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Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Unstoppable Bath secure top spot after resounding win against Leicester
Bath 43 Leicester 15 This was as close to a perfect day as Bath could have wished for. Top spot secured, everyone seemingly through in one piece for Friday's Challenge Cup final and the cherry on top in a resounding seven-try victory was a score from Tom Dunn, Bath's appearance record setter. And it was not just a close-range rumble from the back of a maul either. Instead it featured an X-rated dummy that sent poor Freddie Steward halfway towards Chippenham. It was the type of try that should bring instant dismissal from the front-row union, but each replay was cheered uproariously by a sell-out crowd on the occasion of the hooker's 184th Premiership appearance. ✅ Most appearances for Bath ✅ Dummy try Could Tom Dunn make this day any more special?! #GallagherPrem | #BATvLEI — Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) May 17, 2025 It also broke Leicester's dogged resistance. With Newcastle to come at home in the final round of matches, they are still heavy favourites to secure the second home semi-final but on this evidence they would pose little threat to Bath in a potential rematch in the final. While the first half was highly competitive, Bath squeezed Leicester like a boa constrictor in the second. Tigers simply had no breath left in them after absorbing wave after wave of brutal attack and were hit by two late sucker punches from Joe Cokanasiga and Will Butt. The scary thing for the rest of the Premiership was that Bath were far from firing on all cylinders, even if their back row of Ted Hill, Sam Underhill and Alfie Barbeary were in barbarous form. They must now be odds-on to complete a treble having already secured the Premiership Cup. There were so many fascinating head-to-head battles, perhaps none more entertaining than the battle of the back-up England scrum-halves between Ben Spencer and Jack van Poortvliet. First blood went to Spencer, who might not be renowned for his sniping ability but is never afraid to attack a gap when it presents itself. Such an opening appeared when Sam Underhill fed him line-out ball off the top and the Leicester line-out disintegrated, allowing Spencer to outpace Ollie Hassell-Collins to reach the corner. Give Ben Spencer an inch and he'll take a mile 💨 The Bath captain sees the gap, makes the dummy and sends it home for a try 👏 #GallagherPrem | #BATvLEI — Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) May 17, 2025 After Handre Pollard knocked over a penalty, Ollie Chessum was sent to the sin-bin for making head contact with Will Muir – and the Lions lock might have been lucky to have escaped worse punishment. But even with a man down, Leicester continued to probe and were making slow if steady progress through their close-range carrying game in the Bath 22 when Van Poortvliet pulled the trigger with a cross-field kick. While the chip was perfectly weighted, there was still a lot of work for Joseph Woodward, who claimed the ball above Will Butt's head before twisting past Will Muir and Alfie Barbeary to score. Bath hit back almost straight away through Obano from close range after a wave of powerful carries, notably by Joe Cokanasiga, brought them to within range. However, like Leicester, they would lose a man to the sin-bin after hooker Tom Dunn made contact with the head of Hanro Liebenberg. Leicester almost immediately took advantage. Again they pulled in Bath's defenders with their power game before spreading the play. This time it was full-back Freddie Steward who added the width with a long looping pass to Radwan, who took his record to nine tries in nine games. Despite the howls of protest for a forward pass, the try stood. Steward ➡️ Radwan ➡️ Try Steward picks out Radwan, who flies over the try-line to give Tigers the lead! #GallagherPrem | #BATvLEI — Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) May 17, 2025 Radwan very nearly had a second, capitalising upon Liebenberg's intercept of Russell's pass, but although he outpaced Muir, Hill showed an amazing turn of speed to pull off one of the try savers of the season on pretty much the fastest player in the Premiership. Hill has some engine. Moments later, he was racing down the left touchline after Leicester conceded a turnover in midfield. Russell changed the direction of attack and, while he came close to another intercept, this time the risk was worth it as Roux went under the posts. Russell produced an even better piece with an offload out of the tackle but that was upstaged by Dunn's outrageous dummy. Perhaps with one eye on the final against Lyon, Bath went into cruise control after that but there was still time for Ojomoh to intercept Ben Youngs before quickly deciding that Cokanasiga was the faster option. A final flourish was added by Butt with a try in the corner that will act as an exclamation mark to the rest of the Premiership. Match details Scoring sequence: 5-0, Spencer try; 5-3, Pollard penalty; 5-8, Woodward try; 10-8, Obano try; 12-8, Russell con; 12-13, Radwan try; 12-15, Pollard con; 17-15, Roux try; 19-15, Russell con; 24-15, Dunn try; 29-15, Stuart try; 31-15, Russell con; 36-15, Cokanasiga try; 38-15, Russell con; 43-15, Butt try. Bath: C Donoghue; J Cokanasiga, C Redpath (M Ojomoh, 47), W Butt, W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (T Carr-Smith, 65); B Obano (F van Wyk, 55), T Dunn (N Annett, 65), T Du Toit (W Stuart, 50, Q Roux (R Molony, 56), C Ewels (G Pepper, 56), T Hill, S Underhill (N Annett, 30-39), A Barbeary (A Green, 65). Sin-bin: Dunn 29-39. Leicester: F Steward; A Radwan (J Shillcock, 41-45), S Kata (J Shillcock, 65), J Woodward (D Kelly, 53), O Hassell-Collins; H Pollard, J van Poortvliet (B Youngs, 50); N Smith (J Cronin, 62), J Montoya (C Clare, 69), J Heyes (W Hurd, 65), C Henderson, O Chessum, H Liebenberg, T Reffell (M Rogerson, 65), O Cracknell (E Ilione, 54) Sin-bin: Chessum 11-21.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bath overpower Leicester in top-of-the-table clash
