It was more bash than clash as Leicester, picking up the scent of the play-offs as they tend to do at this time of the year, powered their way to a bonus-point victory to move into the top four and leave Bath, who have lost seven of their last 10 Premiership matches, facing the European Challenge Cup next season.
Bath had the opportunity to record a hat-trick of Premiership victories over Leicester for the first time, but even though the lead changed hands five times before the Tigers pulled away in the final eight minutes, it was a largely one-sided contest in which the scrum for once held a decisive sway.
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A crowd of more than 60,000, slightly down on last season, was hushed for long periods as a match that revealed why the English clubs have struggled in Europe this season – largely one-paced and scarred with penalties as both sides infringed wilfully – swivelled on a series of scrums near the Bath line that took up eight minutes of the first half.
Leicester’s England loose-head prop Ellis Genge was making his first Premiership start since the beginning of December and set out to pack four months into an hour. He was up against Shaun Knight in the scrum, Bath’s fifth-choice tight-head and a prop known more for his size and shape than technique.
Bath were leading by two Rhys Priestland penalties to one from George Ford, captaining Leicester against the club he left last summer without waving a fond farewell, when the sequence of scrums started. Jonathan Joseph’s tackle had foiled Jonny May and Beno Obano had driven back Graham Kitchener, but when Kahn Fotuali’i was sent to the sin-bin for handling in a ruck, Leicester turned the penalty into a scrum.
Knight buckled under pressure from Genge three times before being sent to the sin-bin. Bath had to sacrifice a second row for a replacement tight-head, Victor Delmas, but he was threatened with a yellow card by the referee, Wayne Barnes, after another scrum ended on the floor. And so it went on until Leicester produced the element of surprise by moving the ball against a side that was two players short and Adam Thompstone crossed unopposed in the corner.
Knight was still in the sin-bin when Bath regained the lead, ironically from a scrum free-kick taken quickly by Taulupe Faletau and finished by Tom Dunn. The hosts were a few centimetres from a second try with the last play of the first half but Matt Banahan’s dexterity at scooping up Joseph’s chip and remaining in play was not complemented by his grounding, losing control of the ball as he went to press it down.
It was as good as it would get from Bath. Priestland’s boot rewarded stray attacks in the second half with two penalties, but their strength was sapped by having to defend for prolonged periods. They did so resolutely but buckled when Sione Kalamafoni first scented space in the middle of a ruck near the line for a try and quickly followed up by stepping away from his opposite number, Faletau.
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Bath could not get a regular supply of ball, securing only 30% of possession. After one move that lasted 23 phases ended, Leicester started another that went through 19 before the flanker Luke Hamilton forced his way over from close range to secure the bonus point. The Tigers were by then down to 14 men, Thompstone having seen yellow for not taking due care of the airborne Bath full-back James Wilson, and they made the scoreline more reflective of the game when Telusa Veainu scored their fifth try three minutes from time.
It was the second time Bath had taken the fixture against Leicester here. They came from behind to win last season having recorded six consecutive Premiership victories over the Tigers at the Recreation Ground and the sacrifice of home advantage made little difference. They were overpowered up front with Genge, who cost his side three points in the first half when a kickable penalty was reversed following his attempt to escalate a dispute with Dunn.
“I think he is more bark than bite,” said the Leicester director of rugby, Matt O’Connor, who rated his side’s second-half display as their best of the season. It probably was, but it was one fit for the Premiership in its splendid isolation rather than a wider constituency, highlighting again where its game is breaking down.