After a week of swirling mists and ice cold mornings, the Bath team managed to raise the temperature by, at times, playing some scintillating rugby to warm up the Bath fans who converged on The Rec in hope that their heroes could deliver the perfect Christmas present by matching the 9- try drubbing of Albi the previous week. 

The feelings in the lead up to the match could fall firmly into two camps- one thrilled that Rec favourite Danny Grewcock was making his first appearance this season in partnership with fellow England lock Steve Borthwick, (and his first since tearing his bicep against Newcastle in October,) and the other camp rather lacking in festive cheer after hearing the news this week that Olly Barkley is to be charged with assault after an alleged incident earlier this year. 

Perhaps Barkley’s mind was on other matters, or perhaps he was thinking about when he would get a chance to do his Christmas shopping, for until the last 10 minutes, when the game was won, his performance fell short of the display of the match previously when he came on as an impact sub. 

Bath flew out of the traps against Leeds Carnegie with a try from Banahan, after impressive assists from Daniel Browne and David Barnes. It seemed to me that it was Barkley’s kicking that kept him on the pitch for so long, and he duly converted the try. Although not as quick as the 16 second try from last week, this score was within the first minute, and warned Leeds of the performance that Bath were capable. 

A penalty given against Leeds for going over the top of a ruck resulted in a penalty and three more points for Bath, and the deficit for the visitors was 10 points. Despite this flying start Bath struggled to convert pressure to points for the rest of the half. Danny Grewcock seemed to lack his usual commanding presence today, but his slight rustiness can be forgiven when one considers that it was his first start for many weeks. 

The rest of the forwards produced a powerful performance, in every sense, and Bath clearly had the most skilful and strong scrum for the entirety of the match. They were able to create space and time for the backs, and there was some extremely encouraging moves, with special mention to Butch James, who manages to anticipate with ease where the player behind him is, and passes in a way to totally fox the opposition. 

When entering the 20th minute, Bath were camped on the Leeds five metre line, but managed to knock on, and the pressure came to nothing. We then were treated to the start of the referee’s slightly odd performance, namely seemingly not understanding the phenomena of crossing. Bath looked to be slightly in danger when, after a penalty gave Bath three points, Grewcock fumbled the catch at the restart, and it was Leeds’ ball. Leeds were given a penalty after Borthwick was judged to have played the ball on the ground, and Leeds finally had points on the board. 

A lovely up and under from Joe Maddock lead to quick hands from the forwards, and we then got the same from the backs. At the end of the first half, Leeds mounted an attack, but it amounted to nothing when they knocked on. 

After half time, Matt Stevens, after a powerful run through Leeds defenders, set up a ruck from which the ball was moved to the wing, and some great running from Banahan and Abendanon lead to Banahan’s second try, which was converted by Barkley. Banahan celebrated exuberantly with his team mates; it’s great to see such energy and enthusiasm from our young stars. 

Some good cross field passing from Bath was ended when Crockett was dealt a difficult pass, and knocked on at speed. There was great excitement when a kick from Leeds was charged down by Butch James, but the bath fly-half was unable to get the ball down when he went over the line. The twenty-two drop out led to Bath possession but the home team were pinged for holding on. 

The penalty was missed by Leeds, and Bath, showing extremely encouraging invention, ran from under their posts. I lost count of how many phases there were, but I am convinced every Bath player had a touch in the run up to the next score; which was from Claassens, who burst through the defence from the five metre line. The conversion was again kicked by Barkley. 

A quick penalty then lead to some beautiful running to the touchline from Banahan, who went over for his third try. Bonus point secured! Mass substitutions brought Johnny Faamatuainu (or Johnny Fabulous, as my section of the ground has started calling him) to the fore, and there was some bullocking and exploding runs from the man from Samoa. Let’s all consider it an early Christmas present that he has signed on for a further three years. 

The referee seemed unable to let Bath’s ascendancy at the scrum advantage them, and stopped two scrums, citing binding problems. A try from Leeds, by Tom Biggs, swiftly followed; with a mistake by Joe Maddock meaning Nick Abendanon had little chance to make the tackle to stop the try. Di Bernardo converted. 

The game lost, Leeds began to try and play a bit of rugby and ran from their own line. The match was rounded off by a sweet little chip from Barkley from just past the twenty-two, through the legs of Leeds defenders to the far corner, and Abendanon managed to land on the ball. As soon as Barkley had popped the ball over to clinch the conversion, the referee blew the whistle, and the win was secured. 

Even if the lofty heights of the top of the Premiership does prove only temporary, Bath can be extremely proud of their performance today, and for the way they have played for most of the season. Butch James has been a breath of fresh air, and both he and Olly Barkley kicked superbly. 

Other standout players today were, for me, Michael Lipman and Andy Beattie (who both seem to have been inspired by Peter Short this season) but my star man has to be Matt Banahan. His power and aggression, the way he runs through the opposition in offence and his stature in defence, means that he deserves all the pre- Christmas celebratory pints that Bath fans can buy him.

More photos of the game here

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