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London Irish strengthened their credentials for a top-four finish in the Gallagher Premiership with a comfortable 25-10 victory that ruined Bath’s homecoming to the Rec after a seven-week absence.
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Tries by Paddy Jackson, Ben White and Bernhard van Rensburg wrested control of the game as Bath had three players sin-binned, leaving them with 13-men at one stage in the second half. Jackson also contributed two conversions and two penalties.
Unusually, Bath were kept scoreless in the second half after a try by Josh Bayliss, converted by Ben Spencer, who also kicked a penalty.
The match began in furious fashion, with Joe Cokanasiga carrying hard and Bayliss charging even further upfield, before the Exiles regrouped and responded with an inch-perfect penalty to the corner by Jackson.
The resulting line-out provided a solid platform for Augustin Creevy to launch himself at the try line, only for the Argentinian hooker to be hauled back by Sam Underhill before Bayliss won a priceless turnover at the following ruck.
With skipper Spencer increasingly influential, Bath were rewarded after 20 minutes when Bayliss squirmed over the line from close range. Exiles second row Rob Simmons trudged off to the sin bin for his team’s persistent infringements as Spencer added the conversion.
The response came immediately. Fly-half Jackson, who had looked threatening throughout, latched on to an offload by flanker Tom Pearson and exchanged passes with full-back James Stokes down the right touchline before grounding the ball in Bayliss’s tackle.
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Jackson added the conversion to level the scores but Spencer restored Bath’s lead with a 26th-minute penalty.
Spencer had had much the better of his duel with Joe Powell, who gave way on the half hour to Ben White.
Not only did White inject much-needed tempo but he finished off a spell of intense pressure with a try to the right of the Bath posts. Ruaridh McConnochie was shown a yellow card and Jackson’s conversion attempt struck the post, leaving London Irish 12-10 up at the break.
Piers Francis missed an easy chance to put Bath back in front in the second half and Jackson kicked a penalty awarded against Spencer for a cynical offside, which earned him a spell in the sin-bin too.
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Bath found themselves down to 13 when replacement lock Fergus Lee-Warner saw yellow for a late tackle and were further punished when Van Rensburg took a short pass to run unopposed under the posts, just short of the hour mark.
Jackson’s conversion made it 22-10 and Bath’s persistent indiscipline allowed him to kick another penalty after 69 minutes which left the home side with a three-score margin to overcome.
