Bath have long been an attractive team to watch, but over the last couple of seasons their attacking philosophy has really taken things to a new level and on Saturday they literally destroyed Leicester, inflicting a rare 45-0, 5 try humiliation as they set about playing attacking Rugby from everywhere on the park.
We'll take a look at their attacking shape later in the week but for now we'll focus on one of their tries, three of which were coast to coast.
The pick of of the lot was Kyle Eastmond’s which we feature here, where after defending a maul on their own line they managed to turn the ball over and launch a counter attack that saw Eastmond dotting it down beneath he posts.
Having turned over the ball many teams 10’s would have been happy to launch it either down field or into the back row of the stands. Instead, aware that Leicester were not in their defensive formation and confident his teammates were on the same wavelength , Ford sets off from beneath his own posts firing a lovely pass to Joseph who gasses Burns on the outside, before a blistering sequence of play that sees the ball pass through around 10 pairs of hands before Kyle Eastmond stepped his way over the line. It’s a quite fantastic example of how you can attack space no matter where you are on the pitch.
Rugby can be such a simple game and this is a very simple try. However, it’s simple because through out the sequence players are doing the basic things well, both on and off the ball. Having said that though, there are so many things I find interesting in this sequence of play. Dave Attwoods hard work on his own goal line must be applauded just as much as Josephs silky outside/inside break. Eastmond’s jinking and stepping before being hauled down is mesmerising as is Fords two second later and let's not forget Fords superb quick hands to put Eastmond through for the score.
Additionally look how Eastmond uses his upper body strength to stay on his feet at the end of his first run, and then break the tackle when going over to score.
If you can, also track down Peter Stringers try that finished the routing, again it’s a wonderful length of the field score that saw the crowd on its feet and will surely be vying for try of the season alongside this one.
Author: The Dead Ball Area
