Cokanasiga drops timely hint to Jones with try on his comeback for Bath
Joe Cokanasiga put himself back in the frame to play for England against Wales, if Eddie Jones needs him, with a try-scoring return for Bath.
The wing had not played since the Champions Cup game against Leinster on Dec 8, when he picked up a knee ligament injury. After his explosive autumn in an England shirt, it was a bad time to get hurt.
“I was blowing a bit towards the end but I’m confident in the knee now. Eddie just spoke to me about getting some game time and being available for selection for Wales,” Cokanasiga said.
“Everything happened so quickly for me in the autumn and I haven’t had any time to think about it. I’ve been working hard on my rehab and hopefully I will get that shot against Wales.”
A fourth successive league defeat leaves Newcastle anchored to the foot of the table, although their plight was not made significantly worse. Worcester’s try bonus point in their loss at Harlequins merely stretched the gap between the bottom two to five points ahead of their clash on March 3.
Newcastle threw all they had at Bath but it was never quite enough to complete the double over a side they had beaten 16-8 at home in November.
“We had chances to take something and we probably spent more time in their 22 than they did in ours,” said Dean Richards, the director of rugby.
An ordinary first quarter featured a penalty apiece from Rhys Priestland and Toby Flood before Bath finally found a way to unpick the Newcastle defence. A neat backline move from a scrum five metres out created an overlap that sent Semesa Rokoduguni over.
Flood knocked over a second penalty but two more tries before the break put Bath in charge. Cokanasiga got the first, racing on to a grubber kick by Jonathan Joseph, and then Will Chudley brought the half to a close with a blindside snipe from a ruck on the line.
Priestland’s conversion made it 20-6 at the interval but Newcastle flew back into bonus-point territory 10 minutes after the restart with a try from a driving line-out by Fijian No8 Nemani Nagusa. Flood’s conversion hauled them back to within seven points.
Another Priestland penalty after 65 minutes took the bonus point away and the final 15 minutes was all about whether or not Bath could get the fourth try to bag their bonus. They finally got what they wanted when Francois Louw powered over from close range with seven minutes to go.
Scores 3-0 Priestland pen; 3-3 Flood pen; 8-3 Rokoduguni try; 8-6 Flood pen; 13-6 Cokanasiga try; 18-6 Chudley try; 20-6 Priestland con; 20-11 Nagusa try; 20-13 Flood con; 23-13 Priestland pen; 28-13 Louw try; 30-13 Priestland con. Bath T Homer; S Rokoduguni (R McConnochie 41), J Joseph, J Roberts, J Cokanasiga; R Priestland (F Burns 74), W Chudley (M Green 63); N Catt (J van Rooyen 58), T Dunn (J Walker 58), H Thomas (M Lahiff 65), D Attwood (C Ewels 50), L Charteris (capt), E Stooke, F Louw, Z Mercer (P Grant 70). Newcastle S Hammersley; Z Kibirige, C Harris, P Bettencourt (B Stevenson 70), S Sinoti; T Flood, M Young (S Takulua 69); S Lockwood (A Brocklebank 60), K Cooper (S Socino 69), D Wilson (J Payne 69), C Green, A Davidson, W Welch, G Graham (J Hardie 58), N Nagusa (W Witty 72). Referee J P Doyle.