Bath edge Leinster in thriller
A penalty try awarded by French referee Jerome Garces in the 62nd minute set Bath on their way and then another mighty shove at a scrum 15 minutes later gave George Ford the chance to shoot for glory.
The England outside half had knocked over two penalties, a drop goal and converted the penalty try earlier in the game and his radar was perfect for the 40 metre penalty shot that once again put his side ahead with a mere four minutes to play.
The boot of Johnny Sexton kept Leinster in touch or much of the game as he landed three penalties to make it 9-9 after 55 minutes. It was tight from start to finish and, in the end, it was the home scrum that made the difference, with loosehead prop Nick Auterac being awarded the man of the match award.
Defeat for Leinster after their 6-33 home loss to Wasps in Round One meant it was the first time in their history they have lost their opening two Pool matches. It is also the first time since 1998/99 that they have lost three games in a row after their semifinal defeat in Marseilles last season.
Their next assignments are both against the reigning champions, Toulon, with the first game coming at Stade Felix-Mayol. On the bright side, Bath lost their opening two games last season and still made the quarterfinals.
Once they had conceded the penalty try it would have been easy for the Leinster players to drop their heads, but they came rushing back into the game with a try from replacement back row man Josh van der Flier that Sexton converted to level the scores at 16-16 with 10 minutes left to play.
And when Sexton pointed to the posts two minutes later to tee-up a 56 metre shot at goal the Bath supporters had their hearts in their mouths. His kick was on target, but fell just short.
Then came the Bath penalty from a scrum wide out on the right and just outside the Leinster 22. Ford stepped up and never looked like missing.
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Penalty Try
Cons: Ford
Pens: Ford 3
DG: Ford
For Leinster:
Tries: Van der Flier
Cons: Sexton
Pens: Sexton 3
Teams
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9, Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Matt Garvey, 5 David Attwood, 4 Dom Day, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Stuart Hooper, 20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa (captain), 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Dominic Ryan, 20 Josh Van Der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Zane Kirchner.
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Salem Attalah (France), tbc (France)
TMO: Bruno Bessot (France)
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