Latest news with #FinnRussell
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bath's European Cup win a 'long time coming'
Bath captain Ben Spencer said their European Challenge Cup trophy win has been "building" for some time. Bath overpowered French Top14 side Lyon 34-12 on Friday to claim their first European trophy in 17 years at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. The Premiership leaders scored four tries and survived an ill-disciplined first half which saw two players sin-binned to comfortably beat their French opponents. "Tonight's performance was something that's been building for a very long time," Spencer said. "To see the hunger, to see the fight of this group was unbelievable. "The way we managed the double yellow card period to keep them out at the end of the first half, that's the fight and the spirit that we want to show each other." Bath overpower Lyon to win European Challenge Cup Relive live: European Rugby Challenge Cup final Bath - as it happened Bath's last major piece of silverware came at the same European competition in 2008, when England head coach Steve Borthwick captained the club. Bath remain in the running for a treble this season, following domestic success in February with the Premiership Rugby Cup and with them favourites to clinch Premiership title. Fly-half Finn Russell, whose signing in 2023 has been a major factor in Bath's transformation under head of rugby Johann van Graan, said the victory was a "big step in the right direction" of where the club want to get to. Russell kicked four conversions and three penalties on the night to win his first major European title after twice losing Champions Cup finals with former club Racing 92. "It's been a long time coming for Bath getting a title like this and as a group of players we've worked so hard to get where we are just now," Russell told BBC Points West. "The work's not done yet, but we've worked so hard to get this trophy and it's amazing to have it." Hooker and Bath stalwart Tom Dunn, who made his debut in 2012, agreed this was not the end of Bath. "There's no end to this. We talk about continuous improvement," he said. "The hunger and fire has been there as long as I can remember. We've always wanted, we've always trained hard to create that." While Lyon scored first through Ethan Dumortier's try, Bath took the lead with Dunn and Max Ojomoh scores and navigated a tricky end to the first-half when they were briefly reduced to 13 players following Sam Underhill and Will Muir's yellow cards. Arno Botha pulled another back for Lyon but Bath ended the night comfortable winners as tries from Beno Obano and Spencer took them out of sight. Lyon coach Karim Ghezal said one of Bath's yellow cards was "rather dodgy" but that he would not complain about refereeing. "We didn't score when they were down to 13. They had two yellow cards," he said. "Bath is a very strong team and we knew they were very effective so we need to face the facts." Bath now face another huge two weeks as the Premiership season reaches its conclusion. They travel to Saracens on Saturday, 31 May for the final round of the competition, before a home semi-final at the Recreation Ground on Friday, 6 June for a place in the Twickenham final. Van Graan said the Challenge Cup trophy was a credit to every player a staff member involved at the club, and that they are enjoying their "journey" together. "We'll enjoy [Friday], we'll enjoy what this trophy represents - incredible hard work by a lot of people - and then we'll come back on Tuesday morning and we'll move on again," Van Graan said. "We're not chasing anything, we are enjoying our journey together." Additional reporting by Alistair Durden.
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bath's European Cup win a 'long time coming'
Bath captain Ben Spencer said their European Challenge Cup trophy win has been "building" for some overpowered French Top14 side Lyon 34-12 on Friday to claim their first European trophy in 17 years at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. The Premiership leaders scored four tries and survived an ill-disciplined first half which saw two players sin-binned to comfortably beat their French opponents."Tonight's performance was something that's been building for a very long time," Spencer said. "To see the hunger, to see the fight of this group was unbelievable. "The way we managed the double yellow card period to keep them out at the end of the first half, that's the fight and the spirit that we want to show each other." Bath's last major piece of silverware came at the same European competition in 2008, when England head coach Steve Borthwick captained the club. Bath remain in the running for a treble this season, following domestic success in February with the Premiership Rugby Cup and with them favourites to clinch Premiership Finn Russell, whose signing in 2023 has been a major factor in Bath's transformation under head of rugby Johann van Graan, said the victory was a "big step in the right direction" of where the club want to get to. Russell kicked four conversions and three penalties on the night to win his first major European title after twice losing Champions Cup finals with former club Racing 92."It's been a long time coming for Bath getting a title like this and as a group of players we've worked so hard to get where we are just now," Russell told BBC Points West. "The work's not done yet, but we've worked so hard to get this trophy and it's amazing to have it."Hooker and Bath stalwart