Bath tried to steal Ugo Monye’s thunder – and snatching the late win that confirms their place in the play-offs was not a bad way to do it – but somehow the night still belonged to the Harlequins wing. The darling of The Stoop, who also won 14 England caps, took his bow after 13 years at his only club and more than 200 appearances. He scored a brace of tries to boot, the second brandishing the sort of pace and power with which he made his name. He walked away with the man of the match award and its bestowal was not entirely an emotional decision.
“What a finish that second try was,” enthused Conor O’Shea. “Raw power. He’s very special. I’ll do well to get him on the pitch at Newcastle next week. He seemed to enjoy the swansong and he’s got a big bottle of champagne.”
It was quite a tour de force but the harsh reality is that Quins will be in neither the play-offs this season nor the Champions Cup next. Bath march on to those adventures, benefiting from a maturity here that could yet reinforce their natural attacking brio to make them quite a proposition for even the most formidable foes ahead.
George Ford had looked as deadly as ever with ball in hand but it was his accuracy from the tee that was most encouraging. He has had a tendency to wobble when presented with the pressure kick but here he landed five from five, none of them gimmes, a few out-and-out fiendish. The fifth, which won the game with five minutes remaining, was a testing penalty from an angled 40 metres, perfectly struck.
“He kicks every day,” said Mike Ford, his father and Bath’s head coach. “If he slows it down and keeps his head down he’s usually on target. Luckily we got a penalty at the end for the win. It just underlines the belief that we’re a good side, and we could potentially win this this year.”
The victory keeps Bath in second, eight points clear of Saracens. A win next week at home to Gloucester would clinch a home semi-final. Quins survived for long periods on their wits, for this Bath side have a variety of weapons at their disposal. Sam Burgess enjoyed his best game since his conversion to union and appears to have made the No6 shirt his own already. His carrying and tackling were tireless and he provided the crucial link for Bath’s third try on the hour.
That was scored by Leroy Houston, who on another day might have been made man of the match. His carrying was ferocious and the line he picked off his mesmeric mates in the Bath midfield paved the way for Bath’s first, scored by Francois Louw. By then Monye had scored his first, after a fine break by Marland Yarde, and Quins moved back in front just before half-time with a driven line-out.
It was a fantastic, see-sawing match. Bath retook the lead after the break, when Horacio Agulla knifed clean through after that midfield had bewitched the Quins defence with their decoy lines. Nick Evans’s brace of penalties snatched it back for Quins before Houston’s try seized it again. Then came Monye’s second.
With nothing to play for and having lost Nick Easter and another departing legend round these parts, George Robson, to injury in the first half, the home team were working wonders just to stay in the match. But Bath’s relentless front five squeezed that late penalty out of the final knockings. Ford stepped up to clinch the deal.
Harlequins Lindsay-Hague; Yarde, Lowe, Sloan, Monye (Walker 68); Evans (Botica 77), Care; Lambert (Marfo 47), Ward, Shields (Adeniran-Olule 78), Easter (Matthews 6), Robson (Talei 39), Wallace, Robshaw (capt), Clifford.
Tries Monye 2, penalty Con Evans Pens Evans 3 Sin bin Clifford.
Bath Watson; Agulla, Joseph (Devoto 64), Eastmond, Banahan; Ford, Stringer (Cook 58); James (Auterac 52), Batty (Webber 56), Wilson (Lahiff 47), Attwoood, Day (Garvey 64), Burgess (Fearns 64), Louw (capt), Houston.
Tries Louw, Agulla, Houston Cons Ford 3 Pens Ford 2.
Referee Greg Garner. Att 14,800.
