Bath resist late charge from Harlequins to register first win of season

Harlequins 32-37 Bath Rugby, Twickenham Stoop
Scorecard

Bath went on to register their maiden win in the ongoing season of Gallagher Premiership after they resisted a late fight from Harlequins to complete a 32-37 victory at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

The win has taken Todd Blackadder's side to fourth position in the table with nine points while Harlequins are at fifth place with eight points.

The first points in the game came in the 11th minute when Jamie Roberts dived from close range for an unconverted try for the visitors but the next 10 minutes was completed dominated by the Quins as Danny Care and Joe Marchant scored back to back tries in the 15th and 20th minutes.

Marcus Smith was also proactive as he kicked a conversion and a penalty apiece to take them to a 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

However, the game turned on its head when the visitors slotted 25 unanswered points either side of the break with Mercer scoring his first of the two tries in the 24th minute while Joe Cokanasiga scored a double in the 37th and 46th minutes. Burns kicked two extras and also a drop goal and a penalty kick apiece as they stretched the lead to 15-30.

The home side arrested the slide with a 50th minute penalty kick from Smith but Mercer's second try meant the visitors looked comfortable with a 18-37 scoreline.

After Semesa Rokoduguni was sin-binned in the 67th minute, Joe Marler and Charlie Mulchrone scored late tries in the 76th minute and 80th minutes to set up a tense finish but the gap was too much to cover as Bath completed a 32-37 win.

WHAT A MATCH ??????@bathrugby hold on at the death to get their first win of the season at @Harlequins #GallagherPrem #HARvBAT pic.twitter.com/wByDBB4K2O

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) September 15, 2018