Following a narrow 26-24 victory for leaders Bath over ninth-place strugglers Exeter in the Gallagher Premiership, here are our five takeaways from Saturday’s clash at Sandy Park.
The Top Line
Thirty-six points separated leaders Bath from ninth-place Exeter on Saturday’s pre-game Premiership table, a fascinating role reversal from three years ago when the 2021/22 season concluded with the Bruce Craig-owned club rooted to the bottom on 34 points in the then 13-team league and Chiefs in seventh on 69 points, 35 points ahead.
The then-and-now transformation represented a whopping 71-point swing in fortunes, but the current chasm-like difference in the tournament table status of these two clubs wasn’t reinforced at Sandy Park.
Undoubtedly, Bath are going places in making themselves a club that competes for the league title every year. However, Exeter can take great heart from their doggedness in heading off a potential hiding and turning this encounter into a closely fought second-half contest that provided great entertainment.
The Chiefs have unquestionably been a shadow of the consistent outfit that reached six semi-finals on the bounce between 2016 and 2021, but how they responded to an initial Bath cruise was impressive.
Johann van Graan’s side had bagged the four-try bonus point as early as the 29th minute for a 26-10 lead following scores from a penalty try, Niall Annett, Josh Bayliss and Will Muir, but the visitors failed to kick on after that.
They were kept scoreless in the remaining 51 minutes and Exeter, inspired by the finishing of potent two-try winger Paul Brown-Bampoe, will ultimately feel frustrated that they didn’t get more than a losing bonus point from this encounter that ended with a relieved Ben Spencer booting the ball off the pitch deep inside the Bath half.
Finn Russell’s unconvincing Lions audition in front of Andy Farrell
Following the critical reaction to Thursday’s announcement that Johnny Sexton will tour with the British and Irish Lions, it was curious to see tour boss Andy Farrell in the main stand at Sandy Park to watch, amongst others, Finn Russell.
It was only last year when the now-retired Sexton unloaded once more on his fury that he wasn’t picked to tour on the 2021 Lions trip to South Africa, Warren Gatland deciding to instead take Russell along with Dan Biggar and Owen Farrell.
Bath boss van Graan insisted the other day that Sexton’s comments about Russell wouldn’t negatively impact the tour. However, what became more of an interest as Saturday afternoon went on in Exeter was the visiting coach’s claim that Russell “never plays below an eight out of 10. Sometimes it’s a nine out of 10 and then some weekends it’s a 10 out of 10”.
That’s an assessment that needs a revision following an unconvincing Russell display against the Chiefs, where the shackles clamped on Bath in the second half won’t have gone unnoticed by Lions boss Farrell.
Russell admittedly started the match well, popping nice early passes to Max Ojomoh and then a couple more to the support-line running Tom de Glanville. There was also a sweet 15th-minute 50/22, but he blotted his report a minute later when he kicked a penalty for territory dead.
The Scotland international’s two slick passes in the construction of the 27th-minute Bayliss try were lovely in creating the walk-in, while he mended a missed 24th-minute conversion from wide on the left by adding the extras on two kicks from similar areas of the pitch.
That all sounded great, but Russell’s inability to guide Bath to a way more comfortable victory than a shaky two-point margin was concerning. For instance, he lost his bearings in the Exeter 22 just minutes into the second half, failing to find a way for his team to finish off a bout of sustained pressure.
That momentum-changing indecision ignited the Chiefs’ comeback rather than seeing a completed move that would have eased Bath further ahead and allowed them a no-stress victory.
As regards some other potential Lions picks, Exeter skipper Dafydd Jenkins can’t be happy with his 11th-minute sin-binning and penalty try concession, but he was excellent when winning a penalty turnover at 10-26 with his team under the pump before the interval.
Bath scrum-half Ben Spencer began brightly – his snipe for the line forced Jenkins into his penalised foul play while his assist in the Muir bonus-securing try was easy on the eye. However, his influence, similar to Russell’s fade, waned in the second period.
Finally, a mention for Exeter midfielder Henry Slade. His slickest moment came when tracking back to deny Bath a 23rd-minute try.
Pin gets stuck on Bath’s bomb squad grenade
Given how Exeter were still in with a chance of winning this round 14 Premiership match until the final whistle, it has to be said that the Bath bomb squad tactic didn’t work out as van Graan would have hoped. Starting forwards such as Thomas du Toit and Charlie Ewels had caught the eye with a couple of their interventions.
