Bath in vengeful mood in Final replay
FRIDAY WRAP: Bath turned the tables on Premiership champions Northampton as they opened their league campaign with a 38-16 victory at the Recreation Ground.
Three months after losing narrowly to Saints in the Final, Johann van Graan’s team produced an impressive display on opening day.
And they triumphed in bonus-point fashion as tries from wing Joe Cokanasiga, flank Ted Hill, scrum-half Ben Spencer, centre Ollie Lawrence and replacement Jaco Coetzee saw them home.
Fly-half Finn Russell kicked five conversions and a penalty, while Northampton could have few complaints about the outcome.
Flank Josh Kemeny touched down on his Premiership debut for Saints, while Fin Smith booted a conversion and three penalties, yet they never seriously threatened to leave the west country with maximum points.
Northampton missed the sniping presence of injured England scrumhalf Alex Mitchell and, although Smith provided moments of flair and creativity, Bath always enjoyed an element of control.
England coach Steve Borthwick looked on as Bath dominated initial territory and possession – Saints did not help themselves by conceding three quickfire penalties – before taking a sixth-minute lead.
The Bath forwards drove a line-out deep into Northampton’s 22, then quickly recycled ball enabled an overlap to be worked and Cokanasiga finished impressively.
Russell converted from the touchline, but his opposite number Smith drifted a short-range penalty chance wide before Russell failed to find the target from 35 metres.
Northampton hit back in style midway through the first half, carving Bath’s defence open through some slick handling at pace.
Centre Fraser Dingwall was the architect, sending captain George Furbank through a gap 25 metres out, and Kemeny applied the finish on his Saints debut.
Smith converted, but Saints were then stunned by a spectacular Bath score from distance.
Centre Will Butt made an outstanding break, found Spencer in support and his superbly-timed pass allowed Hill an unopposed run to the line, with Russell’s conversion making it 14-7.
Smith kicked a penalty, but Bath struck again five minutes before the interval, charging forward from a line-out, and Spencer exploited some weak Northampton defensive work to claim his team’s third touchdown, again converted by Russell.
Northampton needed to make inroads after the break and they went close just eight minutes in, but wing James Ramm saw possession squirm away from his grasp as he tried to collect Smith’s cross-kick.
Smith cut the gap through a 54th-minute penalty and landed a three-pointer shortly afterwards to set up an intriguing final quarter.
Bath then reasserted themselves in the game, with debutant flanker Guy Pepper making a crunching tackle on Furbank, who spilled possession and Lawrence broke clear to score.
Russell landed a fourth successful conversion and Saints again had it all to do, trailing by 12 points.
A Russell penalty took Bath further in front, with his long-range effort killing off any chance of a late Saints revival, and Kemeny collected a late yellow card.
There was still time for Bath to add further gloss after Kemeny’s departure, with powerful close-range work by the pack rewarded when Coetzee touched down to complete a convincing match.
* In the other Friday match Bristol kicked off their Premiership season with a low-profile 24-3 win away at a much-improved Newcastle side.
Under grey overcast skies in the north-east, Newcastle and Bristol engaged in a scrum-ridden arm wrestle which opened up in the second half.
Newcastle, after a full pre-season of toughening up under Director of Rugby Steve Diamond, were a much sterner test than the side that capitulated to a record 14-85 defeat at Ashton Gate five months ago but still fell to their 22nd league defeat on the bounce.
Friday’s scores and scorers…
Bath 38-16 Northampton Saints
The scorers
For Bath
Tries: Cokanasiga, Hill, Spencer, Lawrence, Coetzee
Cons: Russell 5
Pen: Russell
For Northampton Saints
Try: Kemeny
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 3
The teams:
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee.
Northampton: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Angus Scott-Young, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tom West, 18 Luke Green, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Archie McFarland, 22 Toby Thame, 23 Tommy Freeman.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Tom Foley
Newcastle Falcons 3-24 Bristol Bears
The scorers
For Newcastle Falcons
Pen: Connon
For Bristol Nears
Tries: Williams, Naulago, Malins 2
Cons: MacGinty 2
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Adam Scott, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Louis Brown, 23 Ben Redshaw.
Bristol: 15 Max Malins, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Fitz Harding (captain), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Ben Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joe Jenkins, 23 Rich Lane.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards
