Bath vs Sale Sharks player ratings: Gallagher PREM

It didn’t take long for Bath’s attack to flex their muscles, Henry Arundell going over in the corner after a pass to the outside and once Arundell had space to run no one was going to track him down. Russell would add the extras.

Even though it was early on, Bath looked threatening every time they got out of their 22. An initial break from Lawrence was followed by a crossfield kick from Russell which found Ted Hill on the wing with all people, but Sale held firm to clear their lines with a penalty.

Sale nearly hit back almost immediately, a linebreak from Asher Opoku-Fordjour, having two Bath defenders to beat, but progress halted. Although he would have another chance, this time as provider, giving the ball to Tom O’Flaherty, before swinging a pass out wide to Joe Carpenter but the fullback couldn't gather the ball.

After early Bath pressure, Sale would get on the board after 14 minutes although it was a slow maul it was effective, Nathan Jibulu emerging at the bottom of a pile of bodies to have grounded the ball, George Ford would bring the Sharks level. 7-7

Bath had a chance to retake the lead after 18 minutes, Sale meandered around in their own half, and paid the price for it, Ben Curry being sold short with a pass from his teammate, but uncharacteristically Finn Russell missed what looked like a routine penalty.

The home side went quiet for a bit, but suddenly came alive due to a magic pass from Ben Spencer, slightly delaying it to draw a defender in, before slinging it out left to Tom de Glanville, and the fullback would go over to give Johann van Graan’s side the lead back. Russell would make no mistake from the tee this time.

Bath’s third would be a real team try almost all of their XI touched the ball, before suddenly switching gears, passing the ball to one another like none of them wanted it, Joe Marchant raced over in the corner outrunning multiple Sharks circling him. Russell would narrowly miss the tough kick.

Then came a period of madness, Ben Spencer picked off a pass but with Cokanasiga chasing him down, the scrum half chose to kick chase, after that chaos ensued, no one able to pick up the ball, scrambling at each others feet, before a Shark had possession of it, but what seems to be the story of the first half, Sale are able to get into Bath’s 22, but not able to come away with any points.

Second Half

Sale nearly got caught out a couple times by a Finn Russell crossfield kick in the first half but this time the Sharks got bit, Joe Cokanasiga the beneficiary, getting his second and Bath the bonus point, having Sale defenders twisting and turning their backs mesmerised by the Englishman's feet. Russell took his tally to six for the day with the conversion.

Tom O’Flaherty must be in the Halloween spirit, as he turned into Superman to get Sale’s second and decrease the deficit, despite the best efforts of Cokanasiga to knock the ball out of his opposing winger’s hands. Ford would make the score 26-14.

Whilst Sale had a promising attack in progress, on the left wing, something else was taking place on the other side of the pitch, after a hit from Dan Frost on Ben Spencer, which caused Ben Curry to get involved with the hooker, and after TMO reviewed it, they decided that there was no malicious intent between the two, and awarded a penalty to Bath.

Since Cokanasiga went over shortly after half time, Bath haven’t looked as dangerous or slick, but their first entry into Sale’s 22, they catch them offside and give Russell the chance extend the lead past a two score game, which the Scot gladly obliged slotting through the penalty in front of the posts.

The home side believed that they put the game to bed, with their fifth of the day, asserting their dominance over a sorry Sale, with Louie Hennessey, not long after coming off the bench to get in on the action, sliding over in the corner, after a grubber kick by van der Linde. Russell would make his most impressive kick of the day to make Bath’s lead now 22.

With time running out for the Sharks, their only hope to get something from this game, was to get two more tries in the remaining 10 minutes and thought they got one through Tom Roebuck but referee Antony Woodthorpe thought otherwise.

But they wouldn’t be denied for long, as after a driving maul in the right corner, the Sharks pack powered towards the line, and emerging from it was Luke Cowan Dickie to go over untouched to give the Sharks some hope going into the closing stages. Ford’s perfect day from the tee continued with another conversion.

With the clock basically in the red, Sale ensured they would be going back up north with something, as Canakaivata went over to give them a losing bonus point, but that’s all they would get from the Rec as they a knock on from the kick off meant that Bath got back to winning ways.

Match Summary

Bath: 36

Tries: Arundell 3’, de Glanville 21’, Cokanasiga 30’, 43’, Hennessey 65’

Conversions: Russell 4’, 22’, 44’, 66’

Penalties: Russell 58’,

Yellow Cards:

Red Cards:

Sale Sharks: 28

Tries: Jibulu 13’, O’Flaherty 45’, Cowan-Dickie 71’, Canakaivata 79’

Conversions: Ford 14’, 46’, 72’, 80’

Penalties:

Yellow Cards:

Red Cards:

Player Ratings

Bath:

Replacements:

16 Tom Dunn 5/10.

17 Claudius Wheeler N/A.

18 Will Stuart 6/10. 19 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi 5/10.

20 Ewan Edwards N/A.

21 Bernard van der Linde 6/10.

22 Louie Hennessey 6/10.

23 Jaco Coetzee 5/10

Sale Sharks:

Replacements:

Player of the Match: Finn Russell

You could have given it to a lot of Bath’s attackers, Cokanasiga, de Glanville, and Arundell all impressed today and after a disappointing outing in Gloucester last weekend, they needed to show up today in front of their fans, and Russell led from the front, kicking 11 points, getting an assist and was constantly a threat all day