Gustard blasts lethargic first half

TODD Blackadder hailed his new juggernaut out wide, Joe Cokanasiga, after his try-double.

“Joe was sensational today, not just his finishing but his workrate, he really stood up,” the Bath DoR said. “We know what he is capable of and he showed it all. He is strong, has got a great off-load and has some special qualities. It was great to see how much he can influence a game.

“I was really proud of the boys. It was a great game of rugby – the skillsets from both sides were brilliant.

TEAMS

HARLEQUINS: Morris 7; Earle 7, Marchant 7, Tapuai 7, Walker 6 (Lasike 48, 6); Smith 5 (Lang 52, 7), Care 7 (Mulchrone 54, 6); Lambert 7 (Marler 41, 7.5), Elia 6 (Ward 41, 6), Collier 6 (Swainston 60, 6), Symons 6.5, Lamb 5 (South 68, 5) Wallace 6 (Bothma 54, 6.5), Robshaw (c) 6, Chisholm 6.5

BATH: Homer 5 (Brew 20, 8); Rokoduguni 7, Willison 8.5, Roberts 8, Cokanasiga 9; Burns 8 (Priestland 55, 7), Green 7 (Cook 62, 7); Catt 7 (van Rooyen 60, 6), Dunn 7 (Walker 60, 6), Thomas 6 (Perenise 60, 6), Stooke 7, Charteris (c) 7 (Ewels 50, 6), Ellis 8, Underhill 8, Mercer 9 (Faletau 60, 7)

REFEREE: Matthew Carley

ATTENDANCE: 11,819

Star man

Joe Cakanasiga – Bath

Cokanasinga said: “It’s been a really easy transition from Irish to Bath, I’m loving it. I live right next to Zach Mercer in town and we spend a lot of time together as we played England U20 stogether.”

Harlequins coach Paul Gustard admitted: “We didn’t play well in the first 40-50 minutes, there was a lack of energy. We need to look at ourselves and be better. In the first half we didn’t work hard enough, we hadn’t really fired a shot.

“We are better than that and I expect us to show that in the coming weeks.”