Tom Dunn, who made his debut in 2012, agreed this was not the end of Bath. "There's no end to this. We talk about continuous improvement," he said."The hunger and fire has been there as long as I can remember. We've always wanted, we've always trained hard to create that." While Lyon scored first through Ethan Dumortier's try, Bath took the lead with Dunn and Max Ojomoh scores and navigated a tricky end to the first-half when they were briefly reduced to 13 players following Sam Underhill and Will Muir's yellow Botha pulled another back for Lyon but Bath ended the night comfortable winners as tries from Beno Obano and Spencer took them out of coach Karim Ghezal said one of Bath's yellow cards was "rather dodgy" but that he would not complain about refereeing."We didn't score when they were down to 13. They had two yellow cards," he said."Bath is a very strong team and we knew they were very effective so we need to face the facts."Bath now face another huge two weeks as the Premiership season reaches its conclusion. They travel to Saracens on Saturday, 31 May for the final round of the competition, before a home semi-final at the Recreation Ground on Friday, 6 June for a place in the Twickenham final. Van Graan said the Challenge Cup trophy was a credit to every player a staff member involved at the club, and that they are enjoying their "journey" together."We'll enjoy [Friday], we'll enjoy what this trophy represents - incredible hard work by a lot of people - and then we'll come back on Tuesday morning and we'll move on again," Van Graan said."We're not chasing anything, we are enjoying our journey together."Additional reporting by Alistair Durden.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Russell inspires Bath to Challenge Cup final win over Lyon
Scotland fly-half Finn Russell contributed 17 points with his boot as Bath clinched their first European title in 17 years with a 37-12 win over Lyon in the Challenge Cup kicked three penalties and four conversions for the English Premiership side at Cardiff's Principality French side opened the scoring with a try, but a Russell penalty set the ball rolling for a commanding victory for Bath, with the Scot also having the final say with the final three points.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Bath set sights on treble after Challenge Cup glory
Bath stayed on course for a possible trophy treble after beating Lyon 37-12 to lift the Challenge Cup in Cardiff. It was Bath's first major silverware since they won the same competition in 2008 under the captaincy of current England head coach Steve Borthwick. They add the Challenge Cup to Premiership Cup success earlier this season, and are two victories away from league title glory. Johann van Graan's team overcame first-half yellow cards for Sam Underhill and Will Muir at the Principality Stadium to subdue dogged opponents and post the tournament's biggest winning margin in a final since 1998. Tries from hooker Tom Dunn, centre Max Ojomoh, prop Beno Obano and captain Ben Spencer saw Bath home, while Spencer's half-back partner Finn Russell kicked four conversions and three penalties. Lyon led through wing Ethan Dumortier's early score, with number eight Arno Botha also touching down – fly-half Leo Berdeu added one conversion – but Bath were comfortable winners. They appear to be on an unstoppable roll ahead of a Premiership play-off in two weeks' time, when their opponents could be west country rivals Bristol. Lyon monopolised possession from the kick-off, and they rocked Bath through a well-worked try after just four minutes. The forwards built strong attacking foundations, and Dumortier evaded Muir's challenge to cross in the corner, although referee Hollie Davidson consulted television replays before awarding it after checking Dumortier's foot was not in touch. Bath collected points from their first venture into Lyon's 22 when Russell kicked a penalty, and they soon grew into the contest, illustrated when centre Will Butt was only denied a try by Lyon scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud's saving tackle. The Premiership title favourites kept battling, though, and they were rewarded when Dunn took a quick penalty and dived over for a try that Russell converted. Lyon were firmly on the back foot, and Bath struck again after 25 minutes when Spencer fired out a long pass to Ojomoh, who finished impressively. Russell's conversion opened up a 12-point lead. The French side found it hard work finding a way through Bath's defence, although they gained a temporary numerical advantage 11 minutes before half-time when Underhill was yellow-carded following head-on-head contact with Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili. Bath were guilty of more poor discipline just six minutes later after Muir tackled Dumortier in the air, and he also saw yellow. Lyon had to capitalise, but Dumortier was denied a second try after obstruction on Dunn at the back of a lineout, and Bath led 17-5 at the interval. A Russell penalty opened the second-half scoring, increasing Lyon's degree of difficulty, yet they responded impressively through Botha's powerful effort and Berdeu's conversion cut the deficit to eight points. Bath had no intention of letting things slip, and a try from Obano midway through the third quarter that Russell converted restored an element of breathing space. And Spencer's try 17 minutes from time took Bath past 30 points, ending Lyon's resistance, and then a long-range penalty completed an emphatic success.
