Bath mounted a gutsy late comeback to clinch a 26-24 win over Harlequins in the Premiership clash at the Twickenham Stoop.
Johann van Graan’s side found themselves 24-14 down heading into the final quarter, but late scores from South African props Thomas du Toit and Francois van Wyk steered them to a dramatic bonus-point win.
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Harlequins got off to a flying start, as Alex Dombrandt crossed in the seventh minute. A clever play from a lineout saw Harlequins set up shop in the Bath 22-metre, and just one phase later a sneaky delayed pass from Marcus Smith sent the England number eight cantering over the line for the opener.
The visitors responded well, however, and quickly marched to within touching distance of the Harlequins line; however, a costly error at the line-out denied them a golden opportunity to pull level.
Harlequins made them pay for this too, as debutant Rodrigo Isgro opened his account in the Famous Quarters. A powerful charge from the Argentine earned them precious territory in Bath’s 22, and a few phases later a clever cross-field kick from Smith was well-collected by the debutant, who gleefully walked over the line to score.
The end-to-end action continued, as a string of penalties marched Bath back into the Quins 22, but again an error at the lineout gave the hosts an easy reprieve. Bath weren’t going away easily though, and they finally made their possession count through Guy Pepper.
Some big carries fromAustin Emens,Jaco Coetzee and Will Stuart marched them to within touching distance of the try line, and a clever offload from Beno Obano sent the former Newcastle man crashing over the line.
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Despite being reduced to 14 men, with Tom Dunn sent to the sin-bin, Bath pulled level through Tom de Glanville. Again, powerful carries in the tight propelled Bath to within inches of the Quins line, but a delicious pass from Finn Russell connected with the fullback, who danced around the cover defence to dot down.
With the clock winding down, Harlequins snatched a late score to go into the sheds in front. Powerful work from the Quins pack bashed through the Bath defence, but a clever snipe from Isgro saw the debutant go over for his second of the game.
After a period of trench warfare in the opening exchanges of the second-half, Smith extended his side’s lead with an easy three-pointer following a yellow card to Pepper.
This injected a new lease of life into the game, and again 14-men Bath made the most of it with their third try. A cheeky dummy from Emens allowed the winger to break through the Quins line, and just two phases later powerful Springbok prop Du Toit crashed over from short range to pull his side back within three.
A spot of ill-discipline saw Bath set up shop in Quins’ 22, and they capitalised through Van Wyk. A strong surge from De Glanville nearly looked to have done the job, however just one phase later the South African prop propelled himself over in the corner to give Bath the lead with just one minute to go.
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Quins weren’t going down without a fight, and some nuggety work from Danny Care earned them one final throw of the dice with a scrum, however a solid scrum from the visitors won a crucial penalty to secure the win.
The teams
Harlequins:15 Tyrone Green, 14Rodrigo Isgro, 13Oscar Beard, 12Luke Northmore, 11Cadan Murley, 10Marcus Smith, 9Will Porter, 8Alex Dombrandt, 7Will Evans, 6Jack Kenningham, 5Dino Lamb, 4Joe Launchbury, 3Titi Lamositele, 2Jack Walker, 1Fin Baxter
Replacements:16 Nathan Jibulu,17 Joe Marler,18 Dillon Lewis,19 Irne Herbst,20 Chandler Cunningham-South,21 James Chisholm,22 Danny Care,23 Jarrod Evans
Bath:15 Tom de Glanville,14 Joe Cokanasiga,13 Ollie Lawrence,12 Will Butt,11 Austin Emens,10 Finn Russell,9 Ben Spencer,8 Alfie Barbeary,7 Sam Underhill,6 Guy Pepper,5 Charlie Ewels,4 Quinn Roux,3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn,1 Beno Obano
Replacements:16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Greg Macdonald
TMO: Christophe Ridley
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