Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond dazzle as Bath beat Toulouse in style

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/18/bath-toulouse-european-rugby-champions-cup

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Bath have had some champagne moments this season but this was a vintage display by anyone’s standards. While they are not yet certain to advance to the knockout stage of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in six years, a spectacular four-try away win over their previously unbeaten Pool Four rivals Toulouse represented the club’s most glorious day on French soil since they lifted the old Heineken Cup way back in 1998.

It was not just the result which will linger in the memory. Had a French side attacked with the elan Bath frequently exhibited it would have been hailed as a thrilling renaissance of Gallic flair. Bath were almost ridiculously fast and loose at times, running Toulouse’s big forwards around to the point of befuddlement. It was a pragmatist’s worst nightmare – or would have been had the visitors lost. Instead it will be forever remembered as the day Bath threw caution to the winds and reaped full reward for it.

It made for a crazy, helter-skelter contest which developed into a minor classic after a hare-brained start by the sluggish hosts. Bath’s forwards were heroic at times but the real magic potion was in midfield. Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond have not always been the England selectors’ cup of tea but if both are not named in Stuart Lancaster’s Six Nations squad due to be announced on Wednesday there will be no justice.

If there was one highlight among several it was Bath’s 71st-minute game-clinching try, created by the wonderfully elusive Joseph. A clever chip and regather was followed by a snaking break towards the posts before Ross Batty cut back on the angle and Francois Louw swallow-dived over the line to complete a stunning score. George Ford’s conversion and subsequent penalty put the icing on an award-winning gateau.

Joseph, 23, has not featured for England since winning the last of his six caps in Argentina in 2013 but Bath’s director of rugby, Mike Ford, described his performance as “sublime, outstanding” and “world-class”. Ford is now hoping the outside centre has played his way back into the Test equation: “He has really stepped it up. If JJ wasn’t in before today, I know the England coaches are meeting tomorrow and they’re going to have a good rethink I think.

“England have got a lot of decisions to make but there is no denying what the England boys did out there today. Stuart’s got a dilemma with the way he potentially wants to play the game. Does he want to play more direct? If you want to play two receivers who can create mayhem that 10-12-13 for us today ... there’s different ways you can play.”

The Bath method is certainly producing the goods at present. This was precisely the kind of grand fixture their francophile owner Bruce Craig was envisaging when he first invested in the club and the players rose triumphantly to the challenge. “We could have gone out of the competition today so we wanted to go out in the Bath way,” stressed Ford, delighted with the positive intent his team showed. “We talked about sending out a statement to ourselves, not to anybody else. To have the belief to do what we did today was fantastic.”

If there was also an element of luck, fortune often favours the brave. Was there a hint of a forward pass from Louw to Matt Banahan for the first try? Was Chris Cook offside when he seized on a 75-metre interception of Jean-Marc Doussain’s pass? No matter. The Irish referee George Clancy was happy to award both, stirring the home supporters into belated life.

Yoann Maestri swiftly grabbed a try back for Toulouse but Bath could still have had the bonus point wrapped up well before half-time. They had a third try safely tucked away inside 27 minutes, Eastmond making a scintillating break before throwing a superb miss pass left to Banahan whose subsequent sly offload sent Joseph over for a sweet score.

Eastmond was clattered in the process but, within moments, was back up on his feet, contributing to another flowing move which should have yielded a fourth try. Anthony Watson was held up over the line when it had seemed easier to score.

It was the reprieve Toulouse needed and a try from Yann Huget, later guilty of the most reprehensible of fake “dives” in an attempt to con the referee into awarding a penalty for foul play, brought them back to just 25-15 down at half-time. Another Toby Flood penalty narrowed the deficit even further and Bath had further reason to be grateful to the busy Ford, who managed to hold up Yannick Nyanga when it seemed Toulouse were about to draw level.

The visiting supporters were equally relieved when Banahan escaped a yellow card for a high tackle on Doussain, setting the scene for Joseph’s dramatic late flourish. The qualifying maths remain complicated but if Bath defeat Glasgow at the Rec with a bonus point on Sunday they can expect to take their place in the last eight. On this evidence, no one will be keen to play them in the quarter-finals.

Toulouse Medard; Clerc, David (Poitrenaud, 44), McAlister, Huget; Flood (Vermaak, 64), Doussain; Steenkamp (Kakovin, 65), Flynn (Marchand, 75), Johnston (Pulu, 67); Tekori (Albacete, 53), Maestri; Nyanga (Lamboley, 72), Dusautoir (capt), Picamoles (Galan, 65).

Tries Huget, Maestri. Con Flood. Pens Flood 2.

Bath Watson (Devoto, 44); Agulla (Stringer, 72), Joseph, Eastmond (Woodburn, 62), Banahan; Ford, Cook; James (capt; Auterac, 55), Webber (Batty, 53), Wilson (Thomas, 47); Day (Fearns, 47), Attwood (Hooper, 62); Garvey, Louw, Houston.

Tries Banahan, Cook, Joseph, Louw. Cons Ford 3. Pens Ford 3.

Referee G Clancy (Ireland). Attendance 16,061.