A dominant first half display, which saw Bath score five tries, meant London Irish went down 10-38 at Madejski Stadium this afternoon.
An Adam Coleman second half score was the highlight for London Irish in a disappointing afternoon for the squad.
Bath struck first with a try from Ben Obano, followed quickly by an Anthony Watson score. Obano was driven over by his forward pack following a sustained period of possession on the Irish line. Watson hacked on a loose ball and won the foot race against Paddy Jackson to slide over for his sides second. Jackson consequently left the field with an injury.
Stephen Myler hit back with a penalty to register the Exiles first points of the afternoon, but that was as good as it got in the first half for London Irish.
Semesa Rokoduguni was on the end of some good handling to finish off Bath’s third try and that was followed by a penalty try, referee Karl Dickson deeming Albert Tuisue’s infringement to have stopped a certain try. Will Chudley scored the visitor’s fifth try, and possibly the best of the lot, just before the hour half mark and Bath went into the break leading 3-31.
London Irish started the second half with plenty of endeavour and found themselves camped on the Bath line. They went for broke with a cross field kick which was fielded by Tom Homer who sprinted 90 metres to score.
Adam Coleman crossed for his first try for the club and was heavily involved in the lead up for his first try as a London Irish player. Stephen Myler added the conversion to reduce the deficit to 10-38.
That was how it ended, and Bath were the victors 10-38. London Irish head to Worcester next Saturday from Round 7 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Score sequence (London Irish first): 0-7, 0-12, 3-12, 3-17, 3-24, 3-31, 3-38, 10-38,
Scorers: Bath: Tries: Obano (6), Watson (9), Rokoduguni (22), Penalty Try (27), Chudley (29), Homer (51); Conversions: Priestland (7, 30, 51); London Irish: Penalties: Myler (17); Tris: Coleman (58); Conversions: Myler (59)
London Irish Team:
15. Paddy Jackson (rep: James Stokes, 10), 14. Curtis Rona, 13. Tom Stephenson (rep: Matt Rogerson, 70), 12. Terrence Hepetema (rep: Tom Fowlie, 30, rep: Nick Phipps, 36)), 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Stephen Myler, 9. Ben Meehan, 1. Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Allan Dell, 49), 2. Saia Fainga’a (rep: Motu Matu’u, 56), 3. Olle Hoskins (rep: Loejoy Chawatama, 56), 4. Franco van der Merwe, rep: George Nott, 56), 5. Adam Coleman, 6. Steve Mafi, 7. Blair Cowan ©; 8. Albert Tuisue
Replacements: 16. Motu Matu’u, 17. Allan Dell, 18, Lovejoy Chawatama, 19. George Nott, 20. Matt Rogerson, 21. Nick Phipps, 22. Tom Fowlie, 23. James Stokes
Bath Rugby Team:
15. Tom Homer, 14. Semesa Rokoduguni, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Jamie Roberts, 11. Anthony Watson, 10. Rhys Priestland © 9. Will Chudley, 1. Beno Obano, 2. Tom Dunn, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Josh McNally, 5. Elliott Stooke, 6. Tom Ellis, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Josh Bayliss
Replacements: 16. Jack Walker, 17. Lewis Boyce, 18. Christian Judge, 19. Matt Garvey, 20. Rhys Davies, 21. Chris Cook, 22. Freddie Burns, 23. Aled Brew
Referee: Karl Dickson
Attendance: 9,259
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