Sale Run Bath Close At The Rec

By Glen Leat
April 3 2004

Bath beat Sale 16-12 at the Rec to ensure qualification for both Heineken Cup and Zurich Play-Offs, but didn't we make hard work of this win. Right up to the end Bath let Sale stay in touch when they should have put this game out of reach in the first half.

The return of Mike Catt was much awaited by the Bath faithful and for much of the game he added a much needed zip to the back line: his running was sparky and when he took the ball forward he was always looking to commit defenders and make ground. Mind you there are times when you wish Catty would catch the ball instead of letting it bounce all over the place, maybe he forgot he was playing as last line of defence in this game?

Unfortunately our other returning back-line internationals didn't make quite such an impact as Catty. Both Mike Tindall and Kevin Maggs did a good impersonation of last season's attacking options, making too little ground against the opposition and just crashing in to the tacklers. In particular Kevin Maggs looked well out of touch and it seemed a waste to have an effervescent Mike Catt languishing at the back instead of pepping up the middle of the line. If this game told us anything it is we cannot afford to play both Tindall and Maggs in the centre. 

Simon Danielli didn't make much impression or last too long in the game, after hurting his ankle following a powerful run up the touchline, he was replaced by Saints-bound Wylie Human.

 

Bath soon took the game by the scruff of the neck and were awarded a penalty well into Sale territory but stand-in skipper, Steve Borthwick, opted for a kick to touch instead of a kick at goal. However Sale were again penalised at the resulting line-out for pulling down the Bath jumper and perhaps someone whispered the words "Newcastle Falcons" in to the ear of Borthwick, because this time he asked Olly Barkley to kick at goal and grab an early 3-0 lead.

Sale relied greatly on the counter-attack through much of this game and so it was that after 11 minutes the visitors made a mad dash downfield, following an interception of a long Martyn Wood pass, having spent the previous 5 minutes camped on their line. Fortunately for the home side, Alex Crockett chased back and grabbed the Sale runner otherwise a score was imminent.

However fortune was not on Mike Catt's side after 15 minutes when his slow clearance kick in front of the Bath goal-line was charged down and then touched down by Sale fly-half, Charlie Hodgson, to take the score to 3-5. Fortunately Sale couldn't enjoy their lead for very long as Zac Fea'unati touched down for his 7th Bath try. The score came from an all too rare midfield break, with Mike Tindall running inside and then outside the defenders to set up Fea'unati. Unfortunately for the Samoan No 8, the shine of his excellent work with the score was slightly tarnished as he completed mucked up his catch from the restart and gave a line-out to Sale in an attacking position.

In the lead up to this try Bath appeared to have upped their pace on recent weeks and the touchdown looked as though it was the start of something big for the league leaders but, throughout the rest of the game,  just when they appeared to be dominating through another powerful performance from the pack a mistake would be made allowing Sale to counter. Very disappointing!

Bath started the second half in fine fettle and scored a try after just 4 minutes. Mike Catt set things up with a dash out of defence before offloading to Michael Lipman. The flanker got the ball to Wylie Human who ran down the line and passed to Maggs, who passed to Tindall who set up Lipman for his score. 

Olly Barkley took a heavy knock after about an hour and was led gingerly from the pitch, fortunately Bath had the reliable boot of Chris Malone as a replacement and he scored a late penalty to make the score 16-5.

Ashley Rowden took continuous stick from the crowd (as ever), though I thought he had a reasonable game, but his judgement that the game required some 8 minutes of injury time was  little over generous and it was during this extra time that Sale grabbed a late try to make the final result very close. Bath need scoring bonus points to keep Wasps at bay and they're not getting them, this weakness may haunt John Connolly at the end of the season.

Jason Robinson was slippery throughout the game, always beating the first tackle, usually the second and sometimes the third: our backs could learn some lessons on how to break the gain-line from this bloke.

The right result but a disappointing display by Bath, but with 17 wins out of 19 games you can't complain - or can you?

Let's have a look at the latest league table.

Scorers

Bath: Catt, Crockett, Maggs, Tindall, Danielli, Barkley, Wood, Flatman, Mears, Bell, Borthwick, Fidler, Beattie, Lipman, Feaunati.
Replacements: Martens, Hawkins, Stevens, Human, Malone, Scaysbrook, Gray.

Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Mayor, Baxendell, Hanley, Hodgson, Wigglesworth, Sheridan, Titterrell, Stewart, White, Fullarton, Anglesea, Perrett, Davies .
Replacements: Cairns or Rodham, Turner, Day, Schofield, Going, Hercus, Walshe

Referee: Ashley Rowden