Bath player ratings: ‘No faulting’ England snub but empty ‘bag of tricks’ leaves Finn Russell and visitors with tough post-mortem
Ted Hill impressed for Bath against Exeter Chiefs.
Following a disappointing 35-12 defeat to Exeter Chiefs in the PREM Rugby fixture at Sandy Park on Sunday, here’s how we rated Bath’s players.
The backs
15 Tom de Glanville: Returned to starting line-up in place of Santi Carreras and endured a difficult afternoon. Shaken up in the first half when colliding with Paul Brown-Bampoe under a high ball, not once but twice. More damaging for the player and his club was his 45th minute yellow card for deliberately knocking on a Henry Slade pass intended for Christ Tshiunza. 5
14 Joe Cokanasiga: Had precious little impact on the contest with the strong wind restricting the involvement of the wide men to fielding kicks – and he did not see many of them. Big Joe is such a force when Bath are on the front foot but here they trailed throughout and rarely if ever exerted any sort of control. The concerned look on Johann van Graan’s face at the end spoke volumes. 4
13 Ollie Lawrence: Outplayed by opposite number Henry Slade, not least because his England team mate had the ball in his hand for half the afternoon whereas Lawrence barely saw it. Having got to half-time only eight points behind, playing into a ferocious wind, Ollie and pals perhaps thought it would come easy in the second period. In which case they were misinformed. 5
12 Will Butt: A big day for Bath’s occasional centre, commissioned to contain ever-dangerous Aussie Len Ikitau ahead of his own move to Sandy Park this summer on a three-year contract. Like Lawrence, he put out fires and not much else before being replaced by Cam Redpath on the occasion of his 100th club appearance. 5
11 Henry Arundell: There was a long list of things Bath got wrong, one of which was not getting the ball into the hands of their speedster. With the wind so influential Arundell’s pace should have been better employed. Instead his most notable contribution was to prevent a try under considerable pressure after Chiefs skipper Dafydd Jenkins grubbered through in the 64th minute. 6
10 Finn Russell: If Champions Cup semi-final defeat at Bordeaux disappointed the Scot a week ago, this will seriously frustrate a man used to having the ball on a string. He could find nothing in his bag of tricks to turn the tide. Bath were their own worst enemies, discipline wise, but Russell and Spencer would still have expected to exert greater influence. They had none. 5
9 Ben Spencer (c): The post-mortem between captain and director of rugby Johann van Graan began almost the moment the game ended. How could they fail so totally to cash in with the strong wind at their backs after half-time given Exeter led by only eight points at the interval? “Not close to good enough in the second half”, was Van Graan’s verdict. “From an execution point of view we weren’t good enough.” Spencer will hold his hand up to that, having twice fluffed touch finders and been outshone by opposite number Stephen Varney. 6
The forwards
8 Alfie Barbeary: The only starting forward from Bordeaux to play from the off again and, as usual, the hirsute number eight provided value for money. This time he escaped the head knocks that so annoyed Bath a week ago, but just as then, his efforts counted for nothing. 7
7 Sam Underhill: A worthy shift too from Bath’s other flanker, who toiled tirelessly to keep Bath in the game during the first 55 minutes, 30 of which were spent with them down a man. Exeter were still able to open up a 13-point lead, but Underhill addressed that directly; scoring the try from a lineout maul which turned the tide. On the flip side he conceded too many penalties. 7
6 Ted Hill: For all Bath’s imperfections there can be no faulting Hill’s effort. The man worked his socks off. On the day, though, it was akin to pushing water uphill. Exeter had the bit between their teeth, unloading all the frustration that had built up in losses at Gloucester and Ulster. Hill will share Bath’s pain, but he was decent. 8
Exeter player ratings: Chiefs ‘back to their best’ as ‘barbaric’ Test men power victory
5 Ross Molony: With his second-row partner off the field, Molony had his hands full until Charlie Ewels left the bench on 34 minutes to restore Bath to their full compliment. Even then, the visitors could not turn the tide as Exeter ended their three-game losing streak in style. 5
4 Quinn Roux: Lasted only 14 minutes before being shown a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Henry Slade. Assistant referees Luke Pearce and Jonathan Healy felt it merited only a sin bin as Slade appeared to move as he landed with the high ball. But ref Karl Dickson disagreed and ended his afternoon. Roux, like Slade, underwent an HIA. Ironically, the Bath man was the one to fail it. 3
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3 Archie Griffin: With opposite number Iosefa-Scott hogging the headlines this is not a match that will live long in the Welshman’s memory. That said, he did contribute to Frost’s try, angling the maul exactly as the ball carrier required to find the gap. With Leicester at Bath on the final weekend, this defeat could yet gave grave consequences for Bath’s hopes of a home semi-final. 5
2 Dan Frost: A decent return to Sandy Park for the hooker, who made 57 appearances for Chiefs between 2022-25. Playing against the wind in the first half he delivered on his basics, was industrious and scored a smart try, driving through the middle of a maul to claim the five points. It was a shame for his side others could not emulate his performance. 7
1 Francois van Wyk: What was meant to be a celebration of his 50th Bath appearance turned into something altogether different as Chiefs tighthead Josh Iosefa-Scott stole the limelight with a player of the match display including 17 carries, multiple offloads and a no-look pass for Ikitau’s try. 5
