Bath are in the Premiership final for the first time in nine years, but it’s not a team that gives its fans an easy run. Sometimes it was dirty, which seemed most likely to hit Northampton at Twickenham next Saturday, only for a 74-minute try from Niall Annett and 16 points from Finn Russell’s boot to keep Bath on course for the promised land.
Perhaps it was the nerves associated with such a great occasion, but it was only in the last two minutes that the home fans were able to relax from afar. It has been 28 years since their favorites were crowned English champions for the last time, and the tremendous joy at the final whistle showed exactly what this result meant for everyone connected with the club.
Emotions were certainly high in the main stand, where after the match there was an altercation in the middle of a fan and the non-playing England international Jonny Hill, which ended with a cut at the top of the eye and the breaking of his sunglasses.
Sale said they were “working with Bath to conduct an investigation into the incident,” with their director of rugby Alex Sanderson also awaiting further details. “Jonny is not an aggressive guy and I will answer these questions when I know,” he said. “I can vouch for Jonny’s character, he is not an evil person who is too aggressive.”
On the spot, however, Sale could be proud of their efforts, not only here, but in recent weeks. They confused expectations for a while and almost added another classic ambush to their growing collection of 18 to 5 before Annett’s score dissolved the growing tension.
“We felt like we had the game win at times,” Sanderson said, lamenting his team’s inability to control the game in the middle third of the field. “These big games turn on very small hinges: a couple of hits and a couple of penalties.”
Bath have certainly felt more fluid this season and will need a smaller number of errors to outsmart Northampton. However, their kicking game remains a crucial weapon, and their early dominance was rewarded when Ted Hill picked up a token from Ben Spencer to score in the right corner after the big flanker and Russell had made a good pitch in the build-up.
A small break came in the form of a power and a subsequent gentle penalty against Bath, which gave Sale the opportunity to step into the corner and set up a driving maul, from which Ben Curry received the first points of his afternoon team, forcing Bath to take on a new guard.
They did it properly, with Will Muir firing in front of George Ford in a weak 50-22 and Beno Obano claiming his team’s second try at close range at the end of another growl. When a reverse penalty for head-to-head contact against Sam Dugdale allowed Russell to take the lead to 18-5, the warning signs already seemed to be flashing.