Bath 27-21 Leicester: Bath stage late winning charge


Anthony Watson scored two late tries as Bath defeated Leicester at Twickenham.

Match stats: Bath 27-21 Leicester


Bath tries: Joseph (21), Watson (68,71)
Conversions: Ford (21,68,71)
Penalties: Ford (28,50)

Leicester tries: O'Connor (5), Veainu (12)
Conversions: Burns (5)
Penalties: Burns (31,43,66)

Match report


 England star Anthony Watson scored two late tries as Bath came from behind to beat Aviva Premiership play-off rivals Leicester at Twickenham. 

Watson struck in the 68th and 71st minutes, with Bath overcoming an early 12-point deficit to triumph 27-21 and move level on points with fourth-placed Tigers.

Watson's England team-mate Jonathan Joseph also touched down, while Leicester-bound England number 10 George Ford added two penalties and three conversions.

Early tries by flanker Brendon O'Connor and full-back Telusa Veainu put Leicester in charge, but they lost their way during the final quarter.

Bath's decision to move a first Premiership home game in their history away from the Recreation Ground was further rewarded with a 61,800 crowd, and they ensured that they remained firmly in the play-off race with just three regular season games remaining.

Tigers fly-half Freddie Burns, who will move in the opposite direction from Ford to Bath next term, kicked three penalties and a conversion before limping off injured 15 minutes from time, yet Leicester were left to reflect on what might have been as Watson took centre-stage.

England head coach Eddie Jones looked on as Watson lit up the occasion, thwarting Leicester, who left Twickenham with just a losing bonus point for their efforts.

Ford, who was rested against European Challenge Cup quarter-final opponents Brive last weekend, returned as one of several changes from that Recreation Ground victory.

Elsewhere, Matt Banahan moved from centre to wing and there were call-ups for hooker Ross Batty, lock Elliott Stooke and Francois Louw. Leicester were unchanged following an impressive victory over Northampton last time out, which meant England scrum-half Ben Youngs made his 200th first team appearance.

And the Tigers made a flying start, prising open Bath's defence within five minutes following sustained approach work which ended with O'Connor finishing impressively wide out, before Burns' conversion opened up a 7-0 lead.

It went from bad to worse for Bath just seven minutes later when Joseph tried to run from inside his own half, but he was robbed of possession by O'Connor, who found Veainu in space.

He then easily outsprinted Bath's retreating cover defence and touched down in the corner for a try that owed everything to Tigers' sharpness and Bath's hesitancy, and although Burns saw his conversion attempt drift wide, Leicester led 12-0 in as many minutes.

Bath needed to respond after such a poor start, and they struck following impressive work by Ford, who was twice involved in build-up play before delivering a scoring pass to an unmarked Joseph.

Ford converted to further cut the deficit, before he and Burns exchanged penalties before the break and Tigers trooped off at half-time holding a 15-10 advantage. They lost skipper Tom Youngs, though, after he appeared to suffer a thigh injury, and he was replaced by George McGuigan.

Leicester were not noticeably knocked out of their stride, though, and Burns extended their advantage with a penalty from just one metre inside Bath's half.

Centre Mathew Tait took over from Tom Youngs as Leicester skipper, but then departed the action on 48 minutes after taking a head knock when he attempted to tackle Banahan, and Ben Youngs became Tigers' third different captain of the match.

A Ford penalty cut the gap to five points again, before Burns completed his penalty hat-trick in what proved to be a final scoring act before he was replaced by Owen Williams.

But Bath ensured a thrilling finish, highlighted by Watson's quickfire double - his second score came after Tigers wing JP Pietersen had been sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on - and they held on despite Bath substitute prop Beno Obano receiving a yellow card for a scrummaging infringement.

Match reaction


Bath coach Todd Blackadder: "We wanted to back up all the work off the field for this game with a really good performance, and we knew if we kept playing some really good rugby then we would give ourselves a good chance," Bath rugby director Blackadder said.

"I knew we would fire. Our preparation this week was one of the best we've had, and being on the back foot (in the first-half) we couldn't go into our shells, and there was real belief in the second-half.

"Everyone played their part.

"George Ford was outstanding and really controlled the game, and I am just so pleased that our players passed the character test in that we hadn't come back from behind before in similar situations.

"Anthony has got some gas, hasn't he? He has got some absolute feet on him. He was outstanding.

"And I think Toby (Faletau) is back to his best.

"You need big-game players to really step up, and not only did he execute his role really well, he made a vital break (to set up a try) when it really counted. That's what a real class player looks like.

"I thought he was back to his best by a mile.

"We just wanted to play our part in the day. Can we get 60,000 every week? It was a really special day for the club, and we have well and truly put things back on track for next week (against Worcester).

"To play here was too good an opportunity to turn down - it was a memory for all the staff, supporters and players."

Leicester assistant coach Geordan Murphy: "We are really disappointed. The first 25 minutes, we played the way we wanted to, then I think we just switched off a little bit.

"We are disappointed with our lack of execution. I think we were in Bath's 22 seven times, and we only executed twice (in terms of points) and that kills you.

"In the last 15 or 20 minutes, I thought we just forced things and made uncharacteristic mistakes. It is a lesson for us to learn.

"It is going to be a bit of a shoot-fight to see who can probably pick up bonus points and hopefully get three wins from their remaining games.

"If we can go out and get our wins, then hopefully we will nick a top-four spot. I don't ever remember it being this tight, but it is. We have still got control of the situation."

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