Edinburgh suffered a devastating defeat on Saturday at The Hive, as English Premiership leaders Bath headed North to the Scottish capital to face Sean Everitt’s side in the EPCR Challenge Cup Semi-Final. It was a complete sellout at Hive Stadium, with plenty of Bath fans having made the trip North. Tim Pont reports from Hive Stadium.
After a petered out Bath attack to start the match, Edinburgh seemed to find something from almost nothing as Ali Price’s grubber sent the ball behind the Bath back-line, but a second kick from him was mistimed and the ball bobbed out behind the goal line. Edinburgh’s attacking start was halted for a second as TMO reviewed a high tackle from Bath, which eventually came to nothing.
The home side did have another opportunity to get onto the scoreboard early on, however, as Scrum-Half Ross Thompson attempted to kick for three from a penalty, but his effort bounced off the right-hand goalpost.
Bath had their first real attacking opportunity just before the 10-minute mark, after a good kick from Finn Russell gave his side a lineout around 10 meters from the try-line on the right-hand side, allowing Sam Underhill to curve round towards the goalposts and secure the first five points of the day. Finn Russell’s kick was good, earning Bath the full seven.
Edinburgh had a chance to break back almost right away after Will Muir’s foot dislodged the ball following a tackle, earning him 10 minutes in the sin-bin, and reducing Bath to 14 men. However, another excellent kick from Russell moved the ball down the field well into Edinburgh territory. The Scotland international got his hands on the ball again and confidently attempted a drop goal, but it flew underneath the crossbar, much to Edinburgh’s relief. Edinburgh finally used their man-advantage, with 18 minutes on the clock, as early replacement Mosese Tuipulotu caught a short pass and weaved through Bath defenders to find the left-hand corner. Ross Thompson’s kick was good to level the game at 7-7.
With 15 men back on the field for both teams, The Hive fell silent as Edinburgh defended a dangerous-looking attack from the Premiership leaders right on the goal line, which seemed to last for minutes, as Bath attempted to find space to break through.
After several tense minutes for the home side’s fans, Bath finally found a chip in the wall, with Hooker Tom Dunn breaking thorough to give his side the lead again. The conversion, however, was well wide, leaving the score at 7-12.
Three minutes before half-time, Ross Thompson’s second penalty kick of the afternoon was, this time, successful, reducing the deficit to just two points, in what was the last scoring action before the break.
Edinburgh started the second half aggressively, spurred on by a vibrant Hive crowd, and almost immediately took the lead after being awarded a penalty try, after a deliberate knock-on from full-back Tom De Glanville, which also earned him a yellow. It was Edinburgh who now led by five, with the score 17-12
Almost right away, however, the lead seemed to slip away from the Scottish side as, despite the man advantage, Edinburgh couldn’t overpower Bath’s attack. After minutes of TMO deliberation, the try was ruled out, having not been placed down. Edinburgh’s Sam Skinner joined De Glanville in the bin after a rough tackle, the pursuing attack put Edinburgh in a precarious position yet again, but a moment of strong defending ensured that Edinburgh maintained the lead for now.
Bath, however, kept coming, maintaining possession and inching forward little by little. Eventually, in the 54th minute, they mauled their way across the line to tie up the scores before Finn Russell’s kick placed his side two points ahead again. Bath then deepened their lead, substitute Alfie Barbeary curving round the ruck to score right in the left-hand corner. However, Finn Russell missed his kick, meaning a converted try from Edinburgh would be enough to tie the scores up. However, Bath still held possession of the ball, at this point in the game dominating in open play. Edinburgh were, at this point, struggling to get a hand on the ball, let alone build an attack. Finn Russell kicked for three again, this time successfully, to further Bath’s lead to ten. Two scores were required from Edinburgh with just 16 minutes left to play.
Sneakily, almost directly from the ensuing kick-off, Edinburgh broke through, Ali Price catching Thompson’s pass before forcing his way over the line to quickly add five to Edinburgh’s tally, Hive Stadium falling completely silent as Ross Thompson contemplated his conversion kick. Erupting as it flew through the goalposts, reducing Bath’s lead to just three points again. With ten minutes left to play, it very much seemed that the next try would clinch either side’s place in the final.
Bath seemed set to take those needed points, Edinburgh forced to defend on the goalline, yet again. In a similar manner to this season’s performances in the Premiership, the Somerset side simply overpowered Edinburgh at 76 minutes, forcing their way over the line. In a try that all but booked their ticket to Cardiff.
To rub salt in the Edinburgh wounds: Bath weren’t done, with Guy Pepper catching Will Muir’s pass to add another five. A consolation try was ruled out for Edinburgh, who will be disappointed, despite some solid moments. Towards the end, the stronger side broke away to find the points they needed and more.
The result ends an impressive European run for Edinburgh. Who’s only hope of a major trophy this season now depends on results elsewhere in the URC, two wins from two are required, as well as other results going their way for the side to secure a play-off spot. Bath, on the other hand, could complete a treble having already secured the Premiership cup and a place in the Premiership play-offs.
Bath’s Johan van Grann spoke on his side’s victory after the game:
“I think it was a proper semi-final, two very good teams. Credit to the match officials. It felt like a test match. I thought we started well. We had one or two opportunities we didn’t use, pretty calm at half time. Conceded a yellow card just after half time, but we were positive into that left corner and I felt it was a real 23-man effort. We’ve just won a semi-final away from home, so really well done. Looking forward to the next few weeks.”
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt commented on the defeat:
“We showed a lot of fight and a lot of pride in the jersey, but unfortunately, we fell just a little bit short. I’m proud of how we defended our goal line with so much energy and passion. But we knew it was always going to be difficult against a Bath team that can put you under so much pressure in that area. In the second half, our discipline also wasn’t what it needed to be. We allowed Bath too many easy entries into our 22. Bath is one of the most efficient teams in Europe in that area, and they can punish you. They put us under pressure and kept us pinned in our own 22 for a lot of the second half. In saying that, we put ourselves into a good position early in the second half and got ourselves into the lead. It’s disappointing that we weren’t able to capitalise on that. The guys are gutted, but we need to pick ourselves up now.”
