Champions Cup Pool 5: Bath v Leinster, 21 November

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Bath Rugby v Leinster Rugby
Saturday 21 November 2015
KO 15:15
Recreation Ground, Bath

Live on BT Sport / beIN Sports

Referee Jerome Garces (France)
Touch Judge 1 Salam Attalah (France)
Touch Judge 2 Laurent Millotte (France)
Fourth Official Bruno Bessot (France)
TMO Bruno Bessot (France)

A. Head to Head

7 Played 7
1 Wins 6
6 Losses 1
0 Draws 0
134 Points 199

B. Recent Form

4 April 2015
Leinster 18 - 15 Bath

17 Dec 2011
Leinster 52 - 27 Bath

11 Dec 2011
Bath 13 - 18 Leinster

22 Jan 2006
Bath 23 - 35 Leinster

C. Teams

Bath Rugby

15 Anthony Watson
14 Semesa Rokoduguni
13 Ollie Devoto
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Matt Banahan
10 George Ford
09 Chris Cook

01 Nick Auterac
02 Rob Webber
03 Henry Thomas
04 Dom Day
05 David Attwood
06 Matt Garvey
07 Francois Louw (capt)
08 Leroy Houston

16 Ross Batty
17 Nathan Catt
18 Max Lahiff
19 Stuart Hooper
20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva
21 Niko Matawalu
22 Rhys Priestland
23 Tom Homer

Leinster Rugby

15 Isa Nacewa (capt)
14 Fergus McFadden
13 Ben Te'o
12 Luke Fitzgerald
11 Dave Kearney
10 Johnny Sexton
09 Isaac Boss

01 Cian Healy
02 Sean Cronin
03 Mike Ross
04 Devin Toner
05 Hayden Triggs
06 Rhys Ruddock
07 Jordi Murphy
08 Jamie Heaslip

16 James Tracy
17 Jack McGrath
18 Martin Moore
19 Dominic Ryan
20 Josh Van Der Flier
21 Luke McGrath
22 Ian Madigan
23 Zane Kirchner

Priestland continues his trend.

Big steal

Harsh, he slipped. Should of been a pen only

Leinster should probably settle for the draw here. Kudos to them for going for it though.

Much better by Leinster today. Great result for Bath in a very tight match.

Good result for Bath....they looked very good as well.

nathan wrote:Harsh, he slipped. Should of been a pen only

Totally agree Nathan

Leinster looked much better today, but they still aren't good enough to compete in this competition. Cullen will need to lay down the marker and show the experienced heads that they must up the tempo or lose their shirt to the young pretenders. Van der Flier and Ringrose in particular are banging at the door.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

nathan wrote:Harsh, he slipped. Should of been a pen only

Totally agree Nathan

Seemed harsh to me as well considering the Leinster player was perhaps a foot closer to the floor than expected!!

A losing bonus point isn't normally a bad result from an away fixture in the European Championship but that hiding at home looks to be a real killer blow.

Auterac the first player ever to be happy to receive an oversized man of the match vase.

Good game, would like to see better execution from the boots of both Ford and Devoto. Uber critical I know, however Bath need to learn how to translate their possession into points through better positional management with their set piece dominance an equal weapon to their potent handling game.

Auterac talks similar to Chris Eubanks ha ha

But by heck he could be some prop if he continues progressing as he is....

Bath did play a lot in their own half. To few quality kicks to gain territory from Bath. That said Leinster were just so passive in defence Bath clearly felt confident in being able to play their way into the Leinster half.

I think Leinster need to teach their inside centres how to tackle. Fitzgerald apparently missed seven tackles.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:I think Leinster need to teach their inside centres how to tackle. Fitzgerald apparently missed seven tackles.

When you have a jobs for the boys mentality then standards are bound to slip. Just ask Wales.

Daverage is not even average anymore... He's not good enough for Leinster let alone Ireland! How Joe picked him ahead of Zebo is baffling!

Jordi Murphy another who is not good enough!

Watched the game over here in Lyon in the company of a certain Carl Fearns

BlueMuff wrote:Daverage is not even average anymore... He's not good enough for Leinster let alone Ireland! How Joe picked him ahead of Zebo is baffling!

Jordi Murphy another who is not good enough!

How's Fearnsy doing over there?


Auterac and Thomas looked good today. It was only a few years ago that Bath shipped 50 against Leinster, so very happy with a win.

He is doing well, enjoying it. Said he will be looking to move back to England in a couple of years but fancied a new challenge after he left Bath

Why doesn't Cullen give mcgrath his chance. Every time he comes on the back line looks noticeably better.

Given the ineffective performances of the centres last week and I think I'm right in saying both starting centres today were injured last week why on earth did Leinster not go with the young lad that came off the bench last week. He offered some actual go forward against Wasps and would have helped when Leinster were chasing the game.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Given the ineffective performances of the centres last week and I think I'm right in saying both starting centres today were injured last week why on earth did Leinster not go with the young lad that came off the bench last week. He offered some actual go forward against Wasps and would have helped when Leinster were chasing the game.

