3 tries, 3 red cards, 2 more yellow cards and 4 penalties
from George Ford secured the win for Tigers 17-12, with all the action coming
in the second half. First Francois Louw
was sent off for an ugly off the ball elbow to Geordan Murphy’s face, then Matt
Banahan and Brett Deacon saw red as Banahan’s vicious tackle knocked Anthony Allen
out for 6 minutes and Deacon reacted by punching the Bath man in the face.
It all started with Geordan Murphy’s introduction from the
bench. Clearly riled up from his snub by
the coaching staff Murphy was a man with a point to prove. He upped the ante and the physicality immediately
with an aggressive clear out of Stuart Hooper, then in the next ruck he tangled
with Louw. This was right in front of us
on the terrace and it didn’t look good.
Murphy was pinned on his back with Louw on top. Unprovoked he elbowed Murphy clean on the
nose and the linesman needed no prompting to recommend a red. He got a lot anyway from the terrace that was
keen to make sure he didn’t bottle it.
From the resultant penalty Tigers went for the corner and
scored a peach of a try. Sweeping right
to left Niall Morris entered the line and exploited the extra space to draw in
the on rushing defence leaving Adam Thompstone with an easy finish for his 5th
try in 6 matches.
The action didn’t stop there; Bath kicked off long to
Anthony Allen who dummied the kick before breaking out of the 22. On halfway he kicked ahead and was taken out
by Michael Classens, the referee having no hesitation to give the penalty which
Ford duly converted.
Still the incidents kept coming thick and fast; at the next
kick off Bath again went long to Anthony Allen who again stepped and beat Matt
Banahan all ends up. Banahan had earlier
drawn blood from illegal challenges on Matt Tait and Julian Salvi so “he isn’t
that sort of player” doesn’t wash as an excuse.
Yes he is that kind of dirty player.
The red card was completely deserved as after Allen had stepped him
Banahan wildly swung his arm at him and connected just under the chin. He collapsed immediately and didn’t move for
6 minutes whilst on the pitch.
Brett Deacon reacted as any normal person would to that
vicious assault by punching Banahan in the face. A punch in the face is a fair red card
providing we have some consistency. Unfortunately
that was sadly lacking when Lee Mears and then Stephen Donald connected with
punches to the face. At least Donald got
a yellow though to reduce Bath to 12 men.
The first half was a cracker too despite it ending 5-0 to
Bath. It was the best 0 we’ve ever
had. We were all over them for long
periods of the game and had two tries ruled out by the referee. The first would have been a contender for try
of the season. Marcos Ayerza, so much
better in green than sky blue, was the recipient of a one-two with Micky Young on
the 22 that unlocked the Bath defence.
Allen then dummied to draw the defence out of line before releasing Matt
Smith down the wing. They marched Bath
to their line before going from one corner to the other, the TMO harshly ruling
that Kitchener’s pass was forward. The
second was ruled out for a knock on from Julian Salvi, I couldn’t see it and
the TV didn’t pick it up but the referee was practically on top of him so was
probably right.
Bath took their two tries well, the first saw Donald stroll
in from the 22 as Matt Tait exhibited his turnstile defence yet again and Brett
Deacon was out paced. The second was
Banahan using all of his strength to stay upright in the tackle and using his
long arms to find Tom Biggs who raced in for the try.
Tigers will be pleased with their win that pushed them back
into the top 4 before the break for European action. With the All Black conquering heroes to come
back too we are sitting pretty for the second half of the season and these
points gained are vital in the race for a home semi final. This game will be remembered for the red
cards, the most in the match and the only time in league history a side have received
two, and it is vital to remember that all were correctly awarded. Rugby descends into violent anarchy if the
ref keeps his cards in his pocket, so more red cards in matches are to be
applauded even if the action that prompts them are not.
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