Bath Rugby arrived in Yorkshire needing the reverse the trend and rekindle Premiership form shown before the untimely reverses both at Saracens, and being on the wrong end of the rugbyfest last weekend. Leeds is always a fixture you think Bath ought to be capable of winning, and my hopes were high we could dominate like we did in the home fixture and come away with a valuable 5-pointer. I was also encouraged by Barnesy’s reported account in the home game programme (Dec 07) that the Leeds side is apparently “ a tight nit group of players” – thank you Simon Clark for that gem of an insight into Leeds Carnegie !

It was overcast in Leeds, but Bath came out of the traps brightly with a clear game plan to test the Leeds scrum. Within 5 minutes we were camped on the Leeds line courtesy of a rolling maul set by Johnny F, and David Rose was forced into warning Leeds two or three times about discipline in the front row following infringements and set scrums – Belly and Barnes were clearly up for this one. Nothing came on this occasion and the first of OB’s 100% day came from a penalty on 8 minutes after Myall handled on the floor centrally 30 metres out. Bath then strung some reasonable phases together the pick of which was a high ball taken by Joe Maddock just in our half which then went through a dozen pairs of hands before Danny Grewcock knocked on 5 metres out.

With Bath sleeping, play was soon back in our 22 and Olly was forced to defend solo against what looked like a hapless Leeds wing Apo Satala whose sting in the tail was to come later. Possession was being kicked away all too often but Bath got to try time after 19 minutes when a move that started in our half from a Leeds breakdown was moved from side to side twice with ultimately Dixon and Eliota combining slip passes and soft hands to put Nick A through as the extra man who fed Joe Maddock for Bath’s first try in the corner. Olly converted from wide for 0-10.

Leeds had very little to offer throughout the first half and were starved of possession for long periods, but Bath were just not converting possession in the backs - moves that looked promising seemed to “freeze” in the Leeds 22 when the try seemed to be there for the taking. Unfair to single out individuals but today the 12/13 axis was not effective, both players had relatively easy chances to increase the try count in the first 30 but lacked the conviction to execute the killer ball to Banahan or Maddock who were semi-redundant in the first half. Leeds pulled down a rolling maul on 23 mins giving OB easy pickings for 0-13.

The onset of light rain brought more misty thinking to Bath as Classens was pinged for feeding Dixon at the scrum and a Leeds quickly taken penalty again forced Bath onto the back foot defending deep in their 22 – this time saved by foot-in-touch preventing a Leeds score. The lineout as ever produced good ball but the kicked clearance didn’t find touch and when Bath slowed the ball down for the umpteenth time Rosey finally gave in and awarded Leeds a penalty converted by the full back Leigh Hinton (3-13).

From the restart the most bizarre event of the first half found Andy Beattie picking up OB’s restart ball unchallenged, and charging bull-like at open space towards the Leeds 22. The surprise was too much for Bath who with no support around Beast were unable to capitalise from the ruck as he was hauled down.

So with one of the less entertaining games of the season reaching half-time at 3-13, everyone was glad of the break and I wondered if this game was ever going to ignite. There were far to many speculative or inaccurate infield kicked balls, not enough incisive running, and Bath failed to exploit their clear scrum advantage.

There was no sign of the potential continuity benefit Leeds might have had, with no international call-ups. Biggs who had threatened often at the Rec, wasn’t playing, and with Di Bernado on the bench, only Hinton, Satala and Bedford of the backs were retained to start since the December fixture. Neither was there a chance to evaluate Bath’s promised signing Stuart Hooper until the Leeds Club captain was introduced on 57 minutes, although the swathe of Leeds substitution’s at that time gave the home side more bite on the last 20.

I don’t know what it is about half-time in the Bath changing room, and this week was no different. With the Sunday game there can have been no need to use the break to debate church or Sunday roast the next day, but still it was dire at the re-start. Danny was pinged for in-at-the-side following a delicate Classens chip into the Leeds half and nothing much was flowing fluently. On 50 minutes, Bath shortened the line just inside the Leeds half, and turned over the resultant catch and drive allowing Hepworth to run without check from his own half, then crossfield in our 22 to deliver a pass to Satala who went over for a really soft try (8-13) with the conversion missed.

