Bath made it a third straight victory in the Premiership as they won a high-scoring thriller against Harlequins 45-35 at Twickenham.
Tries from Tom Dunn, GJ van Velze, Ollie Lawrence, Niall Annett, Joe Cokanasiga and Max Ojomoh saw them to a bonus-point success on Saturday.
Ben Spencer kicked 11 points off the tee while Piers Francis slotted a conversion as the Rec outfit claimed their seventh Premiership win of 2022/23.
Cadan Murley, Luke Wallace, Marcus Smith, Lewis Gjaltema and Alex Dombrandt scored for Harlequins, with Smith adding 10 more points off the tee.
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Bath were the first team on the scoreboard inside the first five minutes, hooker Dunn the man to touch down in the corner before Spencer added the extras for an early 7-0 lead.
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Harlequins responded instantly, spinning the ball through the backs after a great line-breaking run from Gjaltema before Dino Lamb offloaded to Murley to sprint for the line.
Smith’s conversion brought the scores level before a Spencer penalty gave his side a 10-7 lead.
Soon after, Harlequins were back in the lead, in almost a carbon copy of their first try; Wallace had the honour of crossing after a pass from Louis Lynagh, with Smith adding the conversion under the posts to put them up 14-10.
Two quick yellow cards for Andre Esterhuizen for a high tackle and Murley for a deliberate knock-on around the half-hour mark gave Bath a chance to dominate play, and they took quick advantage with Van Velze crashing under the posts from close range, Spencer duly converting for a 17-14 lead.
Not deterred by the numbers disadvantage, though, Harlequins hit back, Smith offloading to Joe Marchant, who, after a 20-metre burst, fed the ball back to Smith to race for the line and score, before converting to give them a 21-17 lead.
There was still time for the visitors to get another try of their own though, Orlando Bailey’s cross-kick falling to Cokanasiga after Josh Bassett had misread the bounce, his offload found Lawrence, who held off the covering defence to touch down, Spencer’s conversion giving them a 24-21 lead going into the break.
🛁 That's class from Joe Cokanasiga and Ollie Lawrence. #HARvBAT pic.twitter.com/hn3kR2tvEj
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 22, 2023
After a frantic first half, the second half began as more of a slog, before Gjaltema scored Harlequins’ bonus-point try under the posts off the back of a ruck, all set up from Lynagh’s incredible run from halfway. Smith’s conversion made it 28-24 with just over 20 minutes to go.
Five minutes later, Bath retook the lead with a bonus-point try of their own, Annett crossing after a rolling maul from a lineout, before extending it minutes later through Cokanasiga’s burst through the line from 15 metres out, and Spencer was perfect with both kicks to give them a 38-28 lead with 10 minutes to play.
Dombrandt responded immediately, diving over after Smith’s incredible run was cut a few metres short, his conversion bringing the score back to 38-35.
However, the game was finally settled by Ojomoh’s juggling effort following Lawrence’s break with three minutes to go, Francis’ conversion making it 45-35 to end a sensational afternoon.
14-man Exeter strike late to stun Bristol
A late penalty from Joe Simmonds helped Exeter fight back to beat Bristol Bears 22-21, despite the Chiefs having Dafydd Jenkins sent off in the first half.
Despite losing Jenkins, the hosts stayed in the fight with tries from departing club greats Ian Whitten and Dave Ewers, and another for Josh Iosefa-Scott, to allow Joe Simmonds to land a 78th-minute penalty to win it.
Bristol scored tries through George Kloska, Joe Jenkins and Yann Thomas, all converted by Callum Sheedy, but it proved to not be enough.
Saturday signalled the end of an era for Exeter as Stuart Hogg, Ewers, Whitten, Joe, and Sam Simmonds started their final game for Chiefs, headlining 19 departures from the club come the end of the season, including Exeter’s first British and Irish Lion Jack Nowell, who missed the Premiership tie with a knee issue.
Despite plenty of attacking endeavour, the game was scoreless after 17 minutes until Wales international Jenkins was shown yellow for an upright face-on-head tackle on Bristol tighthead Max Lahiff, which cut him and saw his match end early.
After close examination from the TMO, referee Craig Maxwell-Keys flashed red to Jenkins and moments later Lahiff’s replacement Kloska powered over from short range.
Bristol then wasted a number of chances to extend their lead, and Exeter rallied, having been thrashed after going a man down six days ago in Leicester.
The Bears repeatedly lost their discipline to allow the hosts to kick deep into their opponents’ 22, and Whitten and Ewers, as both have so many times over the last decade, found their way over the whitewash from close range.
Bristol were first to strike after the break as James Williams exposed Joe Simmonds’ weakness in defence by running through the fly-half before playing in Jenkins to race home under the sticks.
❌ Joe Simmonds finishing off his pack's great work. #EXEvBRIpic.twitter.com/lzDWLds6jO
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 22, 2023
The Bears’ third score was less dramatic, but seemingly crucial as Yann Thomas powered through a gap at the edge of a ruck to put the visitors beyond one score.
But a dropped lineout from Bears lock Joe Batley gifted Chiefs a way back into the game as replacement Exeter tighthead Iosefa-Scott gathered the bouncing ball and powered over to make it a two-point game.
And with the weather worsening, it was a scrum penalty that earned another departing Exeter great, Joe Simmonds, the chance to slot a 30-metre kick to earn a memorable win and send the home fans into raptures.