By Andy Dowthwaite
February 12 2011

Back to premiership action this week after a four week break, for our second consecutive Friday night away game after winning at Welford Road last week (can we ever say this too many times). It was a wet night at Edgeley Park (surprise, surprise) for the match against Sale with the hosts missing a number of key players though international duty and injury, particularly in the front row. Bath off the back of a series of wins looked on paper a much more experienced side and despite missing Wilson, Bannahan, Moody and Hape should cause Sale a lot of trouble.

The tone of the match was set straight away. Butch James put the kick off deep into the Sale 22 and after an initial fumble, in the wet, the ball was hurriedly cleared to touch 30 metres out. Good line out ball to and from Simon Taylor at the back set up a driving maul. Sale were penalised and Olly Barkley had no problem with the kick 0 – 3 after two minutes.

Bath were able to dominate possession after this score with both Butch and Olly kicking to the corners. From a line out on the Sale 5 metre line, from an Olly kick,  the ball was carried over the line and an attacking scrum awarded. The experience and power of the front row was starkly highlighted here, taking the Sale scrum apart. Penalty, and the right choice to go for another scrum. With the Sale front row having a combined age that was younger than the evergreen Duncan Bell, Imolek was in particular having trouble and a try looked inevitable. A great opportunity was lost however due to early engagement which conceded a free kick allowing Sale to clear.

Much kicking ensued from both sides in the wet weather and Sale were struggling to make significant progress with the ball in hand. One positive move saw Cohen strongly running a kick back; however, from resulting passes Charlie Hodgson was caught in possession by a thumping tackle from Jack Cuthbert, Butch cleared defenders out, allowing Claassy to step over. Charlie now isolated, was forced to hold on and conceded the penalty. Olly had no trouble with the penalty and it was 0 – 6 with Bath looking comfortable.

The game settled into a steady pattern. Bath won all their line outs (only the one not straight from Dixie) and were able to use Danny, Hoops and Simon Taylor at will. The scrum was completely dominant with Belly in particular having a field day. Imolek only lasted 25 minutes before needing to be subbed. Henry Thomas, the young prop from Bath playing for Sale, stood up to Flats, but, the power of our scrum was just overwhelming. Clean ball was then kicked up field to force Sale to play from deep. One such attack saw Rhys Crane badly hurt and stretchered off which hopefully wasn’t too bad as he was hobbling about 15 minutes later. Sale put together some phases of play but either knocked the ball on in contact or kicked the ball away – repeat as necessary. Dull but suitable for the conditions and used in a disciplined way by the Bath team to squeeze Sale.

Following one such up and under into the Sale 22, Thornley, who had replaced Rhys Crane, knocked the ball on. Another scrum ten yards out from the Sale line saw Bendy lined up directly behind the scrum – looked like he was looking for an inside ball from Butch. Unfortunately despite pushing Sale back the ball bounced out of the scrum on the ground. Bendy picked up had a quick look then set off on the blind side and cut back on the inside to beat the defence and dive over for the try. Olly converted and it was 0 – 13 coming up to half time.

Re-starts have not been one of our strengths this season, and immediately after the kick off Danny misjudged the ball in the wind which allowed Sale to mount the best looking attacking move of the game. The ball was eventually passed at pace to Ben Cohen with a good decoy run from Tuilagi which committed Tom Biggs. Cohen diving for the corner managed to touch down. I had a clear view of this from 100 yards away behind the posts and he was clearly out before he touched down, however the TMO thought otherwise and the try was awarded. Charlie Hodgson converted from the touchline and the score was 7 – 13 as we went in for half time.

Sale came out strongly in the second half and dominated for much of the next twenty minutes. Position and possession are key to winning games and although Bath sacrificed possession by kicking away good ball from the set piece they did this deliberately to gain position from which Sale struggled to attack effectively. This was clearly planned as I don’t think Matt Carraro received a pass from Olly or Butch all game.

With kicks pushed deep into Sale territory they showed some decent skills and were able to string together some good phases of play. Bath’s defence was however up to the challenge, were well organised and prevented Sale from making too much effective progress. Strong defence with a lot of solid tackles coming in from the entire Bath team. We looked well organised, hard-working and disciplined – Brad Davis is earning his salary. Sale tended to rely on power running from Tuilagi in the backs and Koyamaibole around the fringes of the rucks. This was however, fairly predictable and the defence was waiting and able to recover quickly when on the few occasions the line was broken. Sale were able to close on the Bath line a couple of times but knocked on allowing a scrum and deep kick back. As a result Sale tended to move from side to side and patience eventually ran out and they either lost the ball in contact or kicked the ball away, much to the frustration of the local fans.

One such kick found Bendy just outside the 22 and with his usual jinking style cut through the on rushing Sale players crossed the half way line before being tackled. He always seems to present the ball well when tackled and Sale had to kill the resultant ruck. Olly stepped up from 45 yards in front of the posts and it was 7 – 16. The only real pressure came from dropping the ball Sale kicked away. Jack usually very reliable had a poor day by his standards. On a couple of occasions he conceded position from knock ons and on one particular reception he looked to run out of the 22, hesitated badly and was tackled by two players forcing a turnover – must have forgotten the game plan for a moment.  One bad day at the office for a good player, I hope he can put it behind him and move on, he has had many more good days.

Bath were also able to slow the game down later in the second half, managing the remaining time with a slow and steady approach to line outs, scrums and territory. A more professional approach to closing the game out than the sometimes “hairum scarum” tactics we have employed in the past  However, we still need to learn to take drop kicks as we spurned a clear chance in the second half. The result looked increasingly secure and with a minute to go another frustration penalty from Sale allowed Olly to make his fourth kick and the final score was 7 – 19.

Bath clearly set out with a game plan to deliver a win based on an understanding of the opposition and conditions on the night. These bad weather tactics have been building since December and on the night were very effective. The pack were dominant in the set pieces and we used the ball smartly to manage field position  It was not that pretty, unlikely to deliver a try fest and may not be the “Bath way” but it was very effective, squeezed Sale and delivered a comfortable win. We now have a definite Plan B for nights such as this that we can execute in a disciplined manner and which allows us to close out games. I just hope we remember Plan A when the weather and conditions improve.

Man of the Match was Olly Barkley and he had a dominating game controlling the position on the field by keeping Sale pinned back in their own half. Whilst the kicking was a bit of a double act with Butch, Olly had one of those games where he seemed to have lots of time and the ability to put the ball where he wanted. He looked very focussed and compared very favourably to both Butch and Charlie Hodgson. He was also 4 from 4 with his kicking, all of which were beautifully struck on a miserable evening when the renowned Charlie Hodgson was 1 from 3. Not a day to show off his passing but we already know how good he is when conditions allow.  England’s omission is our gain. He’s a perfect 10 but he wears a 12.