Bath’s clash with London Wasps, played out in the bright spring sunshine, was important in terms of where exactly Bath are at the moment, in the same manner that the away leg in High Wycombe was. (but perhaps the less said about that the better). There, a weakened Bath team faltered, but it was hoped by Bath supporters that with our internationals available for selection, this game against the European Champions who seem to be in the midst of a rather shaky season, was there for the taking.

England Captain last weekend, Steve Borthwick was not selected for this game due to a knock he picked up in Italy. For the moment however, we are covered in the second row and a formidable second row of Peter Short and Danny Grewcock faced Wasps, and they and their team mates were lead out onto the pitch by David Barnes, the prop who today made his 200^th appearance for Bath Rugby. Bath started brightly, and won a penalty as Phil Vickery slipped in the scrum. It was kicked by Olly Barkley and Bath lead by 3. Wasps showed their attacking potential from the off but a mistake meant that Bath had a scrum, and Andy Higgins cut through the visitors to start a beautiful arching run up half of the pitch. He attempted a neat offload to Lipman but lost the ball, but luck was with him as he managed to re-gather the ball and glide over the tryline. Barkley’s conversion meant Bath lead 10-0. In a subsequent Bath scrum, Matt Stevens was penalised (as he was a few times today) against Payne. Cipriani kicked between the posts to gain 3 points

A nice line out from Bath, won by Andy Beattie, resulted in a lovely break from Lee Mears who then linked up with Barkley. A big bruising tackle- just one of many today- stopped Barkley’s break. After a Wasps lineout we saw the battle between Michael Lipman and Joe Worsley when Lipman showed his power by bringing down his fellow international when attempting to run. An offside offence by Bath meant Cipriani had a chance for a further 3 points but the kick was short. The Wasps fly half showed his class (conspicuous by its absence last week in Rome!) when he chipped the ball above the Bath players head, gathered the ball, and dashed over for a try, and kicked a conversion, to level the scores. Having shown his attacking skills, Higgins reminded us of his powerful defence when putting in a great tackle when chasing the kick off. A Wasps knock on lead to a Bath scrum and a great run from Alex Crockett, but medical staff attending a Wasps player were in the way so play was stopped, and restarted with an attacking scrum for Bath. A slightly mad pass from Barkley when clearing the ruck took the gloss off an otherwise cracking game for the centre. He went on to miss a kick at goal after Wasps were offside.

Some powerful bullocking runs from Danny Grewcock and Zak Feau'nati were refreshing and when offloaded to Shaun Berne, almost set up a try when the Australian went over the tryline. The TMO judged a knock on, so the score was denied. Barkley kicked at goal after Haskell was penalised, but the score was soon wiped out after Bath were told that they were infringing in the linout. The scores once again were level, at 13 all. At this point in the game I noticed a lot of chat from Wasps towards the Ref- Haskell in particular was clearly making up for the absence of Lawrence Dallaglio! Bath ended the half on a high as Crockett ran very well between the defenders and set up Nick Abendanon to leap over the line. The TMO confirmed it was a try and once Barkley had kicked the extras, the halftime whistle blew.

We were treated to some half time entertainment by the brass band on the pitch (it was almost as if we were in France) and Bath fans could understandably hope for more of the same in the second half. Alas, Bath clearly had their minds back in the warmth of the changing rooms, rather than the cold of the pitch, and out of almost nowhere Haskell broke through the non existent defence to score a try. My notes simply say “Bad from Bath. Too easy”, and I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. After a scrum the ball fell to Abendanon, who apart from the try seemed indecisive and not quite up to scratch. A break from Haskell after Wasps had won the ball went to Lewsey who ran away from the defence and scored a try. This opening few minutes were far, far too easy for Wasps and at this stage it was entirely Bath’s fault. The conversion was missed but Stevens gave away another penalty and the score was 20-28. 

Bath seemed to lose the ability to tackle at this point. After a Bath scrum Berne’s kick was charged down but he redeemed himself when he amazingly managed to sprint to it and re-gather it. The performance from Bath in this part of the match seemed extremely shaky and Lewsey managed to go over for another try. Bath were giving away points far too cheaply and Wasps had 35 points to Bath’s 20. Bath did manage to wake up a little after Lewsey’s second score and we saw some nice offloading through the backs hands and a Bath penalty lead to a lineout in the corner that set up a maul that was inches from going over. Bath went backwards and were pinged for a forward pass which gave Wasps a scrum. A simply fantastic break from Jonny Fantastic was followed by an offload to Lipman and then to Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, who gave Bath some hope when 7 points were added through a try and conversion. This hope was snuffed out pretty quickly when Dan Leo scored Wasps’ fifth try of the afternoon. Some nice running from Banahan was linked up with Faamatuainu and Fuimaono-Sapolu who nearly reached the line. 

Daniel Browne did manage to create some sense of justice as he went over for Bath’s fourth try to secure the bonus point. As the strains of his try song “This is Why I’m Hot” (something that I definitely wasn’t today- I couldn’t feel my fingers by the end of the game) died away, Bath tried vainly to score another try to clinch a draw, but it was no good. As Wasps kicked the ball out of play, the game was over.

Given their time off in Tuscany recently, and the importance of this match for the rest of Bath’s season, we can rightly feel upset at today’s result. Bath performed extremely well but it was two lapses of concentration that allowed Haskell and Lewsey to sweep through the defence and over the line that really lost Bath the match, and that must be highlighted. In the first half Higgins showed us why Meehan has kept faith with him for so long, and the Samoan duo of Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu and Jonny Faamatuainu made great impact from the bench. An absolute corker of a game, and a bonus point was the least we deserved, but disappointment will be the overriding feeling for all Bath supporters this weekend.

Referee: Rob Debney

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