Bath shock Harlequins after thrilling try-fest in Twickenham

Attack was the order of the day as Bath edged to a 45-35 win over Harlequins during a thrilling back-and-forth game at Twickenham.

Bath were the first team on the scoreboard inside the first five minutes, hooker Tom Dunn the man to touch down in the corner before Ben Spencer added the extras for an early 7-0 lead.

Harlequins responded instantly, spinning the ball through the backs after a great line-breaking run from Lewis Gjaltema before Dino Lamb offloaded to Cadan Murley to sprint for the line.

Marcus Smith’s conversion brought the scores level before a Spencer penalty gave his side a 10-7 lead.

Soon after, Harlequins were back in the lead, in almost a carbon copy of their first try, Luke Wallace had the honour of crossing after a pass from Louis Lynagh, with Smith adding the conversion under the posts to put them up 14-10.

Two quick yellow cards for Andre Esterhuizen for a high tackle and Murley for a deliberate knock-on around the half-hour mark gave Bath a chance to dominate play, and they took quick advantage with GJ van Velze crashing under the posts from close range, Spencer duly converting for a 17-14 lead.

Not deterred by the numbers disadvantage though, Harlequins hit back, Smith offloading to Joe Marchant, who after a 20-metre burst, fed the ball back to Smith to race for the line and score, before converting to give them a 21-17 lead.

There was still time for the visitors to get another try of their own though, Orlando Bailey’s cross-kick falling to Joe Cokanasiga after Josh Bassett had misread the bounce, his offload found Ollie Lawrence who held off the covering defence to touch down, Spencer’s conversion giving them a 24-21 lead going into the break.

After a frantic first half, the second half began as more of a slog, before Gjaltema scored Harlequins’ bonus-point try under the posts off the back of a ruck, all set up from Lynagh’s incredible run from halfway. Smith’s conversion made it 28-24 with just over 20 minutes to go.

Five minutes later, Bath retook the lead with a bonus-point try of their own, Niall Annett crossing after a rolling maul from a lineout, before extending it minutes later through Cokanasiga’s burst through the line from 15 metres out, and Spencer was perfect with both kicks to give them a 38-28 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Alex Dombrandt responded immediately, diving over after Smith’s incredible run was cut a few metres short, his conversion bringing the score back to 38-35.

However, the game was finally settled by Max Ojomoh’s juggling effort following Lawrence’s break with three minutes to go, Piers Francis’ conversion making it 45-35 to end a sensational afternoon.