Bath end long wait for silverware as classy Ben Spencer and Finn Russell take them to Challenge Cup success
Bath's Ben Spencer lifts the trophy after winning the EPCR Challenge Cup Final at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff.
Bath became Challenge Cup winners for the second time after the English side powered to a 37-12 victory over Lyon in the final at the Principality Stadium.
Although the Frenchmen opened the scoring through Ethan Dumortier, the West Country outfit dominated the next 20 minutes, touching down twice through Tom Dunn and Max Ojomoh for a 17-5 lead.
It was an advantage they would hold at the break, but it was not without controversy as Sam Underhill escaped a red card for a dangerous tackle.
With Bath perhaps fortunate to escape a harsher sanction, they would go on to control much of the second period.
Once again, Lyon would cross the whitewash first in the half via Arno Botha, but Johann van Graan’s men dominated the rest of the match with Beno Obano and Ben Spencer tries, allied by the accurate kicking of Finn Russell, taking them to the Challenge Cup trophy.
Despite winning the Premiership Rugby Cup earlier in the season, it was their first major piece of silverware since 2008.
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Bath have been the dominant team in England’s top-tier this season and went into the final as favourites, but Lyon started well and belied their lowly position in the Top 14.
Irrespective of their struggles in the league, they are packed with both power and excellent players, and that was demonstrated in the opening exchanges.
Their big carriers, particularly lock duo Theo William and Mickael Guillard, were getting over the gain line with regularity and they deserved the lead given to them by Dumortier.
It took a TMO review – certainly not the last of the final – to confirm the score, but the France international did exceptionally well to keep his foot off the touchline and touch down.
The Englishmen had not been in the contest for the opening five minutes but they responded when they exerted some pressure and it yielded a penalty opportunity, resulting in Russell, who was controlled throughout, reducing the arrears off the tee.
That provided the spark the West Country outfit needed and they started creating opportunities with the excellent Ojomoh to the fore. The centre showed his class by sending Will Butt through a hole and, although the attack broke down, they kept their foot on the Lyon throat.
They went over twice in five minutes – both from close range – as Dunn and the aforementioned Ojomoh crossed the whitewash to give Bath a 17-5 advantage.
Then came the controversy. Underhill found himself in hot water for making contact with the head of Davit Niniashvili after Lyon had made a break down the left, but it was not deemed a red card offence.
Sam Underhill ‘very, very lucky’ to avoid red for horror tackle in Challenge Cup Final
The flanker was duly sin-binned and he was soon followed on the naughty step by Will Muir’s reckless tackle in the air.
However, the French outfit failed to take advantage of the extra men, having a try ruled out for Dylan Cretin stupidly blocking Tom Dunn to deny Dumortier another try.
It meant Bath retained their 12-point buffer and they would build on that at the start of the second period when Russell added a penalty.
To Lyon’s credit, they would fight back and reduced the arrears immediately through Botha, but their first-half profligacy would ultimately cost them.
They left themselves with too much to do and Bath were ultimately too strong a side to let them off the hook.
Obano demonstrated their dominance by crossing the whitewash from close range before they secured the win with a well-worked score.
They went to the right off a scrum as Ojomoh made inroads before going back the other way where Tom de Glanville was lurking. The full-back dummied and sped through a gap, giving Spencer the simple task of going over unopposed to make sure of the victory.
The teams
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ted Hill, 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 Ross Molony, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Ciaran Donoghue, 23 Alfie Barbeary
Lyon: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Vincent Rattez, 13 Josiah Maraku, 12 Theo Millet, 11 Ethan Dumortier, 10 Léo Berdeu, 9 Baptiste Couilloud, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Mickael Guillard, 4 Theo William, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Jérôme Rey
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Marchand, 17 Hamza Kaabeche, 18 Irakli Aptsiauri, 19 Félix Lambey, 20 Liam Allen, 21 Maxime Gouzou, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Martin Meliande
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
