England's Mike Catt will be the most popular man in Leicester this weekend
after his injury-time try killed off Wasps' chances of depriving the Tigers of
the Zurich Premiership title.
The win for Bath also strengthened their hold on the runners-up spot although
Wasps have two games in hand and could yet overhaul them.
No matter what was going on at Leicester, these two teams were clearly playing
for keeps and the first half was a tense, error-ridden affair with the only
points coming from the boot of Wasps fly-half Alex King in the second minute.
A bitterly cold wind swept across the Recreation Ground making handling
difficult, but there were still too many unforced mistakes for a match at this
level.
Bath scrum-half Jon Preston, normally the most reliable of kickers as he
showed at London Irish midweek with nine kicks out of nine, missed four
penalties in a row in the first half.
Bath, missing Ian Balshaw and Australian centre Shaun Berne from their back
line, looked hesitant and one-dimensional in attack while Wasps controlled
affairs through their back row of Lawrence Dallaglio, Joe Worsley and Paul
Volley.
Preston finally found his kicking boots with two penalties early in the second
half to give Bath the lead but Wasps suddenly took control of the game with a
brace of tries in the 57th minute.
First King put left wing Laurence Scrase in at the corner with a well-timed
pass and that was quickly followed by a try from full-back Paul Sampson, taking
advantage of some lax defence by Bath.
Head coach Jon Callard brought on second row Mark Gabey to try and change his
side's fortunes and Preston's third penalty on 67 minutes brought them within
striking range.
Time appeared to be running out, however, as Bath ever more desperately threw
everything into attack.
Wasps centre Frazer Waters was shown the yellow card for killing a ruck under
his own post and Catt kicked for the line-out in the corner as the clock ticked
into injury time.
Mark Regan's throw found Dan Lyle out front and when the ball was fed out to
the backs, Catt showed the merest hint of a dummy and slipped a tackle to dive
over at the post. Preston converted and Bath held out for the victory.
Teams:
Bath: Perry, Thirlby, Maggs, Cox, Voyce,
Catt, Preston, Emms,Regan, Mallett, Haag, Borthwick, N. Thomas, Clarke, Lyle.
Replacements: Barnes for Emms (45), Gardiner for Clarke (58).
Not Used: Williams, Long, De Glanville, Adebayo, Gabey.
Tries: Catt.
Cons: Preston.
Pens: Preston 3.
Wasps: Sampson, Roiser, Waters, Denney, Scrase,
King, Wood,Molloy, Greening, Green, Birkett, Shaw, Worsley, Volley,Dallaglio.
Replacements: Leota for Greening (74), Reed for Birkett (41).
Not Used: Page, Bijon, Leek, Scrivener, Le Chevalier.Sin Bin: Waters (78).
Tries: Scrase, Sampson.
Pens: King.
Att: 8,200
Ref: Brian Campsell (RFU).
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