Bath ease past Newcastle to go top for Christmas

The Prem.

Newcastle (14) 14

Tries: Connon 2 and Leatherbarrow, Mafia Cons:

Bath (19) 50

Bath defeated the winless Red Bulls of Newcastle 50-14 at Kingston Park to reclaim the top of the Prem after a disjointed start..

Newcastle had a frantic opening half thanks to Ollie Leatherbarrow and Amanaki Mafi, but Dan Frost’s double gave them a slim 19-14 lead at half-time thanks to prop Archie Griffin’s finish.

After the break, the visitors turned up the heat and quickly took control with close-range tries from Francois van Wyk and Will Butt.

Bath regained top spot at Christmas for a third straight season with an anticipated ninth successive win over the basement side after falling to third place 24 hours earlier and falling behind by Exeter and Northampton.

However, a Bath side that made 10 changes struggled to hold their half-time lead. They also had some shaky home defense.

Newcastle, who had a 2-0 lead in the first Challenge Cup victory, had already taken the lead when Leatherbarrow broke through a gap and fired in from 10 metres, but the hosts looked worryingly powerless when Frost was pushed over by the Bath pack from a lineout.

After more home pressure, Frost lunged for his second and gave Bath the edge before cutting away from a ruck on the edge of the home 22.

However, Newcastle quickly realized they were offside, and Mafi peeled off the back of a driving maul to reclaim the lead.

A disjointed Bath was continued to be harassed and irksome by Newcastle, who won the match with a fiery first half.

The visitors turned on the power after the break while Newcastle wilted, in a well-known pattern this season.

In their fifth game at the Newcastle 22, van Wyk plopped over the line to score a fourth try, and Butt went over the line seconds after centre Sammy Arnold was sent to the sin-bin.

The visitors, who were cruising to a 19-point lead, emptied their bench in a single move, and Spencer, who had de Glanville’s brilliant pass and the visitors’ quick run-in after a lightning strike down the right flank, put a simple run-in on top.

With another close-range finish, Hill added more gloss to Bath’s record score against Newcastle, which was recorded for the first time ever.

Fletcher, Hancock, Palframan, Baker, Gordon, Elliott, Chamberlain, and Clark are the replacements.

Sin-bin: Arnold (52).

van Wyk, Frost, Griffin, Richards, Molony, Staddon, Reid (c), Carr-Smith, Carreras, Hennessey, Butt, Harris, Cokanasiga, de Glanville, and others.

Replacements: Spencer, Redpath, Barbeary, Hill, Underhill, Du Toit, and Dunn.