Van Graan's Bath beat Sale Sharks despite triple injury blow

MATCH REPORT: Bath edged out Sale Sharks 28-16, only sealing victory with Max Ojomoh’s try two minutes from time.

It was a nervous display, and Ojomoh scored the bonus-point try in the 78th minute.

But head of rugby Johann van Graan will be just as concerned at the injury toll with second rows Charlie Ewels and Quinn Roux, limping off to be followed by Ted Hill.

With Ojomoh still minding the number 10 shirt before Finn Russell’s expected return to action next week, it was down to Bath’s ever-reliable skipper Ben Spencer to steer his side home, converting all four tries and kicking nervelessly out of hand.

Sale struck first with a George Ford penalty after Bath failed to clear their lines from the kick-off.

When the ball squirted free just outside the Bath 22, Ollie Lawrence suddenly burst out of defence with Henry Arundell on his shoulder.

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A one-handed offload sent the left wing away, and he made the conversion fairly straightforward for Spencer to put Bath 7-3 ahead.

Ewels struggled on with a leg injury until being replaced by Ross Molony, and there were anxious faces in the home coaches’ box when Roux went down in obvious pain from a knock to his knee.

After surviving a spell of sustained Bath pressure, the masterly Ford added a snap drop goal on 19 minutes. Spencer answered with a raking 60-metre kick upfield, which earned a line-out inside the visitors’ 22, and a simple wrap-around move saw Tom Dunn put Cameron Redpath over unopposed, with Spencer adding the points.

Although Ford hit the post with a penalty downwind – Warr had to steady the ball for each kick – the fly-half landed yet another drop goal on 33 minutes. But with Ernst van Rhyn in the sin bin for a cynical penalty under his own posts, Beno Obano forced his way over for the third Bath try, again converted by Spencer to establish a 21-9 lead at the break.

Sale regrouped to score the first points of the second half, a close-range touchdown by Nathan Jibulu, converted by Ford, to narrow the margin to five points. Meanwhile, more rain swept in to make catching the ball a perilous business, especially in the line-out.

Van Graan was now on the touchline delivering instructions, but with Roux now off the field, his side was struggling to win usable possession and conceding too many penalties.

Bath spurned a kickable penalty for a tap, but Sale’s defence held firm. The visitors even broke free, chasing a dangerous loose ball downfield, but conceded a penalty for a shove off the ball.

After a missed penalty by Spencer, Ojomoh put the result beyond doubt by touching down his captain’s deft chip over the defence to secure the try bonus point.

The scorers:

For Bath:
Tries: Arundell, Redpath, Obano, Ojomoh
Cons: Spencer 4

For Sale Sharks:
Try: Jibulu
Con: Ford
Pen: Ford
Drop-goals: Ford 2

Teams: 

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Max Ojomoh, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Will Butt, 23 Alfie Barbeary

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Sam Dugdale, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Nathan Jibulu, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Tristan Woodman, 21 Dom Hanson, 22 Arron Reed, 23 Marius Louw

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum, James Clarke
TMO: Daniel Jones