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Bath’s Matt Banahan scores hat-trick as Leicester are crushed Bath’s Matt Banahan scores hat-trick as Leicester are crushed
(about 2 hours later)
The World Cup squad suggested that Bath are the darlings of the English game at the moment, and here was the confirmation. They cruise into the Premiership final – for the second time – and every one of those squad members played a blinder. Defensively, it was a relentless performance of graft, but – and here’s the rub – it was their deadly finishing that marked them out as a team at the top of their game. They visited the Leicester 22 eight times and came away with seven tries. Their only unproductive raid was with a couple of minutes left, between tries six and seven – which is to say, it did not matter. The new England squad suggests Bath are the darlings of the English game and here was the confirmation. They cruised into the Premiership final – for only the second time – and every one of those England squad members played a blinder. Defensively, it was a relentless performance of graft but it was their deadly finishing that marked them out as a team at the top of their game. They visited the Leicester 22 eight times and came away with seven tries. And their only unproductive raid was with a couple of minutes left, between the sixth and seventh tries – which is to say, it did not matter a jot by then.
Matt Banahan scored a hat-trick, the first in a Premiership semi-final, George Ford kicked six out of seven, and Jonathan Joseph reassured us that in this form Manu Tuilagi’s off-field indiscretions should be of no consequence come the autumn. Leicester did not know where to turn by the end, having spent the majority of the game hammering away at the Bath defence – twice as much as Bath did at theirs. And they came away having suffered a hiding. Matt Banahan scored a hat-trick, the first in a Premiership semi-final, George Ford kicked six out of seven and Jonathan Joseph gave reassurance that in this form Manu Tuilagi’s off-field indiscretions should be of no consequence come the autumn. “I think that was the best team performance I’ve presided over,” said Mike Ford, “considering the occasion, against a team who’ve been there and done it. We were so clinical that first half. And the defence when Leicester had all the ball was outstanding, even down to 13 men. The scoreboard was a bit skewed. Leicester played better than that.”
The obvious analysis before the game was to see this as a battle between Bath’s all-court, free-flowing game and Leicester’s edgier, forward-dominated approach. In other words, a side who have looked a million dollars this season against one who have not, despite a run of seven wins out of eight that got them into this semi-final. That is small consolation for the Tigers. They did not know where to turn by the end, having spent the majority of the game hammering away at the Bath defence – twice as much, in fact, as Bath did at theirs. And they came away with a hiding like this.
The weather suggested a day to favour the former, and, sure enough, it was Bath who made the first move with a try that serves as a sweet distillation of their season so far. Off clean lineout ball, Kyle Eastmond punched it up in midfield, then when it came back the other way, first Ford, then Joseph pulled the remnants of the defence out of shape with dazzling footwork, before the latter sent Banahan over for his first in the second minute. Bath’s 10, 11, 12 and 13 in perfect consort, as they have been all season. That kind of dominance tends to bring a surfeit of penalties. Leicester’s advantage in that department was 10-1 in the first half but Freddie Burns, one of those who has fallen out of the England reckoning, missed three out of four of his penalty shots at goal. Leicester missed four in total in the first 50 minutes, while their grip on the game was vice-like. But they are a team who have struggled for form all season, even if a run of seven wins from eight saw them into this semi-final.
Then, just as sure, Leicester cranked up the pressure in the tight, their game not quite as dazzling but no less hard to stop. Freddie Burns missed two penalties in the first quarter before landing a third effort at the start of the second. “There are no complaints at the result,” said Richard Cockerill, Leicester’s head coach. “We came here to win and controlled the game for large parts. We just didn’t have enough firepower. Once it got away from us it got away and we had no way of clawing it back. It’s very difficult when you have so much disruption through injury. That’s not an excuse. We need to improve and evolve but we’re doing that from third in the table, not seventh or eighth or ninth, and with a lot of quality to come back in.”
All it did was to coax Bath into action. They duly broke the game open with two tries in five minutes. Banahan was the scorer again, Ford and Joseph the suppliers after Sam Burgess had hit it up in midfield. If Eastmond was miffed at being bypassed for that one he scored the next. Semesa Rokoduguni set it up, having had to turn to catch a ball behind him from Ford. Nevertheless, he stood up Niki Goneva, whose deteriorated form is as neat a distillation of Leicester’s this season, and chipped ahead for Eastmond to gather and touch down. Suddenly, with 10 minutes to go before the break, the home side had an 18-point lead. The weather suggested a day to favour Bath and, sure enough, it was they who made the first move with a try that might serve as a sweet distillation of their season. Off clean lineout ball Kyle Eastmond punched it up in midfield, then when it came back the other way, first Ford, then Joseph pulled the remnants of Leicester’s defence out of shape with dazzling footwork before the latter sent Banahan over for his first try in the second minute – Bath’s 10, 11, 12 and 13 in perfect consort as they have been all season.
Leicester came again with renewed vigour. So much so, that they forced Bath into two yellow-card offences in tow minutes, Anthony Watson collecting the first, Leroy Houston the second, as Leicester pounded away at the right-hand corner. Bath seemed to have weathered the initial storm, but after Niall Morris was denied in the left corner, Tom Youngs was finally worked over on the right, Burns converting to pull the Tigers back to 11. Then, just as sure, Leicester cranked up the pressure in the tight. Burns missed two of his penalties in the first quarter before landing a third effort at the start of the second. All that did, though, was to coax Bath into action again, breaking the game open with two tries in five minutes. Banahan took his second, not unlike his first, before Eastmond took the third after Semesa Rokoduguni’s chip ahead. Suddenly, 10 minutes before the break, the home side had an 18-point lead.
The pattern of the first half continued into the second, insofar as Leicester had all the ball and the kickers missed the resultant kicks. Two shots were offered up by Leicester’s dominant scrum, both from around 40 metres in front, both missed, the second by Tommy Bell who had stepped up for Burns. Not just the kicks were missed — Leicester’s handling let them down time and again, Goneva’s in particular. Leicester came again, of course, with renewed vigour, so much so that they forced Bath into two yellow-card offences in two minutes, Anthony Watson collecting the first, then Leroy Houston. Tom Youngs was finally worked over on the right but it was hard work against a side with two players fewer.
Carl Fearns was brought on for Burgess for the final quarter, and he made his presence felt. His turnover lifted the siege on Bath’s line, then his half-break paved the way for Francois Louw to send Peter Stringer in for the try that finished the game off. Four visits to the Leicester 22: four tries. The pattern of the first half continued into the second, insofar as Leicester had all the ball and the kickers missed the resultant kicks. Two shots were offered up by Leicester’s dominant scrum, both missed, the second by Tommy Bell who had stepped up for Burns. And not only were the kicks missed. Leicester’s handling let them down time and again.
Try number five followed from visit number five, Ford and Rokoduguni combining down the right for the former to run it in. Then Banahan claimed his hat-trick after genius trickery by Joseph and Watson, who rounded it all off with try number seven at the death. Carl Fearns was brought on for the final quarter and he made his presence felt. His turnover lifted the siege on Bath’s line, then his half-break paved the way for Francois Louw to send Peter Stringer in for the try that finished the game off with 15 minutes left. Four visits to the Leicester 22 had yielded four tries. Two more followed from their next two visits. Ford and Rokoduguni combined down the right for Ford to run it in. Then Banahan claimed his hat-trick after trickery by Joseph and Watson, the latter rounding things off with try number seven at the end. It was a masterclass in execution, the mark of a side in the form of their lives. Next comes the final test of nerve.
It was a masterclass in execution, the mark of a side in the form of their lives. Next comes the final test of nerve.