Joseph will be fit to take on All Blacks, Blackadder assures Lions

Todd Blackadder moved quickly after this tense end-of-season encounter to reassure the Lions that Jonathan Joseph would make the trip to New Zealand.

Joseph has not played since the defeat in the European Challenge Cup but the Bath coach insisted he would be fit and that the centre was overcoming niggles and had a good month to get fit.

Blackadder also spoke about a disciplinary hearing tomorrow which will see a group of Bath players answer complaints about incidents, including streaking, at a club function which included young players attending a kicking tutorial.

“We know about it and will deal with it,” Blackadder said. “A couple of players made a poor decision which we are going to deal with.”

Blackadder said that his selection for this match had not been affected by the incident. “There’s about 10 or 12 players involved. Don’t get me wrong, we are not sweeping this under the carpet. The timing was wrong.”

Bath were unhinged by Sale’s attacking in the first 50 minutes which built a 27-10 lead before they grimly held on.

The match ended in argument as Neil Briggs, Sale’s substitute hooker, and Bath flanker Francois Louw were sin-binned for a midfield fight. Sale lost Josh Beaumont, their captain, to a head injury which saw the No 8 needing oxygen before he was carried off. Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby, said he hoped Beaumont would be OK but also reported that hooker Rob Webber had broken his arm and wing Byron McGuigan his ankle. It was a triumph for Sale’s tenacity. “Our young lads gained great experience,” Diamond added. The tension increased in the final 10 minutes when Bath, helped by a new front row, scored two tries to cut down Sale’s lead. Bath also claimed a further score through Matt Banahan but it was ruled out. Blackadder claimed Banahan had not knocked on but had the ball kicked out of his hands. He was also troubled by how his pack, having fought back to within a score, wasted a five-metre scrum and lost their own line-out ball. Such acts of charity helped Sale stay ahead with tries from Denny Solomona, Ben Curry and Josh Charnley. When Charnley scored in the 57th minute Sale led 27-10. However, Bath, helped by a new front row, camped in their opponents’ 22 and scored two tries to set up the tense finale. Sale were guided by AJ MacGinty, the flyhalf kicking two penalty goals and converting the three tries.