Bath find their flow at last to stop rot
STUART HOOPER could not hide his delight after Bath ended their horror run and wrecked Alex Sanderson’s winning start as Sale boss.
Hooper’s men had lost their previous four Premiership matches but showed their mettle to run out worthy victors on a freezing night in Salford.
The pain of that losing run was compounded in midweek by lock Elliott Stooke being charged with drink driving after crashing his car on the way home from Jonathan Joseph’s house.
The two Bath players and Wasps hooker Gabriel Oghre were all banned by the RFU on Wednesday for breaking the government’s Covid-19 regulations by socialising indoors with different households.
Bath started fast against a Sale side who made ten changes and when Tom de Glanville showed delightful footwork to weave his way over inside the third minute, they did not look back.
Impressive hooker Tom Dunn and flanker Josh Bayliss also touched down to make it 24-10 at the break before Sale hit back in the second half to secure a losing bonus point.
After a first win of 2021,
director of rugby Hooper beamed: “The boys put their heart and soul into it every day so to not get the results lately has been tough.
“But they stuck at it and
they stuck together, so we knew a performance like this and more was just around the corner.
“They enjoyed it and did Sale disrespect us by making ten changes? I don’t think so, I just think we played well on the day.”
Sanderson had steered the Sharks to away wins at Leicester and Bristol in his first two games since taking charge but he was forced to concede that Bath deserved to take the spoils.
His decision to make so many changes backfired and Sanderson admitted: “You don’t win games by conceding 27 points, so it’s simple things like ball retention and placement in the ruck.
“If you don’t get the basics right, it doesn’t matter how good your plan is or how talented your players are, you can’t play the game in the right areas or keep the score down to something that’s anywhere near respectable.”
Rising star De Glanville scampered over from Rhys Priestland’s pass inside the right channel to put Bath ahead but Sale hit back when South African skipper, No.8 Jono Ross forced his way over the line and Rob du Preez converted to make it 10-10.
Yet Bath moved devastatingly through the gears as Will Muir’s stunning break created the field position for Dunn to crash over before a third Bath try arrived on the stroke of half-time.
This time, No.8 Zach Mercer broke the Sale line and deserved to score himself but his progress was halted before Bayliss collected possession and dived over.
Sale improved markedly after the break and the introduction of Faf de Klerk speeded up the pace and precision of their attacks.
Fly-half Dan du Preez went over from a quick penalty tap and then thought he had scored again but the TMO ruled the pass from De Klerk was forward.
Sale continued to probe and Cameron Neild went over in the dying embers for a converted try to secure a losing bonus point but Bath had done enough to secure victory.
Bath debutant Alex Gray replaced Muir in the past ten minutes for his first piece of action since resuming his Rugby Union career after trying his hand in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad.
BRISTOL continue to sit at the summit of the Premiership after this unconvincing victory, but of concern for Pat Lam will be an injury list longer than his side’s register of recent scalps.
First-choice hooker Bryan Byrne (knee), new Argentina prop Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (calf) and Henry Purdy (HIA) were all replaced in the first half, while Nathan Hughes and Siale Piutau suffered an apparent dead leg and shoulder stinger respectively in the second period.
Even before kick-off Bristol had 13 first-team players unavailable due to either injury or international duty, so a depleted player roster could make for grim reading for the Bristol director of rugby tomorrow.
But Lam had more immediately pressing concerns after the final whistle, not least the emergence of a self-destructive streak which manifested itself in reckless passing.
Lam said: “There were a lot of apologies at half time. I said that apologies are great but make sure you fix it. We gifted Gloucester opportunities through our mistakes.
“It was a frustrating game. The outcome is the outcome but we certainly weren’t at our best as a team.
“We gave away two intercept tries, we almost gave a third away which almost cost us the game but I think the character to chase back and make the try-saving tackles sums up the character of this team and finding a way to win.”
The Bristol back row division stood out as bottom-of-the-table Gloucester came within a whisker of upsetting the Bears. Dan Thomas was omnipresent, Nathan Hughes carried with vigour, and Jake Heenan delivered two key moments – a try of superb pace, and a vital turnover in the fading moments.
Gloucester stuttered at
the lineout – a fact which Cherry and Whites director of rugby George Skivington took on his own shoulders after the final whistle – but much of that was down to a fine display against his former club by Dave Attwood, who was a thorn in the Gloucester side at the set-piece and bruising in open play.
Two missed conversions by Billy Twelvetrees ultimately proved costly for Gloucester, as Ioan Lloyd struck two decisive secondhalf penalties to put Bristol’s noses back in front by the slightest of margins.
It had begun as business as usual for Bristol when Byrne, the hooker who just can’t stop scoring tries, dotted down for an early score. But then came two intercept tries for Gloucester wing Santiago Carreras, who pounced first on a pass by Piers
O’Conor and then a longrange floater from Siale Piutau.
Heenan scored a classy try just before the break to tie the scores at 12 apiece.
Play became disjointed at the start of the second period as the sub-zero temperatures led to a succession of handling errors. And it was from such errors that the newlook Gloucester pack began to profit.
Skivington had replaced his entire front row at halftime and the Cherry and Whites proceeded to turn up the heat on the Bristol pack, with Jamal FordRobinson in an especially combative mood. And it was from a scrum free-kick that Gloucester were able to release Ollie Thorley for their third try.
Gloucester’s five-point lead never felt quite enough, however, and the Bears – led by their loose forward division – set about overhauling it. Two sweet strikes from the tee by the unflappable Lloyd proved enough to get Bristol over the line. Just.