Patched Up Bath Win At Colomiers

By Glen Leat
January 11 2004

In form Bath winger, Andrew Higgins, scored two tries as part of a Bath revival as the visitors overcame a 18-12 losing half-time score to beat Colomiers 32-25 in the first leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup second round match at Le Stade Selery.

Stand in Bath full back Simon Danielli gave Bath the perfect start to the game by scoring the game's opening try after just five minutes, however Colomiers came back strongly with a try from centre Jean Phillipe Viard in the thirteenth minute to tie the scores. Another try from winger Aires gave the home side a seven point lead before Dubois added a penalty in the 24th minute to stretch the score to 15-5. The Bath handling was causing the visitors some problems, though this was not surprising given the pitch had soaked up three days of heavy rain to help make the ball as slippery as the salmon given away as a weekly prize by Bath FC some 10 years ago (who remembers that?).

Coach John Connolly will be pleased with the attitude of his charges as they kept on hammering at the Colomiers defence, and scrum half Martyn Wood scored Bath's second try in the 30th minute. Olly Barkley scored the touchline conversion despite the poor kicking conditions.

A revitalised Bath changed the game in the second half by putting right their errors and generally coping better with the heavy conditions. Olly Barkley converted an early penalty before Andrew Higgins scored the first of his two tries, which Barkley converted before adding another penalty. Higgins crossed for his second try in the 77th minute but Colomiers narrowed the difference with a very late converted try.

Given the make-shift nature of the Bath back line this is an excellent victory and one of which all those involved can be very proud. Andrew Higgins has made himself a vital cog in the Bath (backline) wheel with his regular scoring and he will take some shifting from the starting line-up when the World Cup stars are fit to return to the team.

All to play for next week!

Bath Team

15 Simon Danielli, 14 Andrew Higgins, 13 Kevin Maggs, 12 Alex Crockett, 11 Ross Blake, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Martyn Wood, 1 David Flatman, 2 Jonathan Humphreys, 3 Matt Stevens, 4 Steve Borthwick, 5 Danny Grewcock , 6 Andy Beattie, 7 Michael Lipman, 8 Zak Feaunati.

16 Hentie Martens, 17 Lee Mears, 18 David Barnes, 19 Chris Goodman, 20 Scott Gray, 21 James Scaysbrook, 22 Rob Fidler.

With grateful thanks to Stuart Anderton for texting the scores on a very regular basis.

Other Results

Saracens 37 - 6 Glasgow
London Irish 20 - 13 Narbonne
Newcastle 10 - 3 Montferrand
Grenoble 15 - 19 Beziers