BATH
No.Name
15Nick Abendanon, FB
14Anthony Watson, W
13Ollie Devoto, C
12Kyle Eastmond, C
11Semesa Rokoduguni, W
10George Ford, FH
2
9Peter Stringer, SH
1Paul James, P
2Ross Batty, H
T
3David Wilson, P
4Stuart Hooper, L
5Dave Attwood, L
6Matt Garvey, FL
7Guy Mercer, FL
8Leroy Houston, N8
Replacements
16Tom Dunn, -
17Nathan Catt, P
18Anthony Perenise, P
19Dominic Day, L
20Carl Fearns, FL
21Michael Young, SH
22Gavin Henson, C
23Horacio Agulla, W

*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold

Game Info

Venue: Recreation Ground
7:45 PM, March 28, 2014
Attendance: 11,873
All CommentaryKey Events

Match Commentary

81'11-12 End of half
81'11-12 End of half
81'11-12 End of second half
80'Bath have the ball right on the Sale line ... Bath set themselves for a drop-goal .. back it comes and Ford ... MISSES ... head in hands time ... 20 metres out and a great position with time. Sale celebrate, a remarkable back against the wall effort
79'Player substituted - Henry Thomas , Sale Sharks
79'Substitute on - Tom Arscott , Sale Sharks
78'Bath attack and drive Sale back towards their own line ...Ford's drop-goal attempt is charged down by Nick Macleod and Sale have possession
78'Substitute on - Tony Buckley , Sale Sharks
78'Player substituted - Vadim Cobilas , Sale Sharks
77'The crowd have spent almost as much time booing the decisions as we have spent watching scrums. You just suspect Sale might not hold out. Scrum just inside the Bath half, another penalty, kick into touch and Bath race down the field
75'Ford misses for the third time in three, shaving the outside edge of the near post. That would have given Bath the lead ... as it is they trail by a point with a little over four minutes left
75'11-12 Try - Ross Batty , Bath Rugby
74'Bath's Ross Batty drives over the line as Sale's defence splinters. It's referred upstairs to the TMO again and again the replays are inconclusive but this time the ref asked if there was "no reason not to award the try". It's half guesswork but somehow the TMO says the try can be awarded. How he came to that conclusion only he knows but the crowd don't care
73'Another Bath penalty, this time for not moving away, Bath decline the kick and put the ball back in the corner. They want the try
72'Sale fail to clear and Bath come straight back at them. Normal rugby resumes. Bath's attack comes to nothing as their handling lets them down. Bath have 69% possession. Is that all?
72'Player substituted - Anthony Watson , Bath Rugby
72'Substitute on - Horacio Agulla , Bath Rugby
71'And at last it's out and down the line but Anthony Watson is bundled into touch
71'Player substituted - Danny Cipriani , Sale Sharks
71'Substitute on - Nick Macleod , Sale Sharks
71'Substitute on - Mark Easter , Sale Sharks
71'Player substituted - Andrei Ostrikov , Sale Sharks
71'Player substituted - Dwayne Peel , Sale Sharks
71'Substitute on - Will Cliff , Sale Sharks
70'And finally we have a proper scrum but Bath fumble, Sale kick clear but they knock-on
69'AND YET ANOTHER PENALTY in the same place and the crowd are almost apoplectic with rage. But by the letter of the law he';s right. Leroy Houston tried a quick tap but the referee hauled him back
68'No penalty but the scrum has to be re-set as it all went wrong. The scrum has been in the same place for 14 minutes. Yes, that's right, And here we go again. The backs might as well send for chairs and a cup of tea
68'Substitute on - Vadim Cobilas , Sale Sharks
68'Player substituted - Tom Arscott , Sale Sharks
68'Yellow card - Henry Thomas , Sale Sharks
67'YET another penalty and this time he's had enough and Henry Thomas is shown a yellow. Inevitable. The crowd want the penalty try but the ref could not be certain that was a try-scoring opportunity denied
66'Yet another penalty, Henry Thomas falls to his knees. Boos as the crowd think there have been enough penalties for it to be a penalty try. But it's another scrum. If this was at Murrayfield on that pudding the scrum would be about four metres beneath the surface by now ...
66'Player substituted - Ollie Devoto , Bath Rugby
66'Substitute on - Gavin Henson , Bath Rugby
65'Leroy Houston breaks for the line and is hauled to a stop as he crosses the line. Bath think they have it but it's referred upstairs ... replays are inconclusive, loads of arms and legs in the way, and the TMO says "there's no clear and obvious grounding of the ball". The crowd are unimpressed but it is another 5m scrum so the pressure remains
65'Player substituted - Vadim Cobilas , Sale Sharks
65'Substitute on - Henry Thomas , Sale Sharks
65'Player substituted - Eifion Lewis-Roberts , Sale Sharks
65'Substitute on - Ross Harrison , Sale Sharks
