Struggling Tigers put down by Homer’s try-double
TOM HOMER’S moment of brilliance lit up a turgid clash to give Bath a vital win as Taulupe Faletau proved himself ready for Six Nations duty with Wales despite a late bang.
This 80 minutes at the Rec won no prizes for entertainment, but it was a crucial win for home director of rugby Stuart Hooper as his team kept tabs on the top four.
For Leicester it was yet another defeat as Bath were boosted by another positive showing from No.8 Faletau as he continues on his comeback trail from two broken arms and a collar bone injury.
The latter forced the Lions back row ace to miss the World Cup and hasn’t played Test rugby since March 2018. But on this showing he is firmly in the frame to return to the international arena when Wales kick-off the Six Nations against Italy in Cardiff on Saturday.
Faletau left the field with a few minutes to go, but Hooper said: “Taulupe is fine. He had a couple of bumps and bruises, but he’s put his body on the line so he’s absolutely exhausted.
He wants to do well for the team and he’s a bit beaten up. He’ll go again.
“It was brilliant for him to go out there and get virtually 80 minutes and he’s a genuinely world class player.
“He can have moments of absolute brilliance which can change a game, but whether or not he plays in the Six Nations is Wayne Pivac’s call.” Hooper added: “It wasn’t the prettiest game, but we found a way to win. We showed character and the senior players stood up.
Losing the ball 11 times in the first half meant we couldn’t build pressure, but we learnt our lessons at half time.” Bath’s star man Homer grabbed his first try with Leicester still stuck in the changing rooms. Home centres Jackson Willison and Max Wright sent the fullback into the left corner.
Both sides were without their England contingent, but Bath also lost Red Rose World Cup squad member Ruaridh McConnochie to a leg strain in the warm-up.
Aled Brew came in as a late replacement but was then forced off with a head injury. Freddie Burns came on and moved to full-back as Homer shifted to the wing.
Tom Hardwick missed a simple penalty, but did kick a goal after constant Tigers pressure which would have resulted in a try had it not been for impressive Bath defence.
A first half low on quality didn’t improve after the break.
Rhys Priestland kicked a penalty, but when Bath’s Josh Bayliss was yellow carded for pulling down a Leicester drive, the Tigers sensed blood.
After constant pressure scrum-half Ben White got the ball down on the line from close range and Hardwick converted.
At that stage Bath were struggling, but they were much better with Will Chudley at scrum-half instead of Chris Cook who was ponderous at best.
Bath won it when Priestland’s sublime long pass found Homer who still had plenty of work to do. He beat Telusa Veainu’s poor tackle attempt and finished acrobatically in the corner.
“Freddie did brilliantly at full-back when he came on and kicked well,” Hooper added.
CLOSE-UP
TAULUPE FALETAU
Bath No.8
SIONE KALAMAFONI
Leicester No.8
This was only Faletau’s third appearance of the season and while he showed his usual touches of class, he is feeling his way back into competitive action with one forearm and a hand heavily strapped.
He displayed some nice trademark passes out of contacts.
He was more prominent than Kalamafoni and proved he is ready for the Six Nations despite being replaced late on.
