Heathcote shows Bath how to keep a cool head on a hot day
Birthday Boy
By Josh Hawken
October 2 2011
For those of us who also follow England, this morning's game gave us a hint of what to expect - a close fought game, with a team trailing throughout, with a late try and a last gasp win, followed by relief. I'd better not harp on about this one too much though as our editor will start getting the scissors out!
Another absolutely glorious day at the Rec, and one of my favourite games of the season.
Bath started brightly, earning a penalty from the first scrum, which Vesty unfortunately missed. However, good driving play up the middle brought a second opportunity which he converted for an early lead. The Bath set piece was very solid early on, winning penalties in the scrum and lineout, but the good work was undone by a mechanical outside pass from Vesty which was intercepted by Staunton to put the Tigers 7-3 up. The error clearly didn't help Vesty settle as he kicked the following restart straight out.
This is the first Bath game I've seen this season but having read the various match reports, it seems that an inability to convert pressure is hurting us. This was very evident in the first half, with fine play from Abendanon and Caldwell, who really impressed me, leading to disorganised running and turnovers in the Tigers 22. However, we eventually managed to earn another penalty which Vesty converted to bring us back to 6-7. We then committed the (in my view) unforgivable offence of giving a penalty away straight from the restart which wasted all the hard work.
Leicester were clearly stung by the spanking handed out by Saracens last week, and played with great commitment, rucking hard, running straight lines and tackling well when needed, and their pressure lead to points again. It was hard to watch Salvi playing so well at the Rec but in a Tigers shirt; I find it hard to believe that he was ignored by Australia this time around. Despite some firm probing and straight lines, Bath's defence was excellent. Penalties were conceded on the line when they probably had to be. The upshot of sustained Tigers pressure was a 16-6 lead. The determination and precision shown tackling in our own 22 was once again lacking in our attacking play, and several sloppy passages of play could have lead to another interception try from Tigers after Hipkiss made an error. Further good positions were squandered after getting isolated at the breakdown.
I have somehow got this far in the report without mentioning Tom Biggs, who stood out throughout. Committed in defence, an ever-present threat in attack and an example of clear thinking to his team-mates. He seemed to be at the heart of everything that was good about the Bath open play throughout. Eventually, after a large number of false starts and mistakes, Bath earned a penalty, which Vesty after a knock missed to the right. I was getting especially depressed when we lost a lineout 10 yards out, but a glorious run from Biggs set up a great position close to the line, and after a few false starts, Attwood scored between the posts to leave it 13-16 at Half Time.
Unfortunately, Vesty never made it back onto the field after half time, which gave Tom Heathcote a chance to show his talents at 10. A schoolboy mistake from the otherwise very fine Caldwell gave Leicester the first chance to get points on the board, leaving Bath trailing 19-13 early on. A bizarre Leicester box kick which bounced back 10 yards behind the kicker gave Bath a sniff, but Carraro ended up being bundled into touch 5 yards out. Another promising period of Bath pressure was released when Flatman was penalised at the scrum. Bath then managed to concede another penalty almost immediately which gave Leicester another cheap 3 points, and I thought at 22-13 we might be seriously behind the curve.
Bath found a way to prove me wrong almost immediately, and after a decent period of sustained pressure, another excellent burst from Biggs took Bath to 5 meters out, and Carraro produced a top class finish in the corner. After a few slices from hand, Heathcote produced a beauty of a touchline conversion to bring Bath within 2.
The final 20 minutes were nerve-shredding, with the lead changing hands 3 times. Claassens took responsibility for a lot of kicking, taking the weight of Heathcote's shoulders leaving him to play his passing game to increasing effect. Although the execution was not always there on either side, the commitment of the Bath pack at the breakdown started to overwhelm the Tigers. A good run from Abendanon led to another touchline kick for Heathcote, which sailed straight through the middle. However, once again Leicester were granted a penalty from the restart and Bath were once again behind. Thankfully, Leicester were feeling similarly generous, and a daft offside gave Heathcote a chance to give Bath the lead, but he almost knocked the post out of the ground in missing. Some fine driving play gave Heathcote an unmissable penalty right in front and I managed to breathe for the first time in about 10 minutes.
The respite was only brief - although a forward pass with a minute left seemed to have given us the chance to close the game out, but a penalty at the scrum followed by some backchat gave Leicester a kickable penalty with time dead. Thankfully lightning doesn't strike twice and Staunton missed his first kick of the afternoon.
Overall then - a win, but we should have won by at least a clear score. Leicester played with heart but little penetration, but Bath were blowing possession and chances left right and centre. Our penalty count was unacceptable and threw away both territory and points when it could hardly be afforded. 2 Tries to an intercept was defensively encouraging, Biggs was utterly superb, and Heathcote was cool when he was needed to be. The lineout was strong, but the scrum and the breakdown were frequent sources of easy penalties for Leicester. Justice was done overall, but much more work needed at Farleigh...
[Ed’s comment: fortunately for you she doesn’t edit – just puts it up warts and all (mostly)!]
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:10:07:13:22:04 by Susanne.
Good fair report. It is worring that we did just win against a very weak Tiggers team, i hope things improve otherwise my beloved Bath will have a very long season.
Quote:Jwscud
I apologise for the Bath-centric view.
Why??
Nothing can stop the Duke of Earl
I think he will win player of the season for Bath.
Does anyone know if Paul Roberts is injured or if Heathcote has pushed above him in pecking order?
Bath v Leicester Tigers pics