Skrela's boot buries Bath
by JP Lonergan, 12 October 2008
Bath were seven seconds from a stunning win over Toulouse in their Heineken Cup opener at Stade Ernest-Wallon on Sunday afternoon, but a last-gasp penalty from David Skrela broke their hearts as the French giants won 18-16.
Toulouse, who were beaten by Munster in last season’s Cardiff final, took the four points from the Pool 5 clash thanks to six penalties from Skrela, who was far from at his best. Tries from Michael Claassens and man-of-the-match Nick Abendanon looked like they would be enough, but on a day when they matched their opponents for play, but made a host of mistakes, Bath were punished in cruel fashion.
A couple of early handling errors from Matt Stevens and Abendanon will have been cause for concern for Bath coach Steve Meehan, but the experienced Butch James quickly steadied the ship by kicking the visitors into a 3-0 lead.
The World Cup winner was proving quite a leader on the field for Bath and his early penalty gave them a boost as they looked to settle in their daunting surroundings.
Skrela - a target for the Toulouse boo boys of late – was not so quick to settle as he fired his first penalty against the post after Bath were penalised for impeding Byron Kelleher. Skrela quickly made amends by leveling the clash from a wide angle.
Bath hit back as a Michael Lipman charge down should have led to a better chance but the attack was quickly suffocated. That said, favourites Toulouse were by no means shining as their habit of making a slow start to European competition threatened once more. With the fans on their back, they found it increasingly hard to break Bath down, that despite their possession increasing towards the end of the first half.
Bath began to grow in confidence but perhaps tried to play too much rugby and they began to give away more and more ball, worryingly to star man Kelleher quite a bit. They conceded a penalty with three minutes to go to half-time, one Skrela could not miss and he made it 6-3.
James was immediately awarded a chance to level matters, but a brave penalty attempt from long range went wide to the delight of an unsympathetic home crowd and Meehan’s men trailed by three at the break.
Bath were lucky to give away only three points in an error-ridden start to the second half. A succession of stray passes resulted in them inviting a bombardment of Toulouse pressure and they eventually conceded a penalty, which was easy for Skrela.
Bath tried to hit back and James ended up on the ground after a strong collision with Yannick Jauzion that left some Bath players wanting a penalty try, but referee George Clancy rightly ruled that the incident was 50-50.
James still wanted revenge and he got it in the best possible way just a minute later when he superbly charged down Kelleher right by the Touluse corner and Claassens ran on to touch down and delight the travelling Bath fans. They groaned a little when they watched James’s awful conversion attempt, but nevertheless they had recovered from their poor start to the half to get back within a point.
Skrela skewed a drop goal wide as he tried to reply for the French giants, who applied more pressure in the Bath half before an Yves Donguy knock-on relieved the situation.
James also had a failed drop at goal that dropped badly short and when Skrela hit his fourth successful penalty the gap was back at four.
When Joe Maddock tried to run through on the right Toulouse gave away a penalty at a tight angle near the sideline. James told his captain Lipman that he wanted it and he did not disappoint with a wonderful kick that again made the difference one.
That difference remained when Skrela fluffed his next penalty, but with ten minutes to go he kicked over from the left to make it 15-11.
However, there was still time for Bath to go in front as their line-out saw the ball moved right across the field and into the hands of Abendanon, who powered through a wall of Toulouse players and went down in the corner. The Bath fans were ecstatic again, but again James could not convert. How costly would that be? The answer – very!
As Toulouse laid siege, James gave away a penalty five yards from the line and right at the death, and Skrela did what was needed to keep the home fans on his side, win the game and leave the Bath players gutted.
Toulouse: M Medard; Y Donguy, M Kunavore, Y Jauzion, C Heymans; D Skrela, B Kelleher; J Poux, W Servat, B Lecouls, F Pelous, P Albacete, J Bouilhou (capt), T Dusautoir, S Sowerby.
Replacements: V Lacombe, D Human, R Millo-Chluski, Y Nyanga, M Belie, F Fritz, M Ahotaeiloa.
Bath Rugby: N Abendanon; J Maddock, A Crockett, S Berne, M Banahan; B James, M Claassens; D Flatman, L Mears, M Stevens, J Harrison, P Short, S Hooper, M Lipman (capt), J Faamatuainu.
Replacements: P Dixon, D Bell, D Barnes, J Scaysbrook, S Bemand, E Fuimaono, M Stephenson.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
