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Wasps and Bath will vie for bragging rights as well as top spot in Pool 5 of the European Rugby Champions Cup. - 11/12/2015 12:21
Wasps and Bath will vie for bragging rights as well as top spot in Pool 5 of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Both teams have fluctuated in the Aviva Premiership but they have already lit up Europe with their displays in the Champions Cup.
Wasps stunned two-time champions Leinster by winning 33-6 in Dublin on the opening weekend.
Yet they still managed to go even better, beating holder RC Toulon 32-6 at the Ricoh Arena in round two to top a mightily tight pool.
However director of rugby Dai Young is keen for his team not to get carried away with the excitement around those results.
He said: “The defeat last week to Exeter shows when people start talking about you and saying nice things, it can end up kicking you where it hurts.
“It shows that we are not the finished and there are things to work on. But it’s a long old season and the lucky thing is that we have next week to put it right.”
Wasps have already got one over on Bath this year in Coventry. A penalty try and the boot of Jimmy Gopperth clinched a 16-9 win in October.
Wasps include Nathan Hughes, named this week as Player of the Month for November in the Aviva Premiership.
He will line-up opposite Scotland international Dave Denton who makes his first for Bath since arriving from Edinburgh – and just three days after the club confirmed the signing of British Lions No8 Taulupe Faletau for next season.
Denton said: “If the squad has real ambitions to win trophies in Europe and domestically, you have to have a lot of depth in each position and Faletau coming is going to be a great signing for us.”
Bath have also wavered in the league but won their opening European tie against Leinster 19-16.
Match Facts
- This will be the first clash between these two sides despite having played 167 Champions Cup games between them (Wasps 87, Bath 80).
- Wasps have won five and drawn one of their last seven Champions Cup fixtures, keeping their opponents to single figures in three of those fixtures.
- Wasps have won four of their eight Champions Cup matches against English opposition although only one of those four wins came on home soil.
- Bath Rugby have won five of their last six Champions Cup matches, conceding an average of only 14 points per game over that span.
- Wasps are the only side in the competition yet to concede a try this season, keeping both Leinster and Toulon from crossing their try line so far.
- Wasps need 38 points to score their 2500th in the Champions Cup overall.
- Wasps have made the most tackles in the tournament so far, averaging 163 per game.
- Four of Wasps seven tries have originated from inside their own half, the most of any team, while the only try Bath have conceded so far began in their oppositions half.
- Only Ulster (55%) have a lower lineout success than Bath Rugby (67%) in the 2015/16 Champions Cup.
- Ruaridh Jackson has kicked nine goals from 10 attempts this season (90%), giving him the best goal kicking accuracy of any player who’s made more than five attempts at goal.
Les joueurs de Coventry ont laissé échapper dans les arrêts de jeu une troisième victoire en trois matches dans une poule 5 relancée par ce résultat (23-25). Anthony Watson est le héros du jour pour Bath. - 13/12/2015 19:40
George Ford kicked an 86th minute conversion to earn Bath a dramatic win at English rivals Wasps to maintain their unbeaten record in Pool 5 of the Champions Cup.
Wasps looked to be heading for the victory until Anthony Watson scored a late try with the home side down to 13 men. England international Ford nailed the conversion from the touchline to give Bath the four points and move into second place in the pool with a game in hand on leaders, Wasps.
Bath had raced into a first half lead with tries from Jonathan Joseph and Matt Banahan but the home side were kept in contention by the boot of outside-half Ruaridh Jackson. A Rob Miller try 20 minutes from the end put Wasps in front but they couldn’t cling on to their slender advantage.
The victory moves Bath two points behind Wasps at the top of pool five and four points ahead of reigning champions and three-time winners Toulon. It started with James Haskell going over the Bath line after just five minutes but after going to the TMO the try wasn’t given.
Jackson and Ford exchanged penalties early on before Joseph raced in for the game’s opening try after scooping up the loose ball following excellent work by Tom Ellis to get the turnover. Elliot Daly nailed a huge penalty for the home side to claw back three points but it wasn’t long before the visitors got their second score on the board.
Banahan spotted some space on the blindside and exchanged passes with scrum half Nikola Matawalu to beat the covering defence and cross the whitewash. Two more Jackson penalties reduced the deficit to three points at the half-time break before Ford extended Bath’s lead with his second penalty of the afternoon.
Jackson responded with two more penalties before they scored a superb team try through Miller thanks to some lovely offloads from Joe Launchbury and Daly. The reliable Jackson missed a couple of penalties to calm the nerves for Wasps but his late replacement Jimmy Gopperth stuck on over five minutes from time to put the home side five points in front.
Lorenzo Cittadini and George Smith both saw yellow for the home side in the final minutes with Wasps under huge pressure on their own line as the clock went into the red. The visitors' finally made the advantage count with Watson’s try in the corner, with Ford showing nerves of steel in front of new England boss Eddie Jones with his conversion.
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