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Bath make Leicester pay heavy price for fielding one of their youngest ever XVs

By PA
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Bath kept themselves firmly in the Gallagher Premiership play-off picture by crushing an inexperienced Leicester side 38-16 at Welford Road. Leicester fielded one of their youngest starting line-ups in Premiership history, with head coach Steve Borthwick handing out three debuts, making 13 changes and resting all his England contingent apart from prop Dan Cole.

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And Bath showed no mercy, posting a record league win on Leicester soil at the start of a hectic period when all Premiership clubs will play three games in just over a week.

The visitors scored four first-half tries through front row forwards Will Stuart, Tom Dunn and Lewis Boyce, while wing Ruaridh McConnochie also touched down and fly-half Rhys Priestland kicked three conversions.

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The one-way traffic continued in the second period as prop Beno Obano and substitute back Tom de Glanville – son of former England captain Phil de Glanville – added further tries, with scrum-half Ben Spencer kicking one conversion.

All Leicester could manage were two early Johnny McPhillips penalties and consolation tries from replacement hooker Charlie Clare and flanker Luke Wallace as Bath displayed a huge gulf in ability and class.

The victory keeps Bath in fifth place, just one point behind Sale Sharks, but Tigers remain eleventh, having won only four league games all season. Leicester made a strong start and were 6-0 up in as many minutes following two McPhillips penalties after Bath’s transgressions gave him a couple of straightforward shots at goal.

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Bath looked lively with ball in hand, particularly debutant centre Cameron Redpath and McConnochie, yet they undid some solid work by continuing to concede penalties. But just as Leicester looked like ending the opening quarter in front, impressive approach work by the Bath forwards ended with Stuart crashing over from close range and Priestland converting for a one-point lead.

Stuart’s score sharpened Bath’s appetite for more of the same and Leicester had no answer when they drove a 25th-minute lineout and Dunn claimed a score that Priestland converted. They were strong warning signs for Tigers’ youthful team, and Bath looked unlikely to relent with their route-one approach, given its early effectiveness.

Try number three soon arrived, although this time it was all about smart handling by the backs and a blistering McConnochie finish that left Leicester defenders floundering. And there was more to come, with Bath securing a bonus point three minutes before the break as another confident attack ended in Boyce completing a trio of front-row touchdowns and Priestland converting for a 20-point advantage.

There was inevitably no reprieve for Leicester after the break as Bath continued to make hay. Obano continued the front row show by touching down in the 49th minute, then centre Josh Matavesi shredded Leicester’s defence with ridiculous ease before sending his fellow replacement de Glanville over.

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Bath had their Wales international No8 Taulupe Faletau sin-binned during the final 20 minutes, but his team were already home and dry.

Clare and Wallace rewarded a solid spell of Leicester pressure by crossing during the closing minutes, yet Bath were already dusting themselves down ahead of a key clash against play-off rivals Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens on Wednesday.

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AM 41 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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