At this point Crockett and Abendanon left the field, with Joe Maddock going to full back and Stevo coming on to the wing, and Shaun Berne taking the outside centre berth. The switching between Berne and Eliota through the second half looked promising but the disruption to the backline sent Bath back to the “eight” game plan. Belly was replaced by Aaron Jarvis on 53 mins (no apparent injury) and incessant mauling pressure followed up the Leeds left hand channel. The first attempt at thre rolling maul failed when there was an enormous pile-on just outside the try line. From the set scrum I thought it was Danny that went over, but the try was awarded to Peter Short, and in fairness I was behind the other posts ! Olly converted for 8-20.

From the restart Bath headed straight back into Leeds 22 with the same driving tactics and some deft handling between Barnes, Grewcock, and Browne. The Bath scrum now has an alternative to JC2’s up-the-jumper style – these boys can handle ! At the end of this phase it was left to Johnny F to pick up from the base and hop “over” the pile of players on the floor for Bath’s third on 55 minutes. Olly converted taking things to a comfortable looking 8-27.The game went progressively looser from here on, and Leeds second try came after a speculative slap-down of the ball by Eliota, which Rosey brought back to a Leeds penalty centrally in our 22. Leeds took the tap penalty quickly and in spite of the attending Stevo and Joe Madock, Apo Satala was adjudged to have grounded without foot in touch wide left on 67 minutes. Di Bernado (on for Brooks) converted and suddenly Leeds started to look hungry at 15-27.Apo Satala was rewarded for his efforts by being replaced, as both sides used all their subs in the final ten, with Johnny F linking well with Chris Goodman and Rob Hawkins in a very open finish, which provided Matt Banahan with an easy run in down the left for the fourth try on 77 mins - Olly obliging yet again meaning it all finished 15-34.The Classens-James axis was getting into its stride back in December when in only its fourth outing, That day, Bath easily overcame today’s opposition at the Rec by 41-10, bagging 5 tries along the way including a Matt Banahan hat-trick. It was nowhere near fluent or particularly organised today.

“Orrible” as I described it to to our Leeds rellies after the game. The scoreboard does not lie, and perhaps I’m being overly critical, but todays’ opposition should have been dispatched by the end of the first half without the effort so clearly expended in completing the job.

One last reference to the programme from the home Leeds game – probably defining a large part of what it takes to be a Bath supporter over these last few years (from Andrew Brownsword)

“We await the Charity Commission’s decision in January and hope the planning process can start soon after. We await another important decision affecting the Lambridge training ground, this time from the Council, and hope that this can be definitive after sixteen years of frustrating procrastination. We live in hope !”  Viewed from this perspective, perhaps Steve Borthwick and Olly Barkley have been patient enough………………………………….

 

 

Leeds Carnegie: 15. Leigh Hinton   14. John Holtby   13. Jonny Hepworth   12. Anitele'a Tuilagi   11. Apolosi Satala   10. James Brooks   9. Joe Bedford   1. Mike MacDonald   2. Viliami Ma'asi   3. Tom McGee   4. Erik Lund   5. Kearnan Myall   6. Jon Dunbar   7. Calum Clark   8. Rhys Oakley   Replacements: 16. Fosi Pala'amo   17. Rob Rawlinson   18. Stuart Hooper   19. Hendre Fourie   20. Mike Aspinall   21. Alberto Di Bernardo   22. Rob Vickerman

Bath Rugby: 15. Nick Abendanon   14. Joe Maddock   13. Alex Crockett   12. Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu   11. Matthew Banahan   10. Olly Barkley   9. Michael Claassens   1. David Barnes   2. Pieter Dixon   3. Duncan Bell   4. Peter Short   5. Danny Grewcock   6. Andy Beattie   7. Jonny Fa'amatuainu   8. Daniel Browne   Replacements: 16. Rob Hawkins   17. Aaron Jarvis   18. Martin Purdy   19. Chris Goodman   20. Mike Baxter   21. Shaun Berne   22. Michael Stephenson

Referee: David Rose

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