Garry Ringrose? He is said to be the next big thing and I would genuinely love him to get a chance at this level as soon as possible. The thing is that Ben Teo has been the main weapon in the Leinster backline and he is probably more solid in defence. However, I would like to see him play at 12 with Ringrose outside him. I think it could work.

Some think that he doesn't have the required physicality yet, but I beg to differ. He certainly doesn't look the biggest, but even last week against the Wasps he made a lot of ground going forward. His technique is excellent.

Yeah that's the lad. Playing away from home the chances are you will need to chase the game. Kirchner isn't going to add impetus off the bench and it's not like Bath have a physical midfield.

Your bemusement at some of the selection decisions is shared by a lot of the supporters. Ringrose, van der Flier and the McGraths are the form players in their respective positions but unfortunately 'experience' tends to count more than form over here.

As a Tigers fan that's not entirely unusual but our coaches do get there eventually, a loss normally hastens the realisation. Obviously I don't know a great deal about Leinster but it did look like they went to the expected first team and game plan for this game. Maybe the Wasps game knocked the confidence of the coaches to take a selection risk.

BlueMuff wrote:Daverage is not even average anymore... He's not good enough for Leinster let alone Ireland! How Joe picked him ahead of Zebo is baffling!

Jordi Murphy another who is not good enough!

Dave has really gone off form. In the lead up to the RWC, he was playing some excellent rugby and was Irelands best back in my mind.

Just catched up on this. That was so much better from Leinster.

Was it any surprise that they looked better when both Dom Ryan and Van der Flier (what a prospect) were playing at the same time in the back row? Of course no. They have been great since the season went underway.

Also Triggs looked good, abrasive and quite industrious. Good signing. The lack of a replacement lock on the bench was a glaring mistake as with Toner and Ruddock in the engine room it was lacking a bit of grunt. Anyone know where is Mick Kearney? i rate him pretty high and i can see him being in the Ireland team come the next World Cup.

Just watched Auteracs MoMinterview he loves that case, probably the happiest any one has been getting it! Even bette thes so happy he starts wandering off looking at it and forgets to shake the randoms hand.

Something tells me he's going to be on the hunt for more MoM awards now..,

Bath were very powerful in the Scrum. Looked to be a real force. Great result!

The moment Boss comes off, Leinster start playing. Luke McGrath needs to be our 1st choice 9. Boss and to a lesser extent Redden are not at provencal level anymore.

Every pass from Boss is either too high, too low, behind, into the body, and they are all too slow and all taken with an extra step. It is painful to watch. When he gets picked I wonder what game coaches are watching....

Luke McGrath will make mistakes but he will learn, this season is a bit of a write off anyway, let's not waste it further by giving the geriatrics game time ahead of the youngsters...

Good going Goon!

+1

My head!

Leinster fans, where is Mick Kearney? The pack went backwards when Triggs went off.

Mick Kearney had to get surgery on a foot (toe?) injury and last i heard he was out until the New Year

I don't think there is any danger of Leinster not taking the rest of this competition seriously...but with their insane schedule and seeding for next year at stake I think the league should take a slight priority.

yappysnap wrote:Just watched Auteracs MoMinterview  he loves that case, probably the happiest any one has been getting it! Even bette thes so happy he starts wandering off looking at it and forgets to shake the randoms hand.

Something tells me he's going to be on the hunt for more MoM awards now..,

Either his mum asked for a vase for Christmas or he should be checked for concussion. Most players seem to prefer the small bottle of fizz to the big chunk of glass. I mean would you really want several of those things dotted around the house collecting dust?

Engine#4 wrote:Mick Kearney had to get surgery on a foot (toe?) injury and last i heard he was out until the New Year

Cheers.

Shame, Leinster certainly wouldn't have conceded that penalty try with him in the boiler house. Him and Henderson are the future for Ireland at lock, injury permitting.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Just watched Auteracs MoMinterview  he loves that case, probably the happiest any one has been getting it! Even bette thes so happy he starts wandering off looking at it and forgets to shake the randoms hand.

Something tells me he's going to be on the hunt for more MoM awards now..,

Either his mum asked for a vase for Christmas or he should be checked for concussion. Most players seem to prefer the small bottle of fizz to the big chunk of glass. I mean would you really want several of those things dotted around the house collecting dust?

No. But then I have roughly the same opinion of most trinkets that designate victory - medals, cups, chunks of glass, plates, shields, rosettes.... caps! (that cap thing is a real weird one. "There you go, wear that and look like an fecking eejit as we take your picture so that you can never deny it's been on your head."
When you look at the trophy cabinets that some people have in their homes.............. dear Lord, what an ugly sight they can be. As you say, dust collectors.

Maybe winners should in future get things like renowned works of art (to place in their office if it's a team) - or a share in a wine-producer, or one or two Lions heads from protected endangered-animal preserves. Something that might be sellable on ebay! Real market value.