Bath move to fourth place with 19-12 win over Harlequins

Bath Rugby 19-12 Harlequins, Recreation Ground
Scorecard

Ruaridh McConnochie scored a double as Bath Rugby edged out Harlequins 19-12 in the 11th round of the Gallagher Premiership clash at Recreation Ground on Saturday.

The win has taken Bath to the fourth position in the table with seven wins from 11 games to take their tally to 29 points while Harlequins are at ninth place with 23 points.

Rhys Priestland missed an early penalty for Bath but soon got their first points on board when McConnochie dived over the line after collecting a pass from Jack Walker. Priestland missed the conversion but kicked a penalty goal in the 20th minute to take them to an eight point lead.

The response from Quins came around the half-hour mark when Alex Dombrandt charged a Priestland kick to score leaving the teams with an 8-5 lead heading into the break.

The Quins had a setback at the start of the second with Brett Herron sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on but despite the numerical disadvantage Marcus Smith scored a converted try making the scoreline 8-12.

Bath returned to full strength and immediately reduced the deficit with a Burns penalty goal in the 58th minute and McConnochie's second eight minutes later put Stuart Hooper's men in control. Burns missed the conversion but with another penalty goal in the 76th minute ensured the home side completed a seven point win.

"He finished his tries really well and was very good in the air. There’s a couple of bits for him to work on but it’s great to see him scoring tries and getting down the edges, causing defenders problems," said Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper.

“If we can put him in more space and even more one on ones, he’s going to score more of those.”