by Bath 42 Sale 24
As the Rec was bathed in the spring sun Bath displayed a few qualities that left little doubt about their title credentials. Their attack looked so slick when he released but more importantly they now seem to have that vital ability to dig a little deeper, to find a way to get past opponents when the games as tight and cagey as this one.
Bath were not keen as tries from Tom Roebuck and Sam Dugdale kept Sale right in the contest during the second half. Instead, they rallied.
Bath’s attacking threat, adding five more tries here for their eighth bonus point try in 13 games, cannot be discussed without a focus on Finn Russell. No. could not. The Scotland 10 cut open Ireland but has always felt like a transformative signing since his move from Racing 92 was announced.
“He’s definitely a difference maker,” said Bath head coach Johann van Graan, emphasizing how much Russell has invested himself in the group since his arrival. “I can’t say enough how much he’s been a part of the squad.”
Russell’s performance was a bit of everything, arguably a highlight with a goal – the first in his career – for his wrong foot that squiggled his way over. His involvement in Bath’s first three tries was subtle and exceptional. Joe Cokanasiga, the named player of the match and often found here wandering off the wing in search of work, is clearly a clear beneficiary of Russell’s box of tricks.
A through ball from Russell to Cokanasiga Sale opened up Matt Gallagher’s opening try. That naturally alerted Sale to the same tactic, so Russell shaped to go back inside during another attack on Cokanasiga’s support run. Sale ran up hard and fell for Dummy Russell, with the ball going back outside to Tom Dunn before Cokanasiga headed over a couple of passes later.
Russell was their head. His flick-on pass to set up the break for Cokanasiga’s second was so subtle that if you blinked you probably missed it.
“I love the challenge, and we got to it a few times today. But it’s when you don’t,” explained Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby. “The moment you take the show-and-go, like we did, the deception and the unloading come in.
“When you feel like you’re in a really good position defensively and then it’s like, ‘where did that come from?’ He has that ability, that X-factor to make something magical out of nothing.”
All that being said, while Russell provides the stardust it cannot be overstated how complete Bath feel as a side now. There are now waves of powerful ball carriers in this squad – looking at you, Ted Hill – who are flourishing. The game is kicked by Ben Spencer’s shot.
And arguably the best pass of the day went to Will Muir, and Ollie Lawrence, now sporting a blonde hair after the Six Nations, had left behind to score Bath’s fifth and final try.
The Dunn try to maul to get a bonus point when Bath now feels different from the past seasons that would have crumbled. This time it was Bath who took the lead, Beno Obano winning a scrum penalty, forcing promising Sale youngster Asher Opoku-Fordjour, followed by a blunt penalty and then a corner try.
At that point the game was perfectly level at 30-24, with Bath having looked out of sorts when they were down to 14 after Lawrence’s yellow card for a high tackle on Rob du Preez. It felt like a statement of intent.
Sale put Bath under pressure, without question, and looked much better over the next few weeks than their previous bare-knuckle performance at Gloucester. Their attack on George Ford was much improved back at No. 10, unleashing flat passes like the assist that led to Manu Tuilagi’s superb finish.
Dugdale in particular was excellent, carrying hard and bursting defensively, earning his try after a brilliant tap-in earlier on Lawrence.
Sale are hurt that their defense and set piece, their two staples last season, let them down in the end.
But that was the difference. When the game was ready, Bath had the answers. And when you think about the lows they’ve been in recent years, that’s a huge step forward.
Data matching
Scoring sequence: 5-0 Gallagher try, 7-0 Russell con, 7-3 Ford pen, 7-8 Tuilagi try, 7-10 Ford try, 12-10 Cokanasiga try, 14-10 Russell con, 14-15 Roebuck try, 14- 17 Ford con, 17-17 Russell pen, 22-17 Cokanasiga try, 24-17 Russell con, 24-22 Dugdale try, 24-24 Ford con, 27-24 Russell pen, 30-24 Russell goalie, 35-24 Try, 37-24 Russell con, 42-24 Lawrence try.
Bath: M Gallagher (O Bailey 77); J Cokanasiga, O Lawrence, C Redpath, W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (c, L Schreuder 77); B Obano (J Schoeman 68), T Dunn (H Faiva 77), T du Toit, Q Roux (E Stooke 60), C Ewels, T Hill, S Underhill (M Reid 72), A Barbeary (J Coetzee 40). Not used: A Griffin. Yellow card: Lawrence 56.
Shark Sale: J Carpenter; T Roebuck, R du Preez (c), M Tuilagi (S James 77), A Reed (T O’Flaherty 58); G Ford, G Warr (R Quirke 50); B Rodd (S McIntyre 58), L Cowan-Dickie (T Taylor 54), J Harper (A Opoku-Fordjour 54), C Wiese (B Bamber 59), J Beaumont, E van Rhyn, S Dugdale, J du Preez. Not used: H Andrews.
Referee: Leal
Attendance: 14,509