Scotsman
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Finn Russell leads Bath to European glory as Scottish referee at centre of controversy
Russell kicks 17 points as Bath defeat Lyon in Challenge Cup final Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In the end, it was worth the wait. Finn Russell sported a wide grin as his Bath team-mates cavorted around him. All have had to be patient. Finn Russell of Bath kicks a conversion after his team's fourth try during the EPCR Challenge Cup final win over Lyon at Principality Stadium, Cardiff. (Photo by) | Getty Images It's ten years since the Scotland stand-off lifted a club honour and that was the Guinness Pro12 with Glasgow Warriors. For Bath, you have to go back to 2008. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Like Spurs, they've had to wait 17 years to get their hands on major silverware. Then, as now, it was the Challenge Cup and Bath were delighted to reacquaint themselves with the trophy after defeating Lyon 37-12 in the final at the Principality Stadium. Finn Russell of Bath kicks a conversion after his team's fourth try during the EPCR Challenge Cup final win over Lyon at Principality Stadium, Cardiff. (Photo by) | Getty Images Cardiff was blue, black and white for the evening and Russell lapped up the acclaim, cementing his love affair with the Bath faithful. The fly-half is the perfect fit for Johann van Graan's side whose dominant pack gives him the space to run the game. He did that all night long, kicking well, controlling and converting the four tries scored by Tom Dunn, Max Ojomoh, Beno Obano and Ben Spencer. He also added three penalties for a personal haul of 17 points and was 100 per cent off the tee. After suffering disappointment in the Premiership final with Bath last season and ending up on the losing side with Racing 92 against Exeter in the Champions Cup final five years ago, this was a victory to be savoured for Russell and there could be more to come. Bath have a home semi coming up in this season's Premiership play-offs and few would bet against them driving home their dominance by completing an extraordinary treble, having already claimed the Premiership Cup with their second string. These are heady days for Russell and Bath although Friday's victory was not without controversy. Hollie Davidson, the other Scot on the field, was making history by becoming the first female referee to take charge of a European final but her decision to not send off Sam Underhill for a high tackle on Lyon's Davit Niniashvili in the first half looked lenient to say the least. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Referee Hollie Davidson reacts during the EPCR Challenge Cup final between Bath and Lyon. (Photo by) | Getty Images Underhill got away with a yellow card and team-mate Will Muir was sent to the sin-bin a few minutes later but Bath regrouped and pushed home their dominance in the second half. It was Lyon who started the brightest. It took them only three minutes to score the first try, Dumortier finding space down the blindside after a long lineout caught Bath cold. Berdeu couldn't convert but the underdogs were 5-0 up. Russell then stepped up, unleashing a mighty 50:22 to Bath in the Lyon 22 for the first time in the match. They ramped up the pressure and were awarded a penalty in front of the posts when Mickael Guillard didn't roll away. Russell played it safe, for once, kicking the easy three points. Bath now had the upper hand and two tries in a five-minute period at the mid-point of the half underlined their dominance. Dunn got the first. The hooker, and hammer of Edinburgh in the semi-finals, took a tap penalty and barged over with the help of Charlie Ewels. Ojomoh quickly followed up with the second try, taking a pass from Spencer and pirouetting his way to the line. Russell converted both to put Bath 17-5 to the good. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Bath's Finn Russell (centre) during the EPCR Challenge Cup Final at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Picture date: Friday May 23, 2025. | PA Then came the yellow cards. Underhill's head-on-head on Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili made for painful viewing on the big screen slo-mo but Davidson felt yellow would suffice. The Scot had sent off the Bath flanker in the round of 16 clash with Pau and this looked as if it also warranted red but Underhill returned after 10 minutes and also passed a head injury assessment. Muir, the Bath wing, joined his team-mate in the sin-bin after taking out Dumortier in the air and this one was more clearcut. It was now 13 v 15 but Bath somehow clung on and Underhill returned for the final minute of the half to help with a huge defensive effort. Bath preserved their 17-5 lead and went further ahead with Russell's second penalty early in the second half. Lyon were now trailing by three scores and needed a way back. They turned to their big men and Arno Botha delivered. The South African No 8 powered over and Berdeu converted to reduce Bath's advantage to 20-12. Bath looked to their bench and the arrival of Thomas du Toit, Guy Pepper and Alfie Barbeary brought immediate rewards. Barbeary and du Toit were both involved in their third try, helping Obano power over. Spencer, the man of the match, then got in on the act, scoring Bath's fourth try after a searing break by Tom de Glanville. Russell converted both and even had an ambitious drop goal attempt in between the tries.
