Barbeary leads the revenge mission
AS the pace starts to gather for the Premiership’s final furlong, so it seems the usual runners and riders are starting to hit their straps.
Northampton sit top with Saracens lurking ominously on their shoulders. In between the two, however, Bath are also in fine fettle, a point underlined as they maintained their top two placing with victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.
Sent packing by the Chiefs in their European clash at the same venue two weeks ago, Bath gained sweet revenge in the latest episode of their seasonal trilogy.
Under Johann van Graan times are changing after years of under achieving and the famous Blue, Black and Whites are now emerging as genuine contenders for top prize once more.
The South African knew he had a job on his hand when he took over two years ago following a successful stint with Munster, but now his labours, on and off the field, are starting to bear fruit.
“That’s potentially our best win of the season,” said van Graan. “It was a terrible feeling coming here two weeks ago and coming up just short. Also, why I say it’s potentially our biggest win of the season, this Exeter team don’t lose here. You’ve got to fight for 80 minutes and I’m so proud of the boys today.
“I think we learned a lot from the last game. Exeter play a very certain way and I think that’s the beauty of life in rugby. You’ve got to learn your
lessons and we certainly learned a few lessons the last day. Today, we had firepower right across the 80, and I’d say we met fire with fire, so I’m glad we came out on top.”
Glowing in the West Country sunshine, No.8 Alfie Barbeary was a real burst of colour and energy in the visiting performance. After a hardfought opening quarter, the former Wasps forward gave his side the lead when he was able to rumble over from a closerange lineout just before the half-hour mark.
Tom Cairns thought he had immediately cut the deficit when he sniped through a yawning gap by the Bath tryline, but his pathway to glory had been opened by the actions of team-mate Ehren Painter and the score was chalked off as quickly as it came.
At the other end, Bath continued to prosper and on the stroke of halftime they doubled their advantage to 14 points, skipper Ben Spencer racing over after second row Charlie Ewels cantered clear of the sleepy Chiefs cover at a lineout to offer the simple offload to his teammate.
Up against it, the Chiefs needed to come out firing and within five minutes of the restart they gave themselves a lifeline back into the contest.
Former Bath man Olly Woodburn finished off in the corner after the hosts had pushed and probed with a series of pick-and-go drives just yards from the line.
But the Chiefs revival slipped into the abyss, Bath restoring their grip on proceedings with two tries to wrap up the all-important bonus point.
Centre Max Ojomoh claimed the first, capitalising on a mistake from Cairns to dot down from a few yards out before replacement Miles Reid rumbled over by the home posts just seconds after coming on.
The Chiefs do not go quietly – especially on home turf – and in a defiant last stand they were rewarded when Stu Townsend snuck over for a consolation score.
Sadly for them, it was all a little too late. For Bath, however, the race for glory goes on.