64'The shove again pushes Sale back and again there's another penalty to Bath. Last chance saloon, Bath call another scrum and a yellow is looming here if there's another penalty. Sale call the changes in their front row ... fresh legs
63'Bath win a penalty on the 5m line and they call for another scrum. Sale's pack wobbling and Bath are going to put as much pressure as they can on. A penalty try might not be a million miles away
62'Substitute on - Dominic Day , Bath Rugby
62'Player substituted - Stuart Hooper , Bath Rugby
60'Sale's Dwayne Peel driven right back over his line, nothing he could do, and the pressure is back on now with a 5m scrum
59'Sloppy lineout and Bath knock-on, the pressure is off for a second or two
59'Player substituted - David Wilson , Bath Rugby
59'Substitute on - Anthony Perenise , Bath Rugby
59'Substitute on - Nathan Catt , Bath Rugby
59'Player substituted - Paul James , Bath Rugby
58'Sale really on the back foot now, pressure and penalties, this one 5m out. The crowd have certainly woken up
56'Missed penalty for Bath... groans almost as soon as Ford struck the ball and they are right as it sails well wide. A fair way out but the kind he would eat up when on form
55'Pressure now telling as Sale start to concede penalties. Bath have upped their game, they just now need points on the board
54'Player substituted - Guy Mercer , Bath Rugby
54'Substitute on - Carl Fearns , Bath Rugby
49'The rain starts to fall and fairly heavily. That won't help the handling
49'Substitute on - Michael Young , Bath Rugby
49'Player substituted - Peter Stringer , Bath Rugby
47'6-12 Penalty goal - Danny Cipriani , Sale Sharks
46'Bath caught off their feet in the ruck and a penalty for Danny Cipriani from 30+m restores Sale's six-point lead and it's four from four for him. The home support all very quiet as that sails over
43'Bath win the scrum 5m from their line and Ford clears to touch
42'Surging run by James Gaskell deep into the Bath 22 ends with him losing possession. That's as close to the try line as anyone's carried it
41'The second-half starts as sloppily as the first
41'6-9 End of first half
40'That's half-time, six kicks, five of them successful and a fair amount of poor handling. Bath had the better of the second quarter but to be honest neither line has been threatened
40'6-9 Start of second half
39'Ford from between the 10m line and halfway pushes the ball to the right of the posts. Had the legs but not the line
38'Sale caught offside, David Seymour coming over the top and preventing quick ball.
34'Another error as a Sale pass misses the wing and flies into touch.
33'6-9 Penalty goal - George Ford , Bath Rugby
32'A spell of Bath pressure ends with a penalty from 31m which Ford slots right through the middle
29'A high tackle from James Gaskell is missed by the referee but spotted by the TJ and play is called back 40m. Again, not a bad one more clumsy, but Bath miss touch with the penalty
28'All getting sloppy, some basic handling errors
27'
25'Strong Bath attack, good Sale defence and it all ends when Anthony Watson fluffs a pass, one eye on the ball and one on the Sale man about to crunch him
23'"We've settled down and have dominance at the scrum, all bodes well at the moment," says Steve Diamond
23'3-9 Penalty goal - Danny Cipriani , Sale Sharks
22'Sale win the penalty as Bath's scrum caves under the pressure. Their front row simply could not cope there. The kick from Cipriani from 42m out halfway to the left touchline sails over
21'A little niggle as play goes on after the whistle. Tame stuff, a lot of arms and waving
19'3-6 Penalty goal - Danny Cipriani , Sale Sharks
18'Cipriani from about 20 yards out halfway to the left touchline kicks the points
17'High tackle by Matt Garvey, the referee plays advantage and calls them back when a chip over comes to nothing. It's referred upstairs but it's nothing more than a routine high one
15'It's got slightly scrappy in the last couple of minutes, the early pace easing off
13'Arscott makes a great catch, juggling it before running straight into the Bath defence - he's held up and Bath get the scrum, great play by their forwards
12'3-3 Penalty goal - George Ford , Bath Rugby
11'Bath go on the attack, Sale concede a penalty for being offiside. Ford levels the game with a simple kick from in front
8'0-3 Penalty goal - Danny Cipriani , Sale Sharks
7'Sale looking to get the first meaningful attack of the game underway, Paul James is penalised and Cipriani slots a routine penalty
4'No nonsense start with both sides going hard
1'Two very late changes for Sale Sharks - Braid and Cueto out and Miller and Mills come in. Seems they were injured during the warm-up
1'0-0 Start of first half