Ben Spencer shines on debut as Bath claim a bonus-point victory
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London Irish fell to a 34-17 loss at the hands of Bath on a soggy afternoon in the west-country.
A scrappy first five minutes passed before Ben Spencer ripped through the London Irish defence to score an 80-metre intercept try for the hosts as he picked off a loose offload from Curtis Rona to run from his own 22m, through open pasture, to slide over. Rhys Priestland’s conversion missed and Bath took an early 5-0 lead.
The early try gave Bath the edge and 11 minutes later, a powerful rolling maul rumbled over the Exiles line and Tom Dunn dotted down. This time Priestland added the extras and at the first drinks break, Bath held a 12-0 advantage over London Irish.
Soon after the break Bath continued their dominance up front as they produced a mirrored effort of their second try, with Tom Dunn going over for his second try of the match at the back of another rolling maul. The conversion missed and the host’s led 17-0.
The Exiles seemed to click somewhat as they continually pressured the Bath defence and it eventually told just three minutes before the break as Curtis Rona sliced through a stretched defensive line to go over for Irish’s first try. Paddy Jackson’s conversion sailed through the uprights and Bath’s lead was cut to 17-7 at half time.
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Soon after the break Paddy Jackson reduced the deficit to seven points, Bath leading 17-10.
However, Bath came back strongly and gave themselves an opportunity with a penalty of their own, restoring the 10 point advantage.
Bath continued with the momentum, Jonathan Joseph scoring with a clever finish in the corner. The conversion was successful, and Bath extended the advantage to 27-10.
Insane finish from @Jonathanjoseph0 🤯 pic.twitter.com/RvC96VXr3L
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) August 15, 2020
With 69 minutes on the clock, Bath grabbed their fifth of the afternoon, again from the driving maul with Jack Walker coming up with the ball the conversion was again successful, and Bath led 34-10.
Matt Cornish rumbled over on his debut for the club four minutes from then end to make the scoreboard look more respectable with Jackson adding the extras, leaving the score at 34-17 in Bath’s favour.
