'Daylight robbery' - England centre miffed after third Bath loss on trot

Bath centre Jonathan Joseph has voiced his discontent following his side’s third Gallagher Premiership loss on the trot, which came despite the West Country side leading for much of the game against Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate.

The Bears ultimately won the game, their first of this Premiership campaign, 25 – 20.

A penalty try in the 56th minute for Bristol and two successive yellow cards – for Tom Ellis and Tom Dunn respectively – set the scene for a match-winning 5 pointer for former Leicester Tigers’ hooker Jake Kerr.

Joseph tweeted ‘Daylight robbery’ following the game, which has been taken by many as a not-so-subtle dig at the performance of referee Ian Tempest and TMO Karl Dickson.

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Daylight robbery ?

— Jonathan Joseph (@Jonathanjoseph0) October 1, 2021

Former England 10 Andy Goode was in agreement on Twitter, humourously suggesting Dickson had been on the ‘loo’ or eating biscuits during the match.

‘Karl Dickson is supposed to be the TMO for Bristol v Bath, he was either in the loo a lot in the first half or he’s got his eyes on the biscuit tin and not the screen! Bath been hard done by!’

Karl Dickson is supposed to be the TMO for Bristol v Bath, he was either in the loo a lot in the first half or he’s got his eyes on the biscuit tin and not the screen! Bath been hard done by!

— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) October 1, 2021

The penalty margin for the match wasn’t particularly lopsided in favour of the Bears, with the home side conceding nine penalties and Bath 12 – but the big calls ultimately went the way of Pat Lam’s men.

“As a Sarries fan, I watched the game and have to say Bath were on the wrong end of some poor decisions from the referee,” wrote a neatral. “Not sure what hell the TMO was doing if I am honest”.

https://twitter.com/fruitba66332432/status/1444210142946414593

While some had sympathy with Joseph, others weren’t so kind, pointing out that Bath’s discipline had let them down, not the ref.

As it stands on Saturday morning, Bath are in good company at the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership table. It’s very early days of course, but currently last season’s finalists Exeter Chiefs are propping up the ladder with zero wins from two and just one solitary losing bonus point.