Watson makes the difference as Bath take control and hold off Toulon
Bath put themselves in command of Pool 5 after a pair of first-half tries from England full-back Anthony Watson provided enough of a buffer to see their way past Toulon in a rip-roaring affair.
For sheer entertainment value this trumped last week’s rollicking encounter on the Cote D’Azur. Bath established an early 13-0 lead but the game was never safe. There was no let-up as the game swung one way and then the other for the full 80 minutes.
The tension in the final moments as Toulon built 38 phases was unbearable until Nigel Owens, who was superb, spotted a knock-on. It was all the more nerve-wracking because of their history of close-run defeats to Toulon. Last week, the difference was four points. Two seasons ago, the deficit was three and five points. Hence the sense of nervousness was palpable as four times they established a two-score lead. Each time they were pegged back.
Their victory was deserved. Watson was sensational under the high ball and a constant threat with ball in hand, Francois Louw a pest and Tom Dunn monstrous in defence.
Fuelled by a sense of injustice from last week’s 24-20 defeat, Bath came roaring out of the traps. Aled Brew won the restart ahead of Romain Taofifénua and then slid past the same player with ball in hand. Beno Obano picked the perfect line to run on to Chris Cook’s flat pass to give Bath an early lead.
Having been given no breaks by the officials at the breakdown last week, Bath found Nigel Owens much more to their liking and when Ma’a Nonu failed to roll away, Rhys Priestland kicked Bath 10-0 ahead. With a huge overlap on the right, Cook instead switched play inside where Toulon were well stocked and Bath had to settle for a second Priestland penalty. Toulon got a foothold in the game but only after Francois Trinh-Duc experienced his customary brain fade, attempting an offload on the tryline that resulted in a knock-on.
Fortunately for the fly-half, Toulon got a second bite of the cherry as scrum-half Alby Mathewson broke down the unguarded blindside of a Toulon lineout, although he too nearly forgot to ground the ball. Trinh-Duc converted and added another penalty to reduce Bath’s lead to three points.
Still, Bath were able to head into half-time with a double-digit lead thanks to Watson. His first try came again from Brew targeting the suspect defence of Josua Tuisova on the left before the ball was spread right where Watson cut back in-field and spotted a gap that he slid through with ease. His second try came in first-half injury time after some hard carries by Obano and Dunn gave Bath a great platform. Watson, again, crabbed sideways, this time on the left, before straightening to leave four defenders clutching at air.
Toulon reduced the deficit in the second half. Ma’a Nonu was the instigator, breaking through midfield. Chris Ashton was only just brought down but he found Guilhem Guirado, who gave the scoring pass to Samu Manoa.
Trinh-Duc missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty but still the pressure kept coming. Priestland restored Bath’s two-score lead with a 56th-minute penalty, though the mood soured again when Jack Wilson’s try was ruled out for a forward pass. TrinhDuc again reduced the gap to five points and despite hammering at the door they could not find a way through.