Gallagher Premiership Bath (19) 43 Tries: Spencer, Obano, Roux, Dunn, Stuart, Cokanasiga, Butt Cons: Russell 4 Leicester (15) 15 Tries: Woodward, Radwan Cons: Pollard Pens: Pollard Leaders Bath won a ferocious top-of-the-table encounter against Leicester Tigers, scoring seven tries in a 43-15 victory to lay down a major marker in the penultimate weekend of the Premiership. Defeat, which saw the Tigers held to zero points in the second half, means Leicester have to wait until the final league match in two weeks to confirm a home semi-final in the play-offs. Bath edged a ding-dong first half 19-15 after tries from Ben Spencer, Beno Obano and Quinn Roux with Leicester replying through Joseph Woodward and Adam Radwan. But Bath accelerated out of reach in a dominant second 40 minutes with tries from Tom Dunn and Will Stuart before a showpiece intercepted effort from Joe Cokanasiga and Will Butt's last-minute score sealing a statement victory. Leicester stay second, five points clear of Gloucester in fifth, and face bottom-of-the-table Newcastle at home in their final match on 31 May. Bath, now 15 points clear at the top, travel to Saracens on the same day. With two of the most competitive packs in the league facing each other, the match began with all the tension of a Premiership final, despite being three weeks from the Twickenham showpiece. Spencer opened the scoring for Bath on four minutes, throwing a dummy to create a gap from a line-out and running into the corner before Handre Pollard's penalty put Leicester on the board. Ollie Chessum's early yellow card for head contact on Will Muir then seemed to hand Bath the initiative, but the Tigers' defence was superb as Julian Montoya expertly held them up over the line. Leicester knew just one point from the match would seal second spot in the table and it was them who came out of the period with 14 men better, as Jack van Poortvliet picked out Woodward in space with a cross-field kick to give Tigers an 8-5 lead. Hill thought he had pulled one back for Bath straight away but it was scratched off for offside, although Obano then powered over as the score swung back to the home side. Leicester - who confirmed Geoff Parling as successor to head coach Michael Cheika earlier this week - forced Bath to sustain wave after wave of pressure, made worse by Dunn's yellow card for head contact on Hanro Liebenberg. Their defence was eventually breached when Freddie Steward's long pass found Radwan, who dived into the corner for his ninth try in nine Tigers matches. Tigers pull 'wildcard' with 'very sharp' Parling Radwan was almost immediately in again but was denied by Hill's excellent covering tackle and it was Bath who ended the half on the up, as Roux ran in under the posts. After the disappointment of his earlier yellow, Dunn was able to savour the celebration on his club-record 184th appearance as he scored Bath's fourth try to a standing ovation from the home fans as the hosts turned the screw in the second half. Time and again Bath's replacements have proved a major point of difference this season and, as the changes came thick and fast around the hour mark, Leicester were penned back deep by their own line. After one potential Bath try was ruled out for a knock-on, Stuart scored Bath's fifth from close range to all but seal the victory. Cokanasiga added a moment of magic in the closing stages, sprinting clear after Max Ojomoh intercepted with Leicester five metres from their own line, and Butt took the score past 40 in the final minute. Bath: Donoghue; Cokanasiga, Redpath, Butt, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Roux, Ewels, Hill, Underhill, Barbeary. Replacements: Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Pepper, Carr-Smith, Ojomoh, Green. Sin bin: Dunn (28 mins) Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell. Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Hurd, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Kelly. Sin bin: Chessum (10 mins) Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
BBC News
17-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bath overpower Leicester in top-of-the-table clash
Gallagher PremiershipBath (19) 43Tries: Spencer, Obano, Roux, Dunn, Stuart, Cokanasiga, Butt Cons: Russell 4Leicester (15) 15Tries: Woodward, Radwan Cons: Pollard Pens: Pollard Leaders Bath won a ferocious top-of-the-table encounter against Leicester Tigers, scoring seven tries in a 43-15 victory to lay down a major marker in the penultimate weekend of the which saw the Tigers held to zero points in the second half, means Leicester have to wait until the final league match in two weeks to confirm a home semi-final in the edged a ding-dong first half 19-15 after tries from Ben Spencer, Beno Obano and Quinn Roux with Leicester replying through Joseph Woodward and Adam Bath accelerated out of reach in a dominant second 40 minutes with Tom Dunn's score, a showpiece intercepted try from Joe Cokanasiga and last-minute extras from Will Butt sealing a statement stay second, five points clear of Gloucester in fifth, and face bottom-of-the-table Newcastle at home in their final match on 31 now 15 points clear at the top, travel to Saracens on the same to follow. Bath: Donoghue; Cokanasiga, Redpath, Butt, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Roux, Ewels, Hill, Underhill, Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Pepper, Carr-Smith, Ojomoh, bin: Dunn (28 mins)Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Clare, Cronin, Hurd, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, bin: Chessum (10 mins)Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
