mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Bath Director of Rugby Johann van Graan was delighted with another five points to see his side win an 11-try thriller in a pulsating West Country derby to go top of the Gallagher Prem table with a 40-34 win over Exeter at the Rec.
Bath looked to be in control when they led 26-10 at the interval, but the Chiefs re-emerged, inspired England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso rallied for a 33-31 lead midway through the second half.
However, a deliberate knock in the Exeter half by Stephen Varney proved crucial as Bath were awarded a penalty and Varney booked.
Cam Redpath, Dan du Preez, Bernard van der Linde, Ted Hill and Finn Russell scored Bath’s tries. A penalty was awarded and Russell converted four.
Feyi-Waboso scored two tries for Exeter, Jack Yeandle, Josh Iosefa-Scott and Varney were also on the try list and Henry Slade converted three. Harvey Skinner late penalty.
Van Graan said: “We wanted to start well and got this to build a healthy lead in the first half, but they continued to dominate in the third quarter.
“Then we brought on our bench and they obviously had a big impact, so we finished strongly and got a valuable five points in a game involving two very good sides.
“It was especially good to see Jacob Coetzee back in action. He’s been out for almost two years and he and Will Stuart, who’s also back, have made a big impact.
“One scramble in the first half was huge because we pushed them back. It was a big shift when we went to the corner and scored from there.”
At one stage, it looked like Exeter would record a third straight win over their West Country rivals, but it was not to be, but their director of rugby Rob Baxter was delighted with a much improved performance after last week’s 45-24 defeat at home to Gloucester.
He said: “I’m very pleased with our intent and physicality as we came out fighting from the start.
“Even though we trailed by 16 points at the interval, I thought we were unlucky to be in that position because it was a flat half most of the time.
“It wasn’t against the run of play, but two of their tries came from when we were attacking with favorable rebounds going their way.
“The yellow card obviously had a huge impact on the game, but even if we allowed it, there were a few things we could have done better in the second half and that might have resulted in us winning.
“Still, it was a huge step up from last week’s disappointing effort and gives us a foundation to build on.”
