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Watson at the double as Wasps hold off Bath
By Peter Hanson
Marcus Watson scored twice and was sin-binned as Wasps ran in five tries to Bath's four to secure a hard-fought 31-26 triumph at The Rec.
In form Wasps, who have now won six straight Premiership matches, came flying out the blocks as winger Watson dotted down from Willie Le Roux's excellent offload.
Dan Robson then went over from close range, before Watson had a second after a slick Wasps move on Friday.
Bath grasped the initiative when Watson saw yellow for deliberate knock on, and the hosts made the most of the extra number as Rhys Priestland and James Wilson touched down to leave them trailing 19-14 at the break.
A topsy-turvy second half saw Juan de Jongh and Gabiriele Lovobalavu dot down for Wasps, only for Paul Grant and Zach Mercer to respond - the latter while Le Roux was in the sin-bin.
But Wasps clung on amid late pressure to move up to second in the table, albeit Saracens can reclaim the spot by beating Worcester, while Bath have now lost three on the spin.
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Latest Comments
Steve Hansen stepped down as ABs coach aged 60, Graham Henry did so at 65, Robbie Deans quit the Wallabies job at 54, and Wayne Smith left the ABs aged 60.
Most of them have had lesser jobs since then, but its only Graham Henry who could really be said to have coached at the top level “well into his 60s”. He’s a bit of an outlier, and that was 14 years ago. Its very possible that that will change, but I’m not seeing much evidence of that!
One factor that might be important is that NBA and the NFL are 1 league sports. Rugby league is pretty much a 2 league sport, and those 2 leagues are so far apart there can’t be much trading between them. Rugby union and especially association football have many more leagues, and so there are more opportunities for younger managers to break through.
Also, the fact that Rugby tends to have less chopping and changing of coaches is an argument against hiring older coaches. Hire a good coach in his 40s and he could stay in the job for 20 years, but realistically how long would Les Kiss be the best coach in Australia for?
Go to commentsI’d probably agree this is a tour too early but Lions do have a rich history of capping bolters and Pollock isnt as far behind as many say. I think you under-estimate his jackle work as he has a great turnover rate at club level and even at England A, he even got one against Wales
Fact is the nature of the game is changing and fast lighter backrows becoming more and more common as ball in play times go up and teams look to play wider. He is faces a challenge to make the initial squad but he is definately part of the conversation
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