Champs record half-century

From the moment Bath Rugby announced their team to take on a pretty much full-strength Saracens, this result seemed inevitable. Even with 13 changes the visitors still arrived with players with international experience – and plenty of Premiership games in their legs and minds – but it was by no means their strongest matchday 23 and against the champions and leagueleaders, anything less reduces the chances of winning from remote to almost non-existent. The question was how much would Bath lose by and could they salvage a bonus point of some kind? They weren’t far off doing the latter. Todd Blackadder and his coaching team made the changes knowing Exeter Chiefs arrive at the Rec next Friday night before Champions Cup clashes with Toulouse on Wasps, and all three of those matches were more winnable than this one. For the third visit to Allianz Park in a row, Bath conceded more than 40 points. For the second season in a row the scoreboard ticked up to 50 for the hosts, although the visitors did muster 27 of their own thanks to a Tom Homer brace, a try from Chris Cook and flawless place-kicking from Rhys Priestland and Freddie Burns. Regardless of who was wearing the white shirts and their relative levels of experience, they should have defended much better. Off the back of scrums in particular, Sarries tore Bath to shreds. No genius trick plays, just simple moves, precise timing and the visitors couldn’t handle it. When the Bath backs did lay a finger on their opposition, often it was nowhere near enough to bring them down or smash them back. Their defence in the outside channels in particular was disjointed and soft. With Alex Goode by far the best attacking threat on the field, he exploited that weakness with ease and Liam Williams was usually on hand to finish. The Welsh international bagged his second hat-trick of the season; having scored one off the bench against Bristol Bears. Had he not got over-excited and dropped a second-half sitter he would have had four tries. It was Bath who took the lead with a Priestland penalty, before Williams beat the covering Semesa Rokoduguni to score. A simple pass from impressive 13 Alex Lozowski sent Goode through a gaping hole between Max Clark – who was very rusty on his return to action – and Homer for the second try. Priestland pegged back three points with a superb long-range penalty before a textbook catch and drive was finished off by Jamie George. After Goode had a try disallowed for losing control of a bouncing ball, Bath struck against the run of play. Cook picked off a pass bound for Brad Barritt from Richard Wigglesworth and had the pace to finish from 60m. Barritt was replaced by Nick Tompkins after suffering a nasty facial cut and the latter stepped past a flat-footed Clark to deliver the bonus point before the break. The last say of the half went to Bath, though, when Darren Atkins broke down the left and sent Homer over in the corner. Priestland’s touchline conversion meant Bath were only 26-20 down at the break, despite the hosts’ dominance. Bath were dozy at the start of the second-half, though. Tighthead Titi Lamositele shrugged off a Homer tackle and could have scored himself before unselfishly teeing up Williams. Goose-stepping Goode skinned the Bath backs again before offloading to Williams for the hat-trick and the spectre of another thrashing was beginning to loom. The hosts’ high-pressure defence was bearing its teeth and once Bath had replaced their front row they bossed the scrums and began milking penalties. The best Bath could hope for was a four-try bonus and Homer gave them a realistic chance of that when he intercepted Owen Farrell as Saracens looked like they were going to extend their lead. Homer still had more than 90m to sprint to the tryline but had the pace to stave off the pursuits of replacement nine Ben Spencer, Tompkins and Williams. Sean Maitland got on the outside of Rokoduguni to score the hosts’ seventh try and, when replacement hooker Chris Tolofua finished off an easy catch and drive, all Farrell had to do was slot the extras to rack up the 49th and 50th points. That confirmed another heavy defeat at Saracens for the men in blue, black and white. When the Chiefs come to the Rec Friday, we’ll find out whether the mass squad rotation was worth it. Ruaridh Mcconnochie scored a hat-trick as Bath United won their first game of the season against Gloucester United at Kingsholm. They recorded a 44-37 triumph in the Premiership Rugby Shield clash, which also saw Ross Batty, Cooper Vuna and Kahn Fotuali’i return to the fold. Jack Davies, Vuna, Will Butt and Harry Davey also touched down for United.