Semesa Rokoduguni aiming to sign off on a high at Bath: 'It will always be my home'

The curtain may be set to fall on what has been a troubled and worrying season at Bath, but there is one important act the players from the Rec are desperate to perform successfully at Sixways.

It is to escape the ignominy of ending a campaign to forget rooted at the bottom of the Premiership table, feeling truly grateful the trapdoor to the Championship was slammed shut before the season began.

Having produced a stirring fight back to overcome London Irish 27-24 on Saturday, avoiding defeat to Worcester in 12 days time would ensure Warriors fill that unenviable position on the basement floor rather than Bath.

It may only paper over one or two cracks, and temporarily lift the spirits of those in the stands who have endured plenty of disappointment and despair form on-field failings over the last eight months, but it is clearly a mission to regain some lost pride.

Having picked up just five wins from 23 Premiership games, centre Max Clark, who is leaving to join Dragons after 13 years at the club, admits: "It's been a tricky season, there's no hiding from that. We are still a rugby club with a lot of pride and history... and certainly no-one here wants to finish bottom of the log. So no matter about all the niceties being said about people leaving and looking ahead to new opportunities, we are still here and we still want to win every game. That definitely includes winning at Worcester because we have climbed off the bottom and want to stay off it.

"The fans have been fantastic to us all year despite everything that has gone on. It's not been easy for anyone. I've been here since I was 13. It was a very emotional last appearance at the Rec. It's been a special place for me all these years and to give them a win in the final home game was special."

Semesa Rokoduguni, leaving the club after 10 years, hopes to sign off on a good note, insisting: "This club means a lot to me. It opened the door for me all those years ago and it will always be my home. We became friends but now we are family."

Bath may still have business to finish but for Irish the job on the field is over, having played their final Premiership game. Yet, they still face an anxious final weekend watching from the wings hoping Wasps fail to win at Leicester. That would guarantee the Exiles Champions Cup rugby next season.

But whether his side finish in the top eight or not, Irish Director of Rugby Declan Kidney will be demanding even more from his young team next season. He says: "The boys need to learn from this year. We want to bring them through in a winning environment. It's not just good enough to be in the team, we want to win the matches.

"Whatever happens in two weeks' time happens and we will do with it. We will keep a close eye on the game at Leicester."

Bath 27 London Irish 24

Orlando Bailey celebrated his latest England call-up with an scintillating performance in front of Eddie Jones as his late penalty lifted Bath spirits but left Irish still waiting to see if they play Champions Cup rugby next season.

The 20-year-old showed off his outstanding potential at fly-half with a calm and influential 80 minutes, passing and kicking with skill and finesse and sending over 12 points with the boot in front of a very pumped up Rec crowd.

Victory lifted the West Country men off the foot of the table and left Irish sweating on Wasps result in a fortnight at Leicester to decide whether they finish in the top eight. Bath, meanwhile, will travel to Worcester for a shoot-out to decide who finishes bottom of the Premiership pile.

They battled back from 24-14 down to snatch the spoils and head coach Neal Hatley enthused: “I am not surprised Orlando has received more international recognition. He is a young man who we trust implicitly. He has great understanding of the game and what the team needs on the field. It has been a tough season but he has been one of the bright sparks. We are over the moon he may get the opportunity to go to Australia with England.

“I’m really pleased for the whole team and the fans. It was a good reaction from the last game.

“It was a special game for those players who are leaving us in front of our home fans. The last 15 minutes you could hear the special atmosphere from the fans permeate down. The crowd have stuck by us and been immense throughout. We want to carry this belief into the final game at Worcester.”

The home supporters arrived to pay homage to some of those loyal club servants departing at the end of the season, including Semesa Rokoduguni, Max Clark, Taulupe Faletau and Valeriy Morozov.

But hopes of a happy send off looked bleak when the lively, pumped up visitors burst into a 10-0 lead with Bath a man down having lost lock Charlie Ewels to an early yellow card for a dangerous hit on Kyle Rowe.

Moments later the visitors took full advantage of their extra man, spreading the ball wide to the left and Ben Loader took Paddy Jackson’s pass in his stride before side-stepping Rokoduguni for the opening try.

Rowe was similarly impressive with his running prowess and speed as he darted his way past a couple of Bath defenders to race over in the right corner for Irish’s second try.

The mood of the home fans altered in the matter of a couple of minutes when first lock Mike Williams charged over from close range for a try from Bailey’s pass. Bailey converted and was repeating the act barely a minute later when Bath broke from inside their own 22, and Ben Spencer raced over for a quick second try.

However, there was still time for Irish to poke their noses back in front on the stroke of half-time with hooker Agustin Creevy maintaining his impressive try scoring record this season with another score from close range.

Loader was denied another try shortly into the second half by a diving last-gasp tackle from Tom de Glanville as Irish hunted more points.

They came following more intense pressure on the Bath line with Australian lock Adam Coleman forcing his way across to claim the try converted by Jackson. It brought up the required bonus point…all was left was for Irish to complete the victory.

Bailey stopped the rot for Bath with a penalty and, after Rowe had a try ruled out for a forward pass, Will Muir had only been on the field a matter of seconds before he was strolling across for the home side’s third try. Bailey’s conversion levelled the game and then left Irish devastated with his deciding penalty.

Irish Director of Rugby Declan Kidney admitted: “It’s hugely disappointing and frustrating. We were in control for a lot of the game but just couldn’t get the win. Now we have to see how Wasps do at Welford Road. We will be keeping a close eye on that game.”

Match details

Scoring sequence 0-5, Loader try, 0-10, Rowe try, 5-10,Williams try, 7-10, Bailey con, 12-10,Spencer try, 14-10, Bailey con. 14-15,Creevy try, 14-17, Jackson pen, half-time; 14-22, Coleman try, 14-24 Jackson con, 17-24, Bailey pen, 22-24, Muir try, 24-24, Bailey con, 27-24, Bailey pen.

Bath T de Glanville; S Rokoduguni, J Joseph, M Clark, J Cokanasiga (W Muir 63); O Bailey, B Spencer; V Morozov (B Obano 54), T Doughty (T Dunn 41), W Stuart; M Williams (E Richards 61), C Ewels (c); M Reid, S Underhill, T Faletau.
Replacements not used M Fia, J Coetzee, J Simpson, D Cipriani.

London Irish  T Parton (H Arundell 66); K Rowe, C Rona, B van Rensburg, B Loader; P Jackson, N Phipps (c) (B White 61); W Goodrick-Clarke (F Gigena 63), A Creevy (M Cornish 52), O Hoskins (M van der Merwe 74); G Nott (C Munga 63), A Coleman; B Donnell (J-M Gonzalez 41), T Pearson, S O’Brien (C Cunningham-South 68).

Referee  Christophe Ridley.

Attendance 14,318.