DYNAMIC DUO
Cokanasiga and Mercer sting Wasps
JOE COKANASIGA and Zach Mercer were last night hailed as the future of England rugby after inspiring Bath to a comeback win.
Bath’s dynamic 21-year-old duo led their side up to sixth place and back into European Cup qualification contention with a late three-try surge to see off Wasps.
Down 17-10 with six minutes left, Bath finally blew the house down with Cokanasiga taking one try and Mercer two to seal an unlikely bonus-point win.
Now if they beat Leicester at Welford Road a week on Saturday Bath will play in the top European competition next season, but they will have to improve vastly to make any impact on that stage.
Departing Bath boss Todd Blackadder feels he is leaving a legacy with Cokanasiga and Mercer.
‘In Joe and Zach I can see the future of Bath and England,’ said the Kiwi. ‘I was really proud of those boys. Joe needs to find ways to get into the game, and when he did that today he gave us momentum. He is such a massive, influential player.’ This game summed up the Gallagher Premiership season.
Historically two of the country’s most decorated sides and full of star names, they played average rather than outstanding stuff and were only kept close because of errors.
That Wasps threw it away will haunt them. They are four points behind Bath with Mercer’s second try costing them a losing bonus point. Bath could now finish in the top six having lost more than they have won.
First Gaby Lovobalavu and Nizaam Carr left a gaping hole in the Wasps midfield for Jonathan Joseph to waltz through, before making up for it by combining for a lovely flowing score at the other end.
Fijian Lovobalavu showed sublime touches, throwing a no-look pass to Nathan Hughes, who walked under the sticks untouched and laughing.
After Freddie Burns knocked over a penalty, Lovobalavu should have had a third assist. His wide pass to Josh Bassett on the left — after great work from Joe Launchbury and pals in the build-up — was deemed forward when the evidence was unclear. One of the tries of the year denied. Wasps director of rugby Dai Young was livid, saying: ‘It was a try, simple as that.
‘I might be one-eyed but looking at it with one eye, two eyes, forwards or backwards I can’t see how that’s not a try.’
Rob Miller kicked a penalty to end the half, adding to his earlier conversion to give Wasps a seven-point lead at the break.
On the resumption, despite having around 80 per cent of the ball, Bath were profligate, spurning chances that took ages to create.
Mercer knocked on from a fivemetre scrum, Jacques van Rooyen was held up after floods of phases but then the dam finally broke. Mercer piled over and Alex Davies converted to level things.
Then when the desperately underused Cokanasiga was given space to shine he scored on the left.
Mercer then took a second to seal all five points with the final play.
Wasps’ Launchbury, who went off with a sore achilles after an hour, is angry should he miss out on the Champions Cup.
‘I want to play in that competition,’ he said. ‘But it is now out of our hands to qualify.’
And in a cruel end to his Bath career, lock Dave Attwood dislocated his knee in his last home game.