Almost everything is going swimmingly for Bath. At long last their long-awaited stadium redevelopment looks likely to happen and, on the field, the champions are two from two after the first couple of weekends. With Finn Russell due back in action next week to pick up the fly-half baton, it is going to take a seriously good side to steal their crown.
On a wet and windy night in Somerset, even so, they were made to work extremely hard for it by a stubborn Sale team who stuck in the fight and refused to go away. It was only with three minutes left that Max Ojomoh slid in to score his side’s bonus-point try and maintain his squad’s perfect start to the campaign.
This was Sale’s fourth successive loss on their opponents’ ground and the manner of it was largely familiar. Bath make a virtue of squeezing teams in the latter stages of games and, towards the end of a taut final quarter, Ben Spencer’s little chip eventually gave Ojomoh the chance to secure the maximum five points.
Bath’s head coach, Johann van Graan, does have some potential injury headaches after Charlie Ewels, Quinn Roux and Ted Hill limped off but he headed home far more satisfied than a frustrated Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby. “The big rocks are there but small things and poor discipline let them in,” lamented Sanderson. “Against the best teams banging people isn’t enough, is it? You’ve got to be more than that.”
There was also plenty to ponder for the watching England head coach, Steve Borthwick, with Ollie Lawrence and Henry Arundell both looking sharp. Sale’s Nathan Jibulu claimed a second-half try and is clearly a young player on the rise while the generalship and kicking accuracy of the composed George Ford stood out in testing conditions.
It was another of those sodden nights when a roof on the open temporary stand would have spared its soaking inhabitants. Their tickets can still cost £100 but a reprieve is finally on the horizon. After decades of arguing, planning permission has been given for an 18,000-capacity stadium, with both Unesco and the secretary of state having given the decision their blessing.
That merely leaves Bath awaiting formal signed approval which the club hope will materialise within a couple of months. And as and when Bath do finally have their own riverside palace to complement their extraordinary squad depth, life is going to become no easier for future visitors.
Not that Sale were in any mood to be intimidated in a physical if slightly staccato first half. Their scrum was strong throughout but Bath dug in and registered the game’s first try. Just when Sale were threatening they were unzipped down the left by Lawrence before the speedy Arundell whizzed around Tom O’Flaherty to score his first home Prem try for his childhood club.
It was to be the story of the half; encouraging visiting flashes only for Bath to strike with devastating effect. The game was still less than 30 minutes old when they scored again, Miles Reid slicing clear from a home lineout and feeding Cameron Redpath on his inside to finish exuberantly.
Luckily Sale still had the outstanding Ford to keep them in touch via a finely judged penalty and a smart drop-goal and the England No 10 then nailed another inch-perfect drop before Beno Obano, from close range, claimed Bath’s third try with Sale’s skipper, Ernst van Rhyn, absent in the sin-bin.
Coming back from 21-9 against a Bath team with a numerical advantage and a stacked bench was always going to be mighty tough. It was a credit to Sale’s resolve, then, when they worked Jibulu over from close range just seven minutes after the restart to puncture any home complacency.
Usually that is the signal for Bath to shift up a couple of gears but this time the Sharks were forewarned. They made their own raft of changes and, at 21-16, it required a stunning tackle from Sam Underhill to halt the seriously hard running Marius Louw. A massive hit by Tom Burrow also forced Hill to leave the field prematurely but where it really counted, up on the scoreboard, Bath always find a way these days. And as Sanderson noted afterwards: “They’re only going to get better.”
Bath De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Redpath, Arundell; Ojomoh, Spencer; Obano (Van Wyk 57), Dunn (Frost 67), Sela (Griffin 57), Roux (Underhill 57), Ewels (Molony 8), Hill (Butt 78), Pepper, Reid (Barbeary 67). Tries Arundell, Redpath, Obano, Ojomoh. Cons Spencer 4.
Sale Carpenter; Roebuck, Du Preez, Bedlow (Louw 60), O’Flaherty (Reed 60); Ford, Warr (Hanson 76); Rodd (McIntyre 67), Jibulu (Caine 60), Opoku-Fordjour (John 41), Bamber, Andrews (Burrow 67), Van Rhyn, Curry (Woodman 60), Dugdale. Try Jibulu. Con Ford. Pen Ford. Drop goals Ford 2.
Referee Anthony Woodthorpe.