The South African prop expertly halted an Exeter maul near the try line and won a turnover just before the interval. Meanwhile, the England lock was brilliant with his ball-dislodging tackle when Greg Fisilau tapped a penalty six metres from the line early in the second half.
It was in the 54th minute when van Graan decided to send on six pack replacements, calling ashore the likes of the impactful du Toit and Ewels, but these changes, with the score at 26-17 didn’t get Bath motoring.
Sub No8 Alfie Barbeary can be delighted with his 64th-minute turnover win just metres from his line as can sub tighthead Will Stuart, who won a scrum penalty on an Exeter put-in 11 minutes later with the home side looking to strike from five metres out. However, the alterations didn’t collectively glue. For example, there were frustrations with their possession-losing lineout when in a couple of promising attacking positions.
The six-two tactic was also compounded by midfielder Ojomoh hobbling off on 60 minutes, and the only remaining sub was scrum-half Louis Schreuder, who had to positionally improvise in the back line with Spencer continuing at nine. It all added up to a messy finish, but Bath somehow still survived.
Rookie Green a dynamic chip off an old England block
Barbeary grabbed last Sunday’s headlines when Bath blasted past Gloucester in the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-finals, but there was another impressive No8 on show on this occasion with 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship winner Arthur Green revelling in getting his first Premiership run.
The rookie has good genes. Dad Will, the long-serving Wasps prop, was capped at Test level in the Clive Woodward era in charge of England. However, while Will wouldn’t have been renowned for his athleticism as an old-school front-rower, Arthur’s dynamism was lapped up by the watching Bath fans.
An England try-scorer in the age-grade final win over France last July in Cape Town, Green began this season earning his stripes in the Championship at Doncaster, but he kept his hand in at Bath by featuring in the club’s run to Prem Cup glory.
He played 40 minutes of that Sandy Park final at blindside before being replaced and he was excellent at No8 five weeks later back at Exeter in what was his top-flight debut. The 21-year-old began with a gutsy carry off a scrum on his five-metre line and a dominant hit followed on Jack Yeandle.
There was also an intelligent pick and go from a ruck that ignited the move, which resulted in a penalty for offside that Bath opted by scrum down near the posts. Yeandle did get one back on Green, blasting past him to score on 19 minutes after Greg Fisilau’s quick tap.
That was an isolated setback, though, as he was soon seen offloading brilliantly out of the tackle that came within a whisker of a 23rd-minute Bath try, and he further showcased his athleticism eight minutes later with a superb chase to catch a Spencer kick ahead, which he combined with another excellent offload.
His second half then began with him inches short of the try line under the posts, but his fumble of a hospital pass from Ojomoh was his last act before his 54th-minute exit. It wasn’t a great team performance, but Bath can delight with how Green introduced himself at this level.
No thorn in this Rose
David Rose was back on TMO duties at Sandy Park three weeks after he was told to retire by the since-banned Steve Diamond. The Newcastle boss was fuming that his team was beaten on March 29 by a 79th-minute try.
Despite his resulting disciplinary hearing, he made a call on live TV on Friday night for recently retired players to become TMOs and put an end to the practice of using referees in the role.
It remains to be seen if Diamond’s demand generates any traction in the long-term but in the meantime, Rose was on hand to assist referee Anthony Woodthorpe from the Sandy Park review booth. How did he go? His first half was relatively straightforward, beginning on 11 minutes with footage of the incident that saw Bath No9 Spencer held up over the line.
Rose was precise in his review, identifying that Exeter skipper Jenkins was offside when initially jumping on Spencer and a penalty try/yellow card was the verdict. The TMO was also sharp when informing the referee of about a Harvey Skinner knock-on that had been missed, another example of the seemingly good rapport he enjoys with Woodthorpe which was later witnessed again at 75 minutes.
A foul play check was cleared on the Russell collision with Josh Hodge after the home team’s full-back had kicked ahead, but Rose was eagle-eyed in spotting an ensuing knock-on by Ruaridh McConnochie in the Bath in-goal area. The decision was a five-metre scrum for Exeter.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/exeter-v-bath-five-takeaways-as-finn-russell-loses-his-bearings-with-lions-boss-andy-farrell-watching-on
