On a beautifully crisp day Bath Rugby remembered the fallen in respectful silence prior to kick-off, reminding one that however important rugby may seem at times it is after all "only a game"!

As I left the ground I saw several friends who were angry at Bath's capitulation, snatching defeat from a set of almost closed victory jaws. What worries me is that I didn't share that anger, my emotion has become one of resigned acceptance and in all my years of writing for ERE I can't remember a similar feeling. I said to Mrs The Ed half way through the match, "Please, book me a basket weaving class for Saturday afternoons. I need to inject some excitement in to my life!"

Bath posted the first points with a Chris Malone penalty after three minutes and Barry Everitt had an opportunity to even things up a few minutes later but he fluffed his kick. Bath were clearly keen to rectify their errors of last week, with Chris Malone taking a few yards off his successful touchline kicks. However the lineout looked as rickety throughout the game with both Hawkins and Ward struggling to hit their targets.

The London Irish backs looked far more fluid and fluent with the ball in hand and it appeared they should score after 10 minutes when Sailosi Tagicakibau opted to cut inside the Bath defence when running a straight line should have seen him celebrating the first try of the match. Barry Everitt made something of the attack with a three pointer in front of the posts but this play should have posted a few warning signs to the Bath defence for the rest of the game.

Then the most controversial decision of the game was played out when referee, Roy Maybank, decided to sin bin rather than send off David Paice for a truly awful spear tackle on Zak Feau'nati at a line out after 17 minutes. The offence proved offensive to the Bath pack and a full forward punch-up ensued. Peter Short and Neal Hatley were the token binnings from this melee but one could easily argue that Maybank should have sent himself off for not being firmer over this infringement; forget that Feau'nati could have missed the rest of the game, this was a tackle that could have been career ending! In my opinion Maybank bottled this decision -  it should have been red and didn't the crowd let him know it for the rest of the game!

It was somewhat ironic that Zak Feau'nati should score the Bath try towards the end of the first half given how close he was to serious injury. Nick Walshe sniped around the back of a ruck and off-loaded to Feau'nati who ran 30 yards to score. What pace from a big man - incredible!

Half way through the first half Fred Karno popped his head around the corner of the clubhouse for a few minutes to spot Michael Stephenson embarrass himself by dropping the ball when running out of defence. When things are not running for you.....

14-6 up at half time, the game should have been put to bed early in the second half when Bath appeared to "up" their game, with a slightly more expansive approach. Poor Shaun Berne ran his legs off as he tried to drag his comrades through the Irish defence. Berne's tackling was immense and I was very impressed as he put in three tackles in the space of as many seconds - that's the commitment we need throughout the team! 

I was (somewhat) shocked towards the end of the match when Bob Casey directed his anger and abuse at the touch judge who spotted his stamping activities and consequently reversed an Irish penalty well inside the Bath red zone. I'm sure Casey will come to regret his actions, both stamping and abuse, and hopefully will offer the official an apology.

As experienced last week, Bath once again struggled in the scrum, conceding four indirect free kicks and two full blown penalties from either collapsing or standing up: this is becoming an embarrassment and I hate to think what JC2 and Foles would make of their well oiled scrummaging machine if they pop along to watch a match later this month.

If not cruising, Bath were at least staggering towards victory when, in the last 10 minutes, Robbie Russell gave Irish hope as he was driven over from a line-out for a try, which was converted by Barry Everitt. Almost on the whistle, Leguizamon scored a dramatic try to break Bath hearts and seal victory. Heads dropped all around the Rec. The Bath players attempted a late response but to no avail.

This was a better performance than last week but there are so many areas requiring fixing one wonders where the coaches will start. To start with they could teach the backs that possession is precious and kicking "up and unders" from their own twenty-two just gives the opposition position to re-group for their next sortie.

Referee: Roy Maybank

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