What a great game of rugby to watch but also how frustrating was it that it took a late penalty to share the spoils when Bath were in a great position to win this game. So much possession and territorial advantage for the home side should have been converted in to more points on the board and this must be viewed as an opportunity lost to beat the Tigers. There were moments in the match when Bath were back to their best, running and offloading with poise, pace and power but rarely were these moments converted in to the points they so deserved. 

Despite having few opportunities to attack the Bath line in the first forty minutes it was somewhat surprising to see the visitors just one point adrift at half time. Leicester enjoyed much more possession in the second half, mainly because Bath opted to kick away almost all of their possession which placed the home side under tremendous pressure from wave after wave of counter attacks. I cannot accept this tactic as being the right way for Bath to play. Every time Bath played their fast running game they put Leicester on the back foot. Yes they made errors, dropping the ball too often and being held up in midfield when their planned moves didn't come off, but when the Bath players clicked they looked very dangerous and capable of winning this match. Also, whilst playing this way they denied Leicester access to the ball. 

At half time I was feeling confident about a Bath victory, despite the one point difference, but as soon as the hoofers took over in the second half Bath looked a far poorer team.

Bath took the lead after eight minutes when Leicester were penalised on the edge of their twenty-two and Nicky Little slotted home the first of his five penalties. Within two minutes Leicester were on level terms after Jeremy Staunton kicked a penalty from a very similar position. However within a six minutes Little had given Bath a 9-3 lead with two more penalties. Little has an uncomplicated place kicking style. No flapping of arms, bum jutting or clasped fists. He places the ball on the ground, walks back and immediately strikes at the ball - how refreshing and I hope our new kicking coach doesn't make changes to this. 

Staunton reduced the deficit to three points and Mefin Davies gave his team the lead and broke their try drought when he crossed the goal line after 25 minutes. This try came from a penalty in the Leicester twenty-two after Matt Banahan chased his own kick and flopped on top of Geordan Murphy - unnecessary and very costly. The kick-up field set up an attacking line-out which enabled Leicester to drag the Bath defence to the far side of the pitch, leaving plenty of space on the left hand side for Davies to score. It was a sucker punch with a hint of Ali's famous rope-a-dope.

Five minutes before half-time Bath retook the lead when Matt Banahan crashed over the Leicester line. The score was exciting and made everyone cheer but as exhilarating was the Shontayne Hape break through midfield that created the space to attack the Leicester goal line. In a tight defensive encounter this type of break is a potential game-changer.

Bath extended their lead two minutes in to the second half when Nicky Little was up-ended in what I thought was a dangerous fashion and it was ironic that the same player was yellow carded later in the game for a dangerous tackle. Leicester took advantage of Bath's continual desire to hand the ball over to their opponents by constantly hammering at a very resilient defence. In particular the Bath scrummaging looked fierce and a Bordeaux '98 style five metre defensive scrum kept the rampaging Tigers from taking the lead. But constant defending eventually takes its toll and when Dan Hipkiss picked up the ball just inside the Bath half and ran like Usain Bolt for the goal line the Bath chasers couldn't keep up.

The groan around the ground was audible as was the relief when the late Little penalty secured a draw. Phew! 

I thought Nigel Owens had a good game and contributed to the enjoyment. The continuous screams for offside from a few around me were rarely accurate but, even if the officials do make mistakes in this areas of the game, it is for the players to react accordingly by changing their game plan where necessary.

Referee: Nigel Owens

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon