Premiership: Bath beaten by financially-stricken Wasps at the Rec
Wasps put their off-field troubles behind them to further deepen Bath’s woes following a 39-31 Premiership victory at the Rec on Friday.
The Midlanders are verging on administration due to an unpaid tax bill but it did not seem to affect the players, who were excellent throughout.
They cut the hosts’ defence apart with regularity in the first half and went into the break 31-7 ahead thanks to Josh Bassett, Jack Willis and Will Porter tries.
Johann van Graan’s men responded when Matt Gallagher touched down, but the South African has a big task on his hands to alter the West Country outfit’s fortunes.
After failing to beat Sale Sharks, who had 14 men for 72 minutes last weekend, they were once again abysmal for the majority of the match and Bassett secured the bonus-point for the visitors early in the second period.
Bath did threaten a comeback when Tom Dunn (twice) and Jonathan Joseph crossed the whitewash but Wasps held on.
Click here for teams and scorers
Dunn captained Bath in the absence of scrum-half Ben Spencer, who suffered concussion during last weekend’s home defeat against Sale, with full-back Tom de Glanville ruled out by a hamstring issue.
Jacob Umaga returned from injury to line up at full-back for Wasps, while Francois Hougaard featured on the wing and hooker Dan Frost gained a first start of the season.
Wasps absorbed early Bath pressure as the home side looked to bounce back from losing to 14-man Sale, before moving into their stride as Umaga kicked an 11th-minute penalty.
Umaga doubled Wasps’ advantage through a second penalty three minutes later, but both sides suffered injury blows midway through the first-half.
Bath flanker Chris Cloete, a summer signing from Munster, limped off to be replaced by Josh Bayliss, while Hougaard also exited early, with Zach Kibirige taking over.
Wasps claimed the game’s opening try 15 minutes before half-time, and it was an outstanding team score, started by centre Sam Spink’s half-break and ended when Bassett finished brilliantly after gathering Umaga’s floated pass.
Alarm bells were ringing for Bath, but they had even more to worry about as Wasps scored from their next attack, creating intense close-range pressure before Willis touched down and Umaga converted.
And a third try in five minutes arrived after slick approach between Umaga and centre Burger Odendaal saw Porter sprint clear to score. Umaga’s conversion made it 25-0.
Long way back for Bath
Bath managed a response before the break through a smart finish by Gallagher, and Orlando Bailey added the extras, but Umaga booted two more penalties to give Wasps a 24-point interval advantage.
Bath’s misery showed no sign of abating, with scrum-half Louis Schreuder yellow-carded for illegally preventing Wasps from taking a quick penalty.
And as Bath struggled to regroup, relentless pressure was rewarded through a second try for Bassett, putting the visitors seemingly out of sight.
Dunn crashed over for a second Bath try, converted by Bailey, and after Willis was sin-binned for a high tackle, a third home try arrived for Joseph before Dunn claimed his second touchdown.
A Piers Francis penalty brought Bath to just five points adrift after they punished Willis’ indiscretion, yet Wasps had just enough in the tank as Umaga’s late three-pointer sealed it.