London Irish lose to Bath
Sunday, 24 December 2000 14:31Bath set themselves up nicely for the St Stephen's Day visit of Premiership leaders Leicester with a seven-try thrashing of London Irish yesterday. England wing Iain Balshaw began the rout with a spectacular try after just four minutes, breaking from his own 10-metre line to score with the Exiles' defence floundering. Two further tries from scrum half Gareth Cooper, and another from Mike Tindall saw the home side storm to a 37-13 lead, before Bath introduced fresh blood with Tuesday's crucial tie in mind.
However, the scoring wasn't finished as Mike Catt, Kevin Maggs and Shaun Berne added their names to the scoresheet, to leave the Irish ruing missed opportunities in the first half. Matt Oliver and Jarrod Cunningham scored the tries for the visitors, but in the end Bath ran out worthy 56-20 winners.
Filed by Shane Murray
