Bath
made history this weekend, witnessed by 12, 817 supporters at the
Rec, as Leicester failed to put any points on the board - a
Premiership first for the Tigers as they were thrashed by the men in
black, blue and white 45-0.
“...We
were pretty relentless really...to nil Leicester is pretty fantastic
...” said
Mike Ford.
It
was one of the best games I've watched for a long time! On the day,
the set piece, defence and attack all went to plan for Bath. It was
utterly sensational to see such an exquisite and enthusiastic side
score five tremendous tries. As for Leicester... what can I say?
The
West Country side just missed out on a top four Premiership place
last season, a little like a rough puff pastry missing a little
butter, and we all know how that ends up on the Great British Bake
Off. But belting Bath were back in the heat and they were back with
a vengeance.
So
where do I start?
Bath
owned the scrum, their dominant shift won them a penalty and Ford
slotted one between the posts.
The
tempo and pace of the game Bath was creating was thrilling, pure
theatre.
From
a superb attacking line, the speed of Jonathan Joseph beat three
defenders to cross the white wash – where were Tigers? - A soft
try. Ford's luck was in as his kick bounced off a post and through.
An extra two points and it was 17-0 after twenty minutes.
How
were Leicester going to react?
Well
they didn't; finding themselves in their own 22 yet again. And after
being ripped to shreds in two scrums, it was ‘drop goal George’
who took his chance and the successful goal put Bath 20 points up
with 6 minutes left to play in the first half. Wow!!!
Taxi
for the Tigers? They certainly had nothing in their tanks.
The
body language of the Leicester side was agitated and their energy
just didn't seem focused in any facet of play. Penalised yet again
in the scrum, Leicester seemed to be slowly falling of the radar as
Ford's boot slotted another three pointer ... all before half time!
HT
23-0
“Everyone
talks about this moment where you kill teams off and it really is
important you know. You let teams like this back into the game and
you never know how it's going to end up, so I was pleased the way we
did that after half time” said
Stuart Hooper.
I
expected Leicester to re-emerge fighting, but as Ford's boot kicked
his third penalty of the game, it looked like an ever decreasing
downward spiral for the cubs ... or should I say Tigers. Bath preyed
on the Tigers like vultures and yet again the ball was overturned by
an unyielding Bath defence, igniting a minute of sheer sublime
attacking play from the home side. Ford decided not to kick, a risky
decision on his own try line but a pass to Joseph sparked a surge of
spontaneity with breaks from Stuart Hooper and Dave Attwood through
the middle of the Leicester defence which resulted in Kyle Eastmond
pirouetting over the line. It was a tremendous team try and Bath
fans were on their feet ... even I was. Ford missed the conversion
but that didn't stop the rampages of this ravenous side. 31-0
The
speed at which Bath were able to offload the ball on the attack
highlighted Leicester's inability to respond to the game being played
in front of them. Leicester were locked down at every opportunity
which saw them nudged back into their own 22 quite swiftly.
Once
again from inside their own half, Bath managed to overturn the ball
at the breakdown.
What
proceeded was a popping phenomenon pretty much the length of the
pitch between Leroy Houston and Olly Woodburn, until he crossed the
line. All at the Rec were up and down like musical chairs! It was
safe to say Leicester were out of sight when Ford converted to take
Bath to 38-0 with just over ten minutes left to play.
Bath's
Nick Auterac was then yellow carded for a high tackle and soon after
the chance of a try for Tigers! But inches from the white-wash, a
double movement saw them penalised and back they went ... and then
came Baths’ second breathtaking try from their own 22.
Off
a five metre lineout in their own 22, Peter Stringer set up fleet of
foot Rokoduguni and Eastmond to make blinding breaks - enabling
Stringer to finish off his own try which saw the Rec celebrating ...
again! From one end of the pitch to the other, round we went again -
it was like being on the waltzer! Ford’s boot obeyed again, it was
simply surreal , 45-0, and all when Bath were down to fourteen men.
If
being nailed wasn't enough for the visitors, a red card was shown to
David Mele for stamping, moments before the end of the match, a
demoralising way to end;
Richard
Cockerill calling it, “pretty
unhelpful.”
He also said after the game:
“We
just couldn't cope with the set piece...you're always going to
struggle on the back foot and we just got outplayed across the
field... we had opportunities but we weren't good enough to take
them. Credit to Bath, we got exactly what we deserved.”
FT
45-0
With
emphasis from Cockerill after the game on losing thirteen players to
injury, I began to wonder, are the Tigers all too reliant on the
likes of Ed Slater, Dan Cole, Manu Tuilagi and Anthony Allen? Where
was their defence? And what academy players are chomping at the bit
and waiting in the wings?
As
for Bath, Man Of The Match was given to George Ford but all players
1-23 deserved the award. This Bath squad were immaculate and
accomplished. Mike Ford mentioned the pressure Kyle Eastmond took
off George coming round the short side, I had the privilege of
speaking to Kyle after the game:
“It's
always nice to beat one of the top teams but like I say, we keep our
feet on the ground and we've got a lot of work to do...we take each
day as it comes...I think we played a smart game today...”
“We're
coming up against another great side next week and it'll be a tough
test but we're really looking forward to it and like I say, we'll go
into next week clean slate and we'll start again.”
I'm
looking forward to a spell binding spectacle at Franklin's Gardens
next weekend.