Ford drives Bath to the top

George Ford pulled the strings in imperious fashion as Bath fired a warning shot to the rest of the Premiership clubs.

They produced a record-breaking 45-0 win over Leicester Tigers at the Rec that moves them top of the table.

Ford has started the season in superb form and his former employers Leicester found him far too hot to handle as the hosts ran in five tries in all while keeping the visitors scoreless.

Semesa Rokoduguni and Jonathan Joseph grabbed Bath's two tries before the interval while the young flyhalf added 13 points from the boot including a long-range drop goal as they went in 23-0 to the good.

After the break Mike Ford's side were unrelenting as Kyle Eastmond, Olly Woodburn and then Peter Stringer rubber stamped their biggest-ever win against their famous old rivals and mean that Bath have begun the season with three successive victories for the first time since 2003/4.

Richard Cockerill's men have now not beaten the West Country outfit in any of their last five meetings and right from the off it was clear that it was not going to be there day after their first-choice centre pairing of Anthony Allen and Manu Tuilagi were both late withdrawals due to injury.

And once the game got going it was clear that flyhalf Ford, under the watchful gaze of England attack coach Mike Catt, was in the mood, the 21-year-old making a first-minute break down the left touchline that only served as a taster for what was to come.

Bath were dominant in every department of the game, Leicester losing scrums against the head and inviting pressure from the hosts.

And with only eight minutes played they hit the front, Ford's cut-out pass to the right feeding Carl Fearns who in turn fed Rokoduguni and the in-form wing touched down in the right corner for his fourth try of the campaign.

The Bath front row were having it all their own way at scrum time, Leonardo Ghiraldini preferred to Tom Youngs but struggling to get his hook in as the hosts won yet another penalty.

Ford, who had already slotted the previous conversion from the right touchline, continued his fine kicking form from the tee as he added the subsequent three points for a 10-0 lead.

Bath were really starting to purr now, and with barely quarter of an hour played they had their second try as Eastmond hit his centre partner Joseph in stride with a lovely flat ball and the latter turned on the jets to steam over through the heart of the Leicester defence. Ford's conversion went over via the post and the hosts were 17-0 to the good.

Having showed their sharpness in attack, Bath then flexed their muscles in defence as Leicester's first real platform in the opposition 22 came to nothing.

And back up the other end Ford's masterclass continued, the 21-year-old slotting a drop-goal and then a penalty as the one-way traffic continued.

The only dampeners for Bath in a supreme first half were injuries to Carl Fearns and Matt Banahan but after the break there was no let up as Ford added his third penalty of the game to make it 26-0.

If the home fans could not believe their eyes then, they were soon in absolute dreamland as Bath scored a team try that will struggle to be bettered throughout the rest of the season.

Turnover ball under their own posts was worked to the left and it was Joseph who made the initial break carrying play up to the halfway line. Then it was his centre partner Eastmond that wriggled his way into the 22 and a couple of phases later Ford's tap-pass put Eastmond over for an end-to-end score that had the Rec fit to burst.

Ford then proved he was human as his conversion came back off the post but Leicester were completely powerless in the face of the onslaught, Bath happy to attack from anywhere as Dave Attwood cantered over halfway with still less than an hour played.

Joseph, so impressive in the first three games of the season, then went off injured but not even that could knock Ford and co off their stride and they had their bonus point not long after.

With Leicester on the attack quick turnover ball saw Ford kick deep and replacement wing Woodburn won the foot race, swapped passes with No.8 Leroy Houston and strolled under the posts.

Stringer then completed the rout as Leicester's wait for a first win at the Rec since 2006 goes on.

* In other Premiership action on Saturday Alex Lewington's hat-trick was not enough to prevent Saracens preserving their winning start to the season in dramatic fashion.

The London Irish wing crossed over three times at the Madejski Stadium, as the Exiles threatened to upset last season's Premiership Rugby table toppers – but ultimately fell just short, losing 32-36.

* Harlequins recovered from an uncharacteristic mauling at the hands of Saracens last week as they battled back to beat neighbours Wasps thanks to a near flawless kicking display from Ben Botica.

* Tom Arscott's hat-trick propelled Sale Sharks to their first win of the season and condemned London Welsh to their third consecutive Premiership Rugby loss.

All Saturday's scores and scorers!

Sale Sharks 46-8 London Welsh

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Arscott 3, Cobilas, Brady, McLean

Cons: Cipriani 3, Ford 2

Pens: Cipriani 2

For London Welsh:

Try: Reynolds

Pen: Barkley

Yellow card: Dean Schofield (London Welsh, 37)

Teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Will Addison, 12 Jonny Leota, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Viliami Fahiki, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.

London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Olly Barkley (captain), 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Pete Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Ricky Reeves.

Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Shane Cahill, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Ollie Stedman, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Tristan Roberts, 23 Tom May.

Referee: Andrew Small

Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Peter Huckle

TMO: Sean Davey

Harlequins 26-23 Wasps

The scorers:

For Harlequins:

Tries: Robshaw, Brown

Cons: Botica 2

Pens: Botica 3

DG: Care

For Wasps:

Tries: Thompson, Varndell, Young

Con: Goode

Pens: Goode 2

Yellow cards: Kearnan Myall (Wasps, 53), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins, 75)

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Harry Sloan, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Luke Wallace, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 George Merrick, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Louis Grimoldby, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague.

Wasps: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 John Yapp, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Alapati Leiua.

Referee: JP Doyle

Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Gordon Goodliffe

TMO: Rowan Kitt

London Irish 32-36 Saracens

The scorers:

For London Irish:

Tries: Cowan, Lewington 3

Cons: Geraghty 3

Pens: Geraghty

For Saracens:

Tries: Streather, Wigglesworth, Vunipola

Cons: Farrell 2, Hodgson

Pens: Farrell 3, Goode 2

Teams:

London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 James Short, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Scott Steele, 9 Luke Narraway, 7 Ofisa Treviranus, 6 Blair Cowan, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Dan Leo, 20 Kieran Low, 21 Tom Guest, 22 Tomás O'Leary, 23 Eamonn Sheridan.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Tim Streather, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Gill.

Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Duncan Taylor.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Nigel Carrick

TMO: David Grashoff

Bath 45-0 Leicester Tigers

The scorers:

For Bath:

Tries: Rokoduguni, Joseph, Eastmond, Woodburn, Stringer

Cons: Ford 4

Pens: Ford 3

DG: Ford

For Leicester Tigers:

None

Yellow card: Nick Auterac (Bath, 70)

Teams:

Bath: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Olly Woodburn.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 David Mele, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Matt Smith.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Kelvin Stewart

TMO: Graham Hughes