A late Nick Scott try handed London Welsh a priceless victory in their fight for Premiership survival as they beat Bath 16-9 at the Kassam Stadium.
Although the visitors had the best of the chances in the first period, it was Welsh who proved more adept at taking their opportunities as two Gavin Henson penalties put them into a 6-3 lead.
Stephen Donald slotted one of his own before the break and added two more in the second-half to move the West Country side ahead. However, Gordon Ross equalised before Scott went over to take the Exiles eight points clear of Sale Sharks.
It was the hosts that controlled the early spells of play, but their fly-half failed to convert a penalty opportunity. The former Wales international made up for that miss after 10 minutes as the Oxford-based outfit took a 3-0 lead.
Bath then threatened to cross the whitewash with several phases near the opposition line but the Exiles' defence held firm. And they were rewarded for their resilience when Henson gave them a six-point cushion with a second three-pointer. However, the visitors continued to press and Donald's kick reduced the gap.
London Welsh have so far adapted well to Aviva Premiership rugby and the first-half exemplified that, but they were up against a powerful side in Gary Gold's men from Bath.
They continued to hold their own, but it was no surprise to see the Kiwi fly-half level the match with 50 minutes gone. And Donald put Bath into the lead for the first time after the hosts infringed at a line-out. But that only served to spur the Exiles on, though, and Ross made the score 9-9 with a penalty before Scott's interception stole the win at the death.
The scorers:
For London Welsh:
Try: Scott
Con: Ross
Pen: Henson 2, Ross
For Bath:
Pen: Donald 3
London Welsh: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Nick Scott, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Seb Jewell, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Nick Runciman, 8 Lee Beach, 7 Michael Hills, 6 Jonathan Mills (c), 5 Matt Corker, 4 Martin Purdy, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Tom Bristow.
Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Bill Moss, 18 Arthur Joly, 19 Adam Brown, 20 Mike Denbee, 21 Tyson Keats, 22 Gordon Ross, 23 James Lewis.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Will Skuse, 6 Stuart Hooper (c), 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Horacio Agulla.
Referee: Andrew Small
Comments
1st58 says...
Congrats to the Welsh, but as a Bath supporter I am very annoyed...there is a reason Donald was not selected in NZ's WC squad, and a reason why the chiefs were happy to let him go (namely that he is a pretty ordinary 10) - yet good old Geech signs him up with a ridiculous salary (which partly explains how weak our squad is) and he is expected to be a dominant figure in the Premiership - crazy.
We also signed a few props who can do a lot in the loose, but not at scum time, at least James' signing altered that trend.
As APV and I admitted earlier, this season is not going to see a major step forward for Bath, but we should still be winning these sort of games with ease - there are a lot of players who need to be released at the end of this season, and our recruitment has to be targetted far better.
Posted 11:10 05th November 2012
APV1 says...
Well, eren't we pants.
I agree, Beaver had a shocker. I've been full of praise recently for his vision and leadership. But he let us down.
Posted 10:35 05th November 2012
OJHolden says...
I was at this game and Stephen Donald (part-time rugby player, full-time fisherman) was so awful I would rather have had Gordon Ross at fly half. I actually asked if one of the Welsh 2nd Rows wanted to come and play 10 for Bath, he was so awful.
Not only is Donalds goal kickng woeful (as in, he can hardly kick anything further than 22 metres out), but his distribution is worse than mine when I started playing rugby 10 years ago. If he's a professional rugby player (and world cup winner), there's hope for the rest of us.
The game only got interesting when Ross levelled it at 9-9 with 2 and half minutes to go. Apart from that it was just one overly large ping-pong.
Although I did have to laugh, when a little child attending the first game of rugby had to ask about Tom Biggs 'is that a girl playing'
Posted 22:22 04th November 2012
PontySurrey says...
Lovely to see the Welsh proving all the expert pundits wrong!
Posted 19:04 04th November 2012
luv2h8 says...
Bath wont be having anymore of my money this season.
Posted 17:55 04th November 2012