Ireland had come to dominate the European Cup before Mourad Boudjellal started to receive dividends from the millions he had invested in Toulon, but two weeks into the tournament Leinster and Ulster had been heavily beaten at home by Premiership clubs, something that could not be dismissed as a reflection of the difference between playing budgets in the two countries.
Munster’s attempt to sign the Australia captain, Stephen Moore, for next season was this month blocked by the Irish Rugby Football Union which, armed with four professional sides, wants to restrict the number of players ineligible to play for Ireland. It was not that long ago that English clubs bewailed the disadvantages they laboured with against teams from across the Irish Sea, but Leinster were hanging on here at times, struggling in all aspects of the game at forward and having little possession to pay with.
Ten days before the new England head coach, Eddie Jones, would report for work at Twickenham and on an afternoon when Bath struggled to finish what they had started, he would have been most impressed by the two props, Nick Auterac and Henry Thomas, who as well as earning their side’s penalty try in the second-half were prominent in the loose.
Bath attacked from the off, running from deep and regularly achieving width. It earned them a modest 6-3 lead at the interval, a penalty and drop goal by George Ford trumping Jonathan Sexton’s opening penalty. Rather than opting for territory and exploiting their superior lineout, Bath kept the ball in hand and looked to stretch Leinster. Kyle Eastmond, the centre overlooked by England for the World Cup, stood out in a contest that too quickly descended into mediocrity, both for his footwork and passing.
He looked to have created the first try when, after Matt Banahan had again turned a high kick to him into profit, Eastmond looked to free Stuart Hooper as the second row lurked on the left wing but Banahan’s attempt to make sure the ball got to his captain resulted in it going forward and the one clear chance of the opening 40 minutes was squandered.
Leinster’s moment of menace came after Hayden Triggs and Sean Cronin worked a lineout move on halfway and the latter scampered in to the Bath 22 but the move died a few minutes later when Bath forced a penalty at the breakdown, where Francois Louw held sway initially.
Leinster struggled to get a foothold with their scrum under pressure but their scramble defence kept them in touch. Eastmond, Anthony Watson, Banahan and Semesa Rokoduguni all thwarted the rush defence only for the visitors’ second line to hold. Bath’s ball-carriers offloaded in contact and immediately after hitting the floor, but too often support was too slow arriving at the crucial moment and Leinster, although having to make do with scraps, were level going into the final quarter.
Ford’s second penalty after a scrum collapse five minutes into the second-half gave Bath a six-point lead, but, as Leinster committed more players to the breakdown, Bath conceded penalties under pressure and two Sexton penalties tied the scores again. His side was better exploiting its European pedigree, but when Bath were awarded a kickable penalty on the hour, Ford kicked fortouch.
Matt Garvey’s take in the lineout prompted a driving maul that was repelled but, after a scrum reset, Bath’s front row forced Leinster’s to pop up and the referee immediately awarded a penalty try. The score galvanised Leinster rather than the hosts and after the replacement prop Martin Moore was twice involved in a move inside the home 22, the flanker John van der Flier angled his run from first receiver to wrong-footed Louw and generated so much momentum that two tacklers stationed near the line were able only to slow him down.
Sexton followed up his conversion with a penalty from just inside his own half that would have given his side the lead. It fell just short and gave Bath the nudge they needed as a record crowd here suddenly found its voice.
Another scrum, another Bath penalty, this time from 40 metres out wide to the right. Up stepped Ford who, if he was not sure where he stood with England by the end of the World Cup, has even less idea now with a new coach in charge. Over the kick went to leave Leinster in the position their opponents were a year ago, two defeats out of two. Bath still made the quarter-finals only to find Leinster blocking their way.
