Francois van Wyk and buoyant Bath snatch electrifying win over Harlequins

If any more proof of Bath’s determination to go one better than losing finalists this season were needed, here it was, writ large. A close-range try from replacement prop Francois van Wyk sealed a dramatic victory over Harlequins to move Bath to second in the table and reassert their credentials as title contenders.

Harlequins had led from the opening few minutes and looked to have established a winning position at 10 points up in the second half. Marcus Smith was enjoying himself and Bath were behind the eight-ball but tries from Thomas du Toit – also a replacement prop – and Van Wyk ground out a gritty victory in south-west London.

The hosts were crestfallen at the full-time whistle, having done so much to back up last weekend’s famous victory over Saracens. They will rue failing to deliver the killer blow when they had Bath on the canvas but that is testament to the visitors rather than criticism of Danny Wilson’s side. For the visitors, Ollie Lawrence was once again magnificent at centre while Guy Pepper shone in the back-row despite his yellow card.

No doubt relishing the duel with Finn Russell – arguably his closest rival for the No 10 British & Irish Lions jersey next summer – Smith began the match in the mood and rarely let up. He had set up two tries inside the opening quarter – the first a delightfully weighted pass for Alex Dombrandt to crash through the Bath defence in trademark style on his comeback from a hand injury. The second came from a cross-field kick for the Argentinian wing Rodrigo Isgró – 2023 world sevens player of year – to go over on the right on his debut.

By that point Bath had barely got going. They had lost Alfie Barbeary to a head injury and encountered Harlequins’ new-found defensive resilience when Tom de Glanville looked certain to score next to the right-hand post, only for Tyrone Green to somehow old him up. They were not helped by a misfiring lineout but when Tom Dunn finally hit his man inside the Quins 22, Bath were soon over with Pepper squeezing the ball down from close range.

Pepper has excelled since arriving at Bath and though he missed out on Steve Borthwick’s squad last week, his performance at blindside flanker here will not have gone unnoticed by the onlooking England team manager Richard Hill. The World Cup winner had plenty of other English back-row talent to cast his eye over but there is something about Pepper that suggests his is a bright future indeed, even if his second-half yellow was on the foolish side.

Bath encountered further problems when Dunn was sent to the sin-bin for putting his hands in the ruck and the visitors were living a charmed life with Smith repeatedly looking for Isgró with cross-field kicks. To their credit, however, Bath levelled at 14-14 despite their numerical disadvantage with De Glanville this time wriggling his way over after taking another fizzing flat pass from Russell. Isgró’s second, plunging over from close range after Harlequins had driven a lineout to the Bath line, gave the hosts a half-time lead they just about deserved.

A scrappy start to the second half ensued. Harlequins thought they might extend their lead after a marauding run from Chandler Cunningham-South, just moments after coming off the bench, took them to within a few metres of the Bath line. Stout West Country defence kept them out, however, and Harlequins had to make do with a Smith penalty after a moment of desperation from Pepper earned him a yellow card.

Maybe Bath should play with 14 more often because just minutes after Pepper had been sent to the sin-bin the visitors were back to within touching distance with Du Toit crashing on to a short ball and flopping over the try-line. A fine tap-tackle from the ever-consistent Lawrence stopped Isgró darting down the right in pursuit of his hat-trick before Bath were awarded a penalty just inside their own half with a few minutes to go. If it was within Russell’s range it was only just but to the corner they went – a decision that paid off when Van Wyk bludgeoned his way over in the left corner.