one of those games that felt in control and then out of control, lots of mistakes and then [we] showed a lot of grit in the last 20 minutes to win it.
“We lacked a bit of composure. I was pleased with the endeavour. There were two teams playing for the win and sometimes that tightens you up. It is like a stress or like a pressure rather than being able to go out there to express and enjoy yourselves.”
The conditions were set for a wonderful spectacle. This was one of those afternoons when the whole city gleamed in the mid-winter sunshine. Both teams have grand traditions of running rugby. Even with half a XV of internationals absent and many more in the sick bay, there was still a considerable amount of talent on show. Indeed, Bath were able to field an allinternational back row of David Denton, Francois Louw and Taulupe Faletau – who came through unscathed ahead of Wales’ trip to Scotland next Saturday – for the first time.
It did not turn out that way as mistakes proliferated from the first whistle. There was no shortage of ambition but an utter absence of any accuracy to go with it. Bath took an early lead through a pair of Priestland penalties. Harlequins engineered some promising situations only to be undone by a lack of precision, Matt Hopper knocking on before Marland Yarde was turned over having become isolated. That was the story of the half; one step forward, a couple of knock-ons backwards. In one passage of play Ruaridh Jackson put Yarde through a hole with a delightful offload only for the winger to be stripped of possession by Max Clark, who promptly knocked on.
It was both a relief and a surprise that Harlequins were able to finish a move on the half-hour mark. Joe Marchant made the initial inroads in centre field with some trick footwork. The ball was then spun right. The considerably proportioned Mat Luamanu showed some nice subtlety in delaying his pass to James Chisholm, who then put Tim Visser over in the corner.
Bath had an opportunity to respond when Faletau’s cute offload sent Semesa Rokoduguni haring into the 22. A series of pick-and-goes drew a penalty but not a try as Priestland kicked Bath 9-7 ahead at half-time.
The second half was much the same story, even if the intensity rose a couple of notches. Harlequins’ second try was almost a mirror image of the first, albeit with a different cast. Hopper this time provided the key pass out to Rob Buchanan, who took great relish in bowling over young wing Harry Davies before offloading to Yarde to score.
That was reflective of the overall balance of play, but a scrum battle that had swung back and forth started turning firmly in Bath’s direction. The killer try arrived on 63 minutes. Priestland burst through the middle and for once Bath were able methodically to recycle possession for centre Clark to go over under the posts. A conversion and two penalties denied Harlequins the consoJean lation of a bonus point. “I’m gutted,” John Kingston, the Harlequins director of rugby, said. “I felt the guys deserved as an absolute minimum a point out of the game and for them not to come away with that is really hard to take.”