Cardiff push Bath’s all-stars to the limit

By ROGER PANTING

Cardiff ………………………… 32pts

Tries: Adams 4, 19; Hamer-Webb 37, Thomas 43

Conversions: de Beer 5, 20, 44

Penalties: de Beer 18, 26

Bath ……………………………… 39pts

Tries: Cokanasiga 7, Lawrence 14, Barbeary 22, Dunn 29, Coetzee 68, 70

Conversions: Russell 24, 30, 39

Penalties: Russell 53

This was a game for the ages, European Rugby at its' best, with neither side deserving to end up as losers.

On paper, a star-studded Bath were hot favourites having defeated Ulster 37-14 last week. In contrast a youthful Cardiff side were hammered 52-7 at Toulouse and were still without the likes of Taulupe Faletau and Thomas Young.

But Cardiff proved nothing in rugby is a certainty as they went toe to toe with their opponents in a blistering first half as Bath continued with their belief that the Welsh region could simply be blown away with their all-action rugby.

Cardiff struggled to cope with the bursts of Alfie Barbeary and the trickery of Finn Russell but time and time again they responded with magicians of their own as Tomos Williams, Tinus de Beer and Josh Adams fired shots back at the West Country men.

Cardiff 's whole-efforts saw them lead 32-25 but eventually Bath had the sense to change their game plan to a more forward-orientated one and it paid dividends with Jaco Coetzee scoring two late tries to secure victory.

An early knock-on from Ollie Lawrence gave Cardiff early possession and they capitalised with an excellent opening try.

De Beer exploded through a huge gap before chipping ahead and with Bath's defence all at sea, slick passing sent Adams over.

Bath's response was immediate with Barbeary making a huge dent in the opposition ranks and when the ball was recycled, Joe Cokanasiga had the strength to force his way over.

The breathtaking start continued with a third try in 14 minutes for Bath to take the lead. An outrageous dummy from Russell bemused the hosts with his pass finding Will Muir on the left flank. The wing made ground before his inside pass sent Lawrence over.

Russell missed both touchline conversions so de Beer was able to bring the scores level with a straightforward penalty.

The penalty was only a brief interruption to the try-scoring feast with Adams capitalising on a hack forward by Tomos Williams to grab the ball and crash over.

Once again Cardiff failed to deal with the restart so Bath were able to capitalise with Barbeary powering over from close range.

Russell was on target with the conversion but de Beer succeeded with a second penalty as the topsy-turvy nature of the game continued.

The home side then suffered two blows in quick succession. First Adams left the field with a leg injury before Bath picked up their bonus-point try when Tom Dunn finished off a driving line-out.

Cardiff continued to be on the wrong side of the referee by conceding seven penalties to one in the opening 35 minutes but Bath weren't interested in taking kicks at goal and one decision proved costly.

Ben Spencer opted not to kick a 40m penalty in favour of an attacking lineout but Bath lost possession with the home side breaking out for former Bath man, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, to score to give

Cardiff a 25-24 interval lead. Three minutes after the restart, Cardiff collected their bonus-point try with another superb score. Tomos Williams raced away from a lineout and his one handed pass to Ray Lee-Lo gave the centre the chance to send Ben Thomas in under the posts.

Following a change of tactics from Bath, Russell kicked his first penalty before Coetzee, forced his way over to leave the scores level with 12 minutes remaining.

The Bath pack were now in ascendancy and it was left to Coetzee to have the final say with his second try to leave Cardiff with two thoroughly deserved bonus-points.