Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio may be in the England squad against Wales at Twickenham next Saturday, but when the question of moving on from his club’s third defeat in the Guinness Premiership this season had to be addressed he said: “I would have to play a lot better than I did today if I do get picked. I don’t know what the selection is going to be, who knows? But I do know what it’s like to play in the rarefied atmosphere of Test rugby. Everyone has to go up two or three levels, but not everyone has the mental ability to do that.”
Dallaglio started this game at No 6, where he had played much of his Test rugby, but after half an hour was back at No 8 when John Hart dislocated his shoulder. But by then Bath had established a clear advantage at 10-3 and optimism was rising around the Rec, especially as Duncan Bell had scored Bath’s first home try in the Premiership since the same player touched down against Northampton in April last year.
For Dallaglio and Wasps the game was never theirs to control. The chemistry of this contest was mostly in Bath’s hands, much of it coming from the obvious desire to please a new head coach in Brian Ashton and to prove that the form which has gained them a quarter-final place in the Heineken Cup could be adapted to the hard graft of the league.
Bath had most of the significant players yesterday. Steve Borthwick and the forwards ran two-thirds of the game and their unity was impressive. Andy Beattie had an heroic match at flanker, improving minute by minute, Gareth Delve responded to an early opportunity as a replacement to make a big contribution, and Lee Mears was just as effective in the front row. The measure of the worth of the Bath pack was the space which Chris Malone had at fly-half and the damage he was able to do as a result.
The fires lit by French wing David Bory added another dimension to the Bath effort.
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Wasps did not quit, but had to turn and chase too often for comfort. Big players made big mistakes under pressure and Wasps could not stitch enough together to force Bath away for long. Even two yellow cards against Bath in the heart of the game did little to aid Wasps’ cause.
The first Bath try was on the board so quickly that it almost seemed an aberration for a team unused to that sort of behaviour in the league. But it was a compelling start with Bath moving the ball through six phases with one notable contribution from Bory before Bell went over from Nick Walshe’s pass.
For the rest of the half, Bath had to be content with a penalty from Malone after 24 minutes while Wasps gained two penalties from Alex King, the second when Andy Higgins was sin-binned close to half-time.
With Higgins still absent, Bath scored a second try five minutes after half-time. Josh Lewsey missed a high kick from Malone, Delve came into drive the move on, followed by Bory, then Borthwick sold a dummy and went around King before giving the scoring pass to Eliota Fuimaono in the right corner.
The final Bath try came from a thrust to the left corner before the ball was worked back to Malone, who sidestepped away from Paul Sackey and King to score. Malone’s 18-point haul for the day included two late penalties and Bath’s fears about the absence of Olly Barkley had been answered.
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Wasps collected a try through Ayoola Erinle, whose 70m run from a tap penalty included a suggestion that he stepped into touch before rounding Delve.
Wasps head coach Ian McGeechan’s contention that he would always choose Dallaglio for international matches is a clear directive to England.
Another Wasp who commanded attention was centre Stuart Abbott, who made a strong break at halfway early in the match, suggesting that Wasps were in the mood to command. Bath, well led, well organised and full of belief, had other, and ultimately more successful, ideas.
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STAR MAN: Steve Borthwick (Bath)
Bath: J Maddock; A Higgins, A Crockett (M Stephenson 58min), E Fuimaono, D Bory; C Malone, N Walshe; M Stevens, L Mears, D Bell (D Flatman 63min), S Borthwick (capt), D Grewcock, A Beattie, M Lipman (G Delve 10min), Z Feaunati.
Wasps: J Lewsey; P Sackey, A Erinle (F Waters 68min), S Abbott, T Voyce; A King (J Staunton 73min), M Dawson (E Reddan 50min); A McKenzie (J Va’a 43min), R Ibanez (J Barrett 10-18min), T Payne, S Shaw (R Birkett 52min), G Skivington, L Dallaglio (capt), J Worsley, J Hart (J O’Connor 30min).
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Yellow cards: Bath: Crockett (16min), Higgins (37min), Feaunati (74min)
Wasps: O’Connor (64min)
Tries: Bell 5, Fuimaono 45, Malone 53
Conversions: Malone (2). Penalties: Malone (3)
Try: Erinle 56
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Conversion: King. Penalties: King (2), Staunton
Referee: D Rose (Warwickshire). Attendance: 10,600