Todd focuses on poor second period display
Todd Blackadder refused to blame the late controversy at Sixways for Bath Rugby’s 21-19 defeat to Worcester Warriors. He felt his side lost the battle of the breakdown, didn’t attack well enough and their indiscipline allowed the hosts back into the game before the 98thminute winning try from Bryce Heem. By that point Bath were down to 11 men after Ross Batty was sent off in the 63rd minute and fellow replacements Max Lahiff, Lucas Noguera and Aled Brew were sin-binned once 80 minutes were up. The visitors led 19-3 at the break, thanks to a Zach Mercer try and kicks from Freddie Burns, but didn’t look like scoring after that and went down 21-19. “Worcester niggled the breakdowns and I didn’t think we had control there,” said the director of rugby as he tried to explain where the confidence from the wins over Wasps and Leicester Tigers had gone. “We were too static on attack. We needed to stay on the front foot and build pressure. “We didn’t do that and then we never really got ourselves back in the game with the penalty count. It was flying through the roof. “I thought in the first half we were fine, but when you’re shown a red in the second half and you not only lose a hooker but a loose forward as well it’s always going to put you under pressure.” The second half - and extra time - penalty count was something like 14-1 against Bath. Most of those came with Warriors camped on Bath’s 5m line from the 80th minute onwards. “It will be fascinating to go back, have a look at it all and try to work out what the hell happened,” Blackadder said. “At 19-3 in front in a commanding, dominant position, to being penalised off the park and down to 11 men at the end. “I can understand some of them, but some of them will be very interesting to go back and have a look. “A good example is Aled Brew’s yellow card. If he was being yellow carded for being offside and it was cynical, it should have been a penalty try. “Some of them we deserved, there’s no doubt about that.” According to the running clock, Lahiff was sin-binned for killing the ball in the 84th minute and Bryce Heem scored the winning try in the 98th minute, yet the tighthead did not return to the field. “We were asking that question,” Blackadder said. “This has gone well over ten minutes, why isn’t he back on? “I think the time on the [timekeeper’s] clock was less than ten. It will be interesting to go back and have a look at that time. “We were told on the last play there was still four minutes to go on the yellow card. You can only go off the fourth official. There was a lot going on in those precious moments.” Batty was sent off for a neck roll on Sam Lewis which ended up with the flanker landing on his head. Blackadder said: “We didn’t really get a chance to have a good look at the replay. If it was as dangerous as it sounds, then no problem at all. You just have to live with that. “When you put yourself in a position to get a red with 20 minutes to go it’s always going to put the team under pressure, then the team put itself under more and more pressure by giving penalties away.” The defeat means Bath are down to eighth in the Premiership, four points back from fourth-placed Gloucester.