...and a win at last!
Bath ride luck for first victory of season over 14-man Worcester
THE relief on Stuart Hooper’s face was evident for all to see as Bath sealed a first win of the season after edging past a Worcester side who played 78 minutes with 14 men.
Warriors head coach Jonathan Thomas criticised referee Craig Maxwell-Keys’ decision to show Scotland prop Rory Sutherland a red card for a dangerous tackle on Will Stuart.
Sutherland is certain to be banned and even if he pleads guilty and the authorities are lenient, he will still be a big doubt to face England in the first round of the Six Nations on February 5.
‘By the letter of the law it’s a red card and you can’t argue with it, but I think there is an issue with the law,’ said Thomas. ‘I retired from rugby because of head knocks so I’m all about ensuring player safety, but it’s an accidental head-on-head collision. Something is wrong with the game if we are going to have a sending off for that.’
Worcester were the better side for long periods despite their numerical disadvantage as England head coach Eddie Jones watched on.
Both teams scored three tries with Orlando Bailey winning it for Bath with a late penalty. It means the Warriors have still never won at The Rec while Bath ended their horror run of 11 straight Premiership defeats.
Bath director of rugby Hooper said: ‘The result was everything. You have to understand where we have been from a results point of view. Getting the win was massive for us and our supporters.
‘It was miles away from a perfect performance but the way some of the players responded was outstanding.’
Sutherland was back in the Worcester side after recovering from a dead-leg but the game had barely started when he was dismissed. Maxwell-Keys and his TMO Andrew Jackson took an age to decide on the punishment, but they eventually got it right.
Bath scored first-half tries through Semesa Rokoduguni and Max Ojomoh, the second of which was given despite questions over Ojomoh’s grounding, but struggled with the expectation of their man advantage as Worcester went to the break 19-14 ahead thanks to fine tries from Jamie Shillcock, Joe Batley and Gareth Simpson.
Worcester defended smartly and their maul and scrum were dominant. They should have had a second-half penalty try when Bath’s Josh Bayliss was yellow carded for taking down the maul.
To add insult to injury Tom de Glanville soon tied the game with a try. Thomas was right to be angry about that decision and it proved crucial because Bailey’s nerveless penalty clinched victory.
‘The only reason we didn’t go over was because they pulled it down,’ said Thomas. ‘We were the better team with 14. The players showed huge, huge character and I’m gutted for them. I’m frustrated with some of the calls.’
Earlier it was confirmed Bath will receive two points from the game with London Irish which was cancelled on January 3 due to Covid cases.