Bath player ratings: England international ‘world-class’ while special talent ‘especially poor’ in thrilling display at the Rec
Bath player ratings: England international 'world-class' while special talent 'especially poor' in thrilling display at the Rec
Bath defeated Exeter at the Recreation Ground on Friday night, winning their second game of the Prem season 40-34.
Here are our Bath player ratings:
Bath player ratings v Exeter Chiefs
15 Ciaran Donoghue: A special talent, but especially poor on Friday. Panicked under pressure when his poor kick to the corner was picked off, and then put an unneeded foot into touch on the return. Otherwise, invisible. 3
14 Joe Cokanasiga: Incredibly busy in the first 10 minutes and showed some great attacking prowess. He failed to build on this, however, with Exeter dominating him in the air and at the breakdown. 5
13 Ollie Lawrence: Showed excellent handling early on, but struggled to implement his power into the game. A really poor attempted tackle on ImmanuelFeyi-Waboso for the Exeter man’s first try. 5
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12 Cameron Redpath: Brilliant interception to score the opening try, and was impressive on the attack throughout. Only mistake was a disastrous drop in the final quarter as the tryline beckoned, but a penalty try minutes later made up for it. 7
11 Tom de Glanville: Solid under the high ball and effective in open space. Poor handling at times, but wasn’t punished for it. 6
10 Finn Russell: Butchered a kick to the corner early on, but in general he looked calm and collected on the ball. His try will become an integral part of the Finn Russell highlight reel. Defensively, he was poor, however, missing four tackles. 6
9 Bernard van der Linde: Brilliant show and go to score Bath’s second and looked really threatening when attacking broken field. He was guilty of a couple of mistakes from the boot, but redeemed himself with a terrific kick through for Du Preez’s try. 7
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Forwards
8 Daniel du Preez: He did well to score his try and was powerful on attack, and dominant in defence. He’s yet to emulate Alfie Barbeary’s latter-season form, however, notably dropping the ball on a key Bath attack. This being said, plenty to be excited over. 6
7 Guy Pepper: He never seems to have a bad day. Made some huge hits, including one on Harvey Skinner that sent shockwaves around the Rec, and was electric off the base every single time – a real top-quality talent. 7
6 Ewan Richards: Plenty of carries, and even more tackles. He wasn’t a regular starter for Bath last season, but if he continues to involve himself at this rate going forward, then he could become a key member of the match-day squad. 8
5 Charlie Ewels: Normally the more impressive of the two locks, Ewels had a surprisingly quiet game, leaving his row partner to pick up much of the slack. Whilst he didn’t do poorly, he didn’t make the impact he normally does. 5
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4 Quinn Roux: Made some impressive carries, but he really stood out with his defensive game. The South African-born lock made an impressive 20 tackles and a turnover win, plus three lineout successes to dominate the second-row. 8
3 Will Stuart: The England international was incredible without the ball, with 19 tackles made, and looked the buisness in most areas of his game too. It’s been a great return to rugby for the man who spent much of last season out with injury. 8
2 Tom Dunn: He made his tackles, as always, but his discipline was especially poor, giving away three needless penalties; he also put in a particularly poor attempted tackle on former teammate Will Butt, which led to Feyi-Waboso’s second try. 3
1 Beno Obano: Tenacious carrying throughout, and a huge presence around the park. He beat five defenders from just seven carries and made an incredible 16 tackles, before coming off in the 59th minute having made a world-class display. 9
Replacements: Miles Reid made a huge presence on arrival, putting his shoulder into a tackle to halt an Exeter attack. Max Ojomoh, with his first touch, made a magical offload; Jaco Coetzee returned to the game after 18 months out with injury, and his first action was to win a penalty to gain 50 metres, and Ted Hill showed a brilliant leg drive to score the match-sealing try. 8