Bath secured a bonus-point win over Harlequins at the Stoop, winning 33-17 in the opening round of the Premiership season. The Argentinian full-back Santi Carreras scored a stunning try, intercepting a pass with his foot and volleying the ball into his own hands before running 75 yards to score.
Bath's bonus-point first half
Bath had the bonus point by half-time, which felt harsh on a Harlequins side that had enjoyed plenty of bright moments. The home team took the field with a host of absentees, including Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt, and new signing George Furbank.
Dan du Preez opened the scoring on his Bath debut, and Joe Cokanasiga hit a hard line for Bath's second. Harlequins kept in the match with two flashes of brilliance: Will Porter went through or round three defenders off loose lineout ball, and Chandler Cunningham-South ran home after Oscar Beard's turn.
Carreras' moment of genius
The cruellest turning point came on the half-hour with the score at two tries apiece. Tyrone Green homed in on Carreras, the last man, with Oscar Beard outside him. Green's pass fizzed across him, and Carreras flicked up his boot to volley the ball into the air, coolly ran on, and reached one hand over the touchline to regather it from the air. He then ran on to the tryline some 75 yards away.
“In my view that is going to be try of the season for us in round one,” said the Bath head coach, Johann van Graan. “What a player, what a moment.”
That made it 21-10 to Bath, and they scored their fourth try on the stroke of half-time from a penalty to the corner, Dan Frost at the back of an advancing maul.
Second-half response and injury concern
Harlequins scored their third on the resumption. Cadan Murley was away down the left, and Pedro Delgado's rumble round the fringes finished the job. Sam Riley was shown a yellow card a few minutes later for an illegal tackle on Beno Obano.
Bath put the game beyond their hosts in the last 10 minutes, scoring from a driven lineout for the third time, when Ewan Richards finished from another penalty to the corner.
One cloud on the horizon for Bath and England might be Sam Underhill's departure early in the second half. Van Graan is concerned he might have suffered a biceps injury, which would mean months on the sidelines.
