Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

England prospects score hat-tricks as London Irish beat Bath

By PA
Ollie Hassell-Collins in action for London Irish in January (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Ollie Hassell-Collins and Ben Loader both scored hat-tricks as London Irish produced a breathtaking first-half performance which blew Bath away.

ADVERTISEMENT

Irish led 35-5 at the interval before the home side took their foot off the pedal to allow Bath to stage a spirited rally as the game ended 47-38.

Bath had no answers to the slick handling of the home backs in the opening period, with their cause not being helped by early injuries to forwards GJ van Velze and Josh McNally, and a yellow card for Josh Bayliss.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

It was Bath’s fourth consecutive league defeat, which has seen them ship a total of 154 points.

For Irish, Paddy Jackson also scored a try and converted six.

Niall Annett scored two tries for Bath, while Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Matt Gallagher, Joe Cokanasiga and Piers Francis were also on the try-scoring sheet, with Orlando Bailey adding four conversions.

Irish opened the scoring with their first attack. Will Joseph burst away before feeding Jackson who sent Hassell-Collins flying over.

Bath then suffered two further setbacks in quick succession. First flanker Van Velze was forced to leave the field with a wrist injury before Irish hit them with a superb second try.

ADVERTISEMENT

Benhard Janse van Rensburg drove hard to put the defence on the back foot and when the ball was recycled, slick handling gave Loader the chance to score with an athletic finish, squeezing in at the corner.

Bath looked in danger of being overrun but it was their turn to produce a flowing move which culminated in a try for Hamer-Webb, but it only took a minute for them to concede another try.

They bungled the restart and conceded a penalty to give Irish an attacking platform. With McNally lying injured on the floor, the home side took advantage with more quick passing creating a second for Loader.

McNally departed with a wrist injury before Bath’s woes continued with a yellow card for Bayliss for a deliberate off-side.

ADVERTISEMENT

This proved disastrous as they conceded two tries in the No 8’s absence. Hassell-Collins strolled over on both occasions to complete his hat-trick, with Jackson converting both for a 35-5 interval lead.

Bayliss returned from the restart in time to see his side pick up the first score of the second half with a try from Gallagher.

Bath continued to have the better of the third quarter and it came as no surprise when Cokanasiga forced his way over.

A comeback looked to be on the cards but Irish soon quelled this threat when Loader raced in under the sticks to complete his hat-trick.

A try from Annett from a driving line-out gave Bath a bonus point, with Irish lock Api Ratuniyarawa sin-binned for collapsing it before Annett scored a second to reward a much-improved second-half effort from the visitors.

However, Jackson weaved his way over to emphasise his side’s superiority before Francis took advantage of another Irish yellow card handed out to Will Goodrick-Clarke to leave Bath two points short of a second bonus point.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

R
RedWarrior 9 minutes ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

1 Go to comments
G
GS 1 hour ago
Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

The key is realising this AB side is not what they are now but what they will be in 2025/26.


You can already see a Power bench forming, and I would highlight that people watch the AB XV game vs Munster and watch Fabian Holland - he, in the next 24 months, will be WC and bring some huge physicality to the team.


Then, aligned with Peter Lakai, probably at 7, another WC talent, the AB pack by 2026 will probably both be starting and on the bench - be rated as No 1 or 2 packs in the world.


Then, there is the usual WC talent around the backline, and the missing link is Mo'unga. Unlike in last year's WC, the coming forward pack for the ABs, is similar to the Bok pack, It will be packed full of power, and the key to this is a realitively young pack.


So I think we will lose to Ireland and France in the coming weeks, but watch out as this pack builds into - I mean, look at the tight five and loose forwards that are coming for the ABs - De Groot, Lomax, Williams, Tosi, Taylor, Ofa T, Samson T, Aumua, Patrick T, Barrett, Vai, Fabian H, Setiti, Lakai, Savea, Frizzell (understand they are attempting to get him and Mo'unga back), Blackadder, Papalii and bar Barrett, Savea, Patrick T, Taylor - pretty young in international terms.


Huge front row starting and on bench, Power locks and usual class in loose forwards - only missing ingredient is a WC 10 and with Mo'unga back probably in 2026, these ABs are trending in a very healthy direction.

89 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline? Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?
Search