Johann van Graan had a glint in his eye as he delivered a post-match debrief of Finn Russell’s latest masterclass which harvested a contentious bonus-point win for Premiership leaders Bath.
As Russell prepares to play for Scotland in their Six Nations opener against Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday, the mercurial fly-half showed he is at the peak of his powers.
Russell was all things to Van Graan’s side; an unstoppable creative force who had a hand in all four Bath tries before turning defensive fulcrum during a fraught finale; winning tackles, cajoling his teammates. Inspiring.
“I have a saying of ‘talent hits a target that nobody else can hit, but a genius hits a target that nobody else can see’,” said head of rugby Van Graan. “Finn showed again today why he is one of the very best players in world rugby.
“He’s going to be great for Scotland in the Six Nations, but he was great for us today.
“ To play 80 minutes on a Sunday afternoon just before the Six Nations takes some doing, but that’s the kind of man he is.”
Sale had not lost at home for over a year but they were missing eight England players owing to international commitments, and Russell’s ability to produce big moments showed itself again. His artful handling created a first-half brace for Ruaridh McConnochie, he was involved in a move which led to Bath’s third try for Max Ojomoh and then orchestrated a late fourth score for Tom Carr-Smith.
Carr-Smith’s score came at a pivotal moment in the match; Sale were on the attack and trailed 22-16 but the referee Karl Dickson awarded Bath a penalty at a ruck and Russell’s educated right boot sent the ball upfield where Carr-Smith hacked forward to score.
Sale’s director of rugby, Alex Sanderson, was furious his side had been penalised and, to add insult to injury, a late penalty from Russell denied the hosts so much as a losing bonus point.
“Honestly, I’ve got sour grapes,” said Sanderson, clearly upset at how events unfolded in the closing stages. “We’ll go through due process, look at the tapes, but I don’t have to look at them, there’s a hand on the floor, the ball is kicked four, five metres past the mark yet the try stands. That’s the game, that’s where it went.”
How Sanderson must have wished he could have called upon Tom Roebuck, Ford, Raffi Quirke, Tom Curry, Ben Curry, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.
They are currently in Girona for England’sthe pre-Six Nations training camp and, while there were reasons for optimism for Sanderson, this was a major blow to their playoff hopes.
Bath were without Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence, Will Stuart and Ben Spencer due to their England commitments, and Sale led in the 18th minute.
Rob du Preez threw an exquisite long pass out to Arron Reed on the left flank and the Scotland winger stepped inside Joe Cokanasiga and dived over the line.
Bath hit back when Russell’s neat pass sent McConnochie over in the left corner but Du Preez soon scored Sale’s second try, touching down from close range after Tom O’Flaherty was denied.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Russell’s deft offload found McConnochie running a lovely diagonal line to score inside the right channel.
Sale led 16-12 at the interval but Bath showed their class early in the second half when Russell’s pass found Cokanasiga and his neat offload handed Ojomoh his eighth try in 50 Premiership appearances.
Russell’s conversion gave Bath a little breathing space at 22-16 and, after a promising Sale attack came to nothing, the controversial penalty award against Sale saw the visitors’ No 10 boot the ball upfield.
That invited Carr-Smith to give chase and he touched down to clinch the bonus point.
“That’s why Finn is a world-class player,” added Van Graan of the 32-year-old, whose 12-point haul took him past a century of points in this season’s Premiership.
Yet there was an unmistakable spirit to Sale and their impressive full-back Joe Carpenter ploughed over from close range late on, and Du Preez converted to encourage hopes of a rousing finale.
At that stage, Sale had a losing bonus point in the bag but they conceded a last-minute penalty which Russell kicked to leave the hosts empty-handed.
The only negative for Bath, meanwhile, and Scotland was a groin injury to the flanker Josh Bayliss which could rule him out of the start of the Six